Streetcars
Streetcars have become associated with New Orleans, not because this was the only city in which streetcars ran but because while streetcars were being replaced by buses in other towns, they remained the primary mode of public transportation in New Orleans for many decades. New Orleans has a way of lagging behind in such things, as it did with gas-lit streets and other municipal matters. This lack of desire for change stems not only from lethargy, which might be blamed on a debilitating climate, but also from a habit of clinging to the old ways and its gracious, passing lifestyle.
The streetcars of New Orleans were the successors of its original railroad lines. The early railroads were extremely crude, nothing more than iron bars nailed to wooden beams laid lengthwise across ties approximately five feet apart. The rails often worked loose and penetrated the floors of the coaches. Boilers exploded, flying cinders set fire to nearby crops, floods washed out bridges, and cars jumped the rails.
The earliest railroad in New Orleans was the Pontchartrain Railroad, chartered in 1830, which ran on Elysian Fields from the river to Lake Pontchartrain. It ran 5.18 miles with horse-drawn cars, replaced in 1832 by a steam locomotive, the Smoky Mary. The line (probably the second to have been built in the United States) ran for 101 years until 1932.
The St. Charles Streetcar Line, whose predecessor was the New Orleans and Carrollton Railroad, is the oldest continuously operating street railway in the world. The line was incorporated as the New Orleans and Carrollton Railroad Company on February 9, 1833, by the Louisiana legislature and continues to operate today. It ran from the business district of the city up St. Charles Avenue (then Nayades Street) through the Garden District on its way to the city of Carrollton. As far back as 1834, a spur route turned off St. Charles and came out Jackson Avenue to the river along the city’s most elegant thoroughfare. This had been a mule-car railroad. The rate of travel could not exceed four miles an hour. The NO&CRR was later a steam driven railroad, and by 1900, it was all electric. Originally, the NO&CRR terminal was roughly at the end of St. Charles Avenue. In 1846, the town of Carrollton began to extend Carrollton Avenue back through the swamps to a navigation canal known as the New Basin. The roadway was complete in 1862, and an omnibus line was initiated.
After the Civil War, in 1866, General P. G. T. Beauregard and some of his associates leased the NO&CRR for twenty-five years. Many new omnibus and street railway companies were formed in the late 1850s and 1860s. These included the Pontchartrain Railroad.
By 1876, the New Orleans City and Lake Rail Road started running steam “dummy” trains along the route of the New Basin Canal from the city to the lake. An amusement park called West End Park arose in 1880. The railway line, electrified in 1898, was a 6.5 mile ride from New Orleans on West End trains, which consisted of a motor car pulling several open sided trailers, a thrill enjoyed by thousands.
In 1909, the New Orleans Railway and Light Company acquired a site known as Spanish Fort. The fort had been in existence as a resort long before West End Park, and the two parks on the lakefront were long to be competitors for the business of lake enthusiasts. Electric cars ran out to the resort in 1911. The railway company rebuilt and reopened the amusement center, which had been abandoned when the railway service was discontinued in 1903.
By 1953, only two streetcar lines, the St. Charles line and the Canal line, remained in operation in New Orleans. Ten years later, New Orleans Public Service removed the Canal Line and replaced it with buses, accompanied by loud, vehement protestations.
On May 31, 1964, the St. Charles Streetcar became the last streetcar line in New Orleans. The electric streetcars now operating on the route (which provides visitors with a tour of the New Orleans business district, the mansions of the Garden District, the University area, Audubon Park, and the Carrollton area) are typical of the streetcars in use in the early part of the century.
The car itself was designed and built by the Perley A. Thomas Car Company of High Point, North Carolina, in 1923 and 1924. It is known in New Orleans as a streetcar, not a trolley, and it is treasured by the city. Over the years, modifications have included replacement of the mahogany sash and canvas roof with metal. Eventually, the exact change fare boxes and metal automatic doors were installed to facilitate one-man operations. The most nostalgic features are the exposed ceiling light bulbs and the rich wooden seats. The seats can be reversed, depending on the streetcar’s direction, and have brass handholds on their aisle corners. The historical character of the streetcar is painstakingly maintained. In 1973, the streetcar line was placed on the National Register of Historic Places by the Department of the Interior, 140 years after it was organized.
Through 1987, free transportation was provided on public transit to the nuns of the city, because, so the legend goes, the Ursuline nuns had prayed so unceasingly for victory in the Battle of New Orleans in 1815, when victory seemed so impossible.
In 1988, seven vintage streetcars painted red with gold trim became operational along the riverfront. These “Ladies in Red,” the first to begin running since 1926, run 1.9 miles connecting the many riverfront attractions.
Two streetcar lines were rebuilt and put back into operation in 2004. The Canal/Cemetery line runs the length of Canal Street, and Canal City Park/Museum runs from Canal Street and North Carrollton Avenue to the terminal inside the entrance to City Park.
Carnival
Most customs, as we have seen, were based on the celebration of feast days of the Roman Catholic Church, although they were not all religious celebrations. The most famous of these is Mardi Gras, also known as Carnival, which is the farthest thing from a religious holiday. The words Mardi Gras are French for Fat Tuesday, a name that hints at the feasting and partying that goes on throughout the day. Carnival is derived from the Latin, meaning farewell to the flesh.
Mardi Gras is celebrated the day before Ash Wednesday, when the forty-day season of Lent officially begins, and Catholics are to fast and do penance. The feast of Mardi Gras was brought to America by Iberville and Bienville, when they christened the bayou they discovered on March 3, 1699, Mardi Gras Bayou. They had found it on Shrove Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday.
In the years between 1806 and 1823, after Louisiana was American, laws forbade masking and balls, so private clubs were founded instead. In 1827, some students returning from their studies in Paris donned costumes and danced in the streets as they had seen maskers do in Paris. They threw flowers to the crowds watching them. (Later on, they threw flour on the crowds.)
The first parade was held in 1837. Because hostility existed between the Irish and the blacks over jobs and violence was likely, masks were forbidden. In 1839, the first float, a papier mâché creation, appeared. On it, a design called Chanticleer flapped its wings and crowed. On this occasion, it seems, lime was thrown on the crowds instead of flour. Trouble was brewing in the tempestuous heterogeneous population, more and more activities were becoming dangerous, and the press was calling for an end to Mardi Gras celebrations. A small group met soon after to form a secret society that would restore order and dignity to the New Orleans celebration.
In 1857, the Mystik Krewe of Comus was born, the organization that was credited with saving the institution of Carnival. Their tableau was an ambitious one based on Paradise Lost.
In 1970, the Twelfth Night Revelers emerged, staging a tableau with the nebulous theme of the Tide of English Humor—quite a sophisticated project for a population reputed to be uneducated!
Rex, the King of Carnival, whose parade takes place on Mardi Gras Day, held his first reign in 1872. The New Orleans Bee, a local newspaper, referred to the organizers as “swine-eating Saxons,” an insult directed at their English heritage, although there were undoubtedly some French Creoles among the organizers. In the same year, the Knights of Momus made their debut. Other krewes soon materialized, each with its own special parade and ball date.
The Lundi Gras arrival of Rex, incorporated in 1874. Near the Robert E. L
ee statue, for 1879 Carnival. Print from Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper. (Courtesy Leonard V. Huber Collection)
Rex had been organized by forty enterprising men in just a few weeks, to honor the visit of the Grand Duke Alexis Romanoff Alexandrovitch of pre-revolutionary Russia, who made an amorous pursuit of Lydia Thompson, a singer, to New Orleans. Miss Thompson had sung a song in a burlesque show, Bluebeard, entitled “If Ever I Cease to Love,” which the bands at the Mardi Gras balls obligingly played and which became the theme song of the holiday. Although its lyrics include such nonsense as “If ever I cease to love,/ May oysters have legs and cows lay eggs,” it nevertheless remained the theme song of Mardi Gras for over a century.
Also introduced by Rex were the Mardi Gras colors: purple for justice, green for faith, and gold for power. The most plausible explanation for their selection is that they were colors of the king’s costume in the production of Richard II, enacted by Lawrence Barrett, which was playing in the city at the time.
On the first day of Rex’s reign, the king rode a bay charger. Boeuf Gras, fatted beef (the symbol of Mardi Gras), was represented by Old Jeff, a bull from the stockyards. The krewe was masked as playing cards. The following year, there was such a demand for invitations to the Rex Ball that four thousand were mailed, and the ball had to be held in the Exposition Hall. In 1874, Rex arrived in the city by steamboat at the foot of Canal Street on the Monday before Mardi Gras. All the ships in the harbor tooted their whistles in greeting. To this day, there is a river parade. Rex is the only king not masked, since the original was, and all subsequent Kings of Carnival are, made up to look like Richard II in the play.
The Zulu Social Aid and Pleasure Club was founded in 1916 and is known for its black-faced krewe members wearing grass skirts. It is primarily an African-American carnival club. The krewe parades on Mardi Gras morning. The krewe’s signature “throw” is a hand-painted coconut.
The organizations are now so numerous that it takes two full weeks for all parades to roll, frequently several on the same date, and the balls now begin before Christmas, so that all may fit on the social calendar. Each organization pays for its own parade and ball. The parades are a gift to the people of the city; the balls are private parties for the entertainment of the friends of the krewe members.
The most prestigious krewes are those of Comus, Momus, Proteus, and Rex, who hold both parades and balls. The Twelfth Night Revelers, founded in 1870, is the oldest non-parading krewe. Other organizations that date back to the nineteenth century are the Atlanteans of 1890, the Elves of Oberon of 1894, Nereus of 1896, and Mithras of 1897. In 1871, the Twelfth Night Revelers established two carnival traditions: a queen was introduced for the first time at a carnival ball and the throwing of trinkets was begun by a member of the organization dressed as Santa Claus. Both traditions remain to this day in almost all carnival organizations.
Bacchus and Endymion, both begun in 1968, are organizations which have broken with tradition. Instead of selecting their monarchs from the lists of prominent social and civic leaders, they choose famous personalities such as Danny Kaye, Phil Harris, Bob Hope, Perry Como, Emeril Lagasse, Dan Aykroyd, and Kevin Costner. Entertainers such as Pete Fountain and Doc Severinson are on hand annually to play for the krewe members and their friends. These organizations are now big business and are often referred to as Super Krewes.
In 1982, the total cost of the Bacchus ball and parade was $980,000, according to Bacchus captain Augie Perez. Bacchus was formed in 1968 by a handful of businessmen who met to study the possibility of changing the whole concept of carnival organizations. Their floats are the largest ever constructed (super floats), costing as much as $100,000 for a single float.
The doubloon, which is struck in the image of a particular Mardi Gras organization, is a modern innovation begun by the Rex Krewe in 1960. The 1960 Rex doubloon was designed by H. Alvin Sharpe. Today, more than fifty organizations throw doubloons to the spectators, and many have become collectors’ items.
The Rex and Comus jewels (crowns, scepters, necklaces, etc.) are made in Paris each year by an old firm of worldwide renown. They are allowed to be imported duty free because of the public nature of the celebrations.
On Mardi Gras Day in the Garden District and on St. Charles Avenue, Mardi Gras flags fly before the homes of former kings of Rex.
No Mardi Gras celebrations were held for two years during World War I, for four years during World War II, and in the year 1951 during the Korean War. In 1951, Mars (the god of war) paraded instead of Rex.
The expansion of Mardi Gras into the suburbs in the 1960s and 1970s opened participation to more neighborhoods. Super Krewes such as Bacchus and Endymion helped modernize the festivities.
Parading krewes traditionally admitted new members of their own choice until 1992, when a ruling was passed by the City Council restricting the use of city streets for parading only to organizations admitting any and all applicants. Three of the city’s oldest krewes—Momus, Comus, and Proteus—discontinued parading, although they continue to hold their Carnival Balls. Others, such as Rex and Hermes, complied with the new regulation and continued to parade. Orpheus, a beautiful parade, began to roll in 1994, replacing Proteus on its traditional Lundi Gras (Monday) night before Carnival.
Cemeteries
Some visitors to New Orleans are astonished at the sight of more than forty cemeteries of above-ground burial. This type of internment reflects French and Spanish burial customs and accommodates the high water table, which is the result of both climate and terrain. Heavy rains are common, and because the city is largely below sea level, coffins would rise to the surface of the ground unless properly anchored.
A New Orleans cemetery. (Courtesy Kathy Chappetta Spiess)
Early in the eighteenth century, mortuary architects began building six-foot thick brick walls to keep deadly diseases inside the cemetery. Later, the walls contained casket-sized niches called ovens, available as year-and-a-day rental tombs. Into these ovens the coffins were slid, and inscribed marble (or wooden) slabs closed off the opening. Walls of ovens surrounded the first cemeteries and are still found in St. Louis Cemeteries Nos. 1, 2, and 3 and in other old cemeteries such as Lafayette Cemetery and St. Roch Cemetery.
Cemeteries were always built on the outskirts of town. Because of this, we can trace the growth of the city by the dates and locations of its main cemeteries: St. Louis No. 1 on Basin Street in 1789, St. Louis No. 2 on Claiborne Avenue in 1824, and St. Louis No. 3 at the end of Esplanade Avenue near Bayou St. John in 1854 mark the expansion of the center of New Orleans.
The first cemetery in the city was St. Peter’s Cemetery, dated 1724. The first Protestant Cemetery was on Girod Street, built in 1822. Many others followed, and by 1860, there were fourteen cemeteries at the end of Canal Street.
The city was growing in population and wealth, and in the thirty years after the opening of St. Louis Cemetery No. 2 in 1824, the new cemeteries began to be filled with private family tombs, many of which were elaborate and beautiful. The Avet and Lazzize tomb and the Pilié tomb in St. Louis No. 2 are among the most striking examples of iron craftsmanship to be found.
J. N. B. de Pouilly, who came to New Orleans from France in 1930 and designed the St Louis Exchange Hotel and the present St. Louis Cathedral, brought scale drawings of tombs from Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris, the best examples to be found of Greek Revival design. From these sketches, de Pouilly built such beautiful burial places as the Plauché tomb in St. Louis No. 2 of Greek Revival design. He created a style of mortuary architecture which continues in New Orleans to this day.
Metairie Cemetery was built in 1872 on Metairie Ridge on the rounds of the Metairie Race Track by a syndicate of New Orleans businessmen. During the Civil War, a portion of the track area had been converted into Camp Miller, an army training camp, for a short time. It became the largest and most elaborate burial ground in the city. There are more than 4,000 above-ground vaults and tombs and just as many ground plo
ts spread out over 150 acres, with the 11⁄16-mile track as the roadway.
Josie Arlington, a famous Storyville madam, has a tomb in Metairie Cemetery. She bought it in 1914, before her death. Because of a stoplight’s reflection on her pink marble tomb, it seemed that Josie, even after death, was still in the red-light district.
Daniel Moriarty built a magnificent monument to his wife, who died in 1887. The tall shaft of the Moriarty Monument stands just to the left of the entrance, graced by the statues of four life-size female figures at its base. The statues are simple stock figures placed on the monument for effect by the builder, but the story is told that the famous humorist, Irving J. Cobb, when visiting the cemetery in the 1920s, asked about the identity of the four females. His cab driver answered: “Faith, Hope, and Charity.” Cobb then asked, “And the fourth?” to which the cabby replied, “And who else but Mrs. Moriarty?” (In actual fact, the fourth represents Memory, carrying a wreath of immortelles.)
Kember Williams is buried in an Egyptian temple.
P. B. S. Pinchback, Louisiana’s only black governor during Reconstruction, was buried in Metairie Cemetery in 1921.
Metairie Cemetery is one of the showplaces of the city, with its beautiful landscaping, paved walks, lagoons, and many fine trees. Its main aisle is fronted on Bayou Metairie and was the location preferred by prominent citizens. Bayou Metairie is now Metairie Road.
In the center of a large green mound surrounded by palm trees is the handsome granite shaft, the Army of Northern Virginia Monument commemorating the Confederate general Stonewall Jackson and the men of the Louisiana Division of the Army of Northern Virginia who fought under him. Above the mausoleum, in which twenty-five hundred men are buried, rises the granite monument, thirty-two feet in height. Atop this is the statue of Jackson.
Within the walls of this cemetery lies an interesting collection of New Orleans characters, including seven governors, six mayors (including Martin Behrman, who closed Storyville and rests as the eternal neighbor of Josie Arlington), and forty-nine kings of Carnival.
Beautiful Crescent: A History of New Orleans Page 15