The Garden District is a dynamic community grounded in a strong
sense of tradition. Some of its homes are still known by the names of
the families that built them over a century ago, and official flags
designating Mardi Gras Royalty are a common sight here during Carnival
season.
Laid out in 1806 by
Barthelemy Lafon as an open, semi-urban system of interrelated parks
with basins, fountains and canals, the Garden District was "one of the
earliest expressions of the Greek Revival to appear in New Orleans,"
according to noted architect, the late Samuel Wilson, Jr. The streets
still bear the names of the nine muses of Greek Mythology, and many of
the mid-19th century Greek Revival and Italianate homes built in this
classical setting remain.
Today
stroll under the oaks of Coliseum Square or any of the smaller parks in
the Garden District and you are likely to find locals playing with
their dogs or reading on the grass. Walk down Magazine Street, the
neighborhood's commercial center, and feel the energy as antique shops
give way to contemporary design studios, offbeat clothing stores,
restaurants, and much more. Visitors can even find an old-world barber
shop, operated by Irish barber Aidan Gill, who offers Guinness and
whiskey with his hot towel shaves.
Dubbed
the "Garden District" for its capacious showy gardens, this New Orleans
Neighborhood is noted for its astounding scenery-just one of its
numerous attractions. Visitors are amazed by the elegant homes and the
stylish setting that lends itself to a very relaxing and enjoyable
experience for all.
Uptown
"To the typical Uptowner, New Orleans was Uptown," writes author Margaret LeCorgne.
The
Uptown District, beginning upriver of the Garden District and
stretching to Broadway, is a self-contained residential world. It's a
place where late 19th century homes are scrupulously maintained and
small scale restaurants and shops reinforce the feeling that you are
visiting a village, not a city.
Today's
Uptown retains many of the grand homes built in the 1890s along St.
Charles Avenue and in exclusive cul-de-sac developments like Rosa Park.
On oak-shaded streets intersecting St. Charles, frame houses with ample
galleries are the norm. Closer to the river, more modest shotguns built
to house 19th century workers are steadily being refurbished, insuring
that this premier urban residential neighborhood for over a century
will continue its legacy of gracious living.
Uptown
was part of lands granted to Louisiana Governor Jean Baptiste LeMoyne,
Sier de Bienville in 1719, then divided into smaller plantations in
1723. It wasn't until the 1884 World's Industrial and Cotton Centennial
Exposition on the present-day site of Audubon Park, however, that the
areas away from St. Charles experienced a building boom.
Today
you can experience what uptown has gained first hand by visiting the
shops, bistros, and galleries along Magazine Street. Two blocks away
from St. Charles Avenue, this stretch of stylish and eclectic shopping
is only a short streetcar ride away. A shopping haven for all those who
love fashion, great food, and lots of it, Magazine Street offers a
variety of stores and restaurants that make a very memorable experience.
Carrollton
Perhaps
it's the tree-shaded and spacious houses that make Carrollton feel
nostalgic, or perhaps it is the influence of Tulane and Loyola
universities that make the neighborhood feel like a college town.
Established as a rural resort community outside of New Orleans, the
neighborhood still has a laid-back feel.
In
1833 New Orleans Canal and Banking Co. purchased half of the McCarty
Plantation to obtain right of way for a planned extension of the New
Basin Canal. Investors Laurent Millaudon, Senator John Slidell and
Samuel Kohn bought the other half and hired planner Charles Zimpel to
create the street grid. By the 1850s, the town had a racetrack, fine
gardens, a hotel and an elegant train station.
New
Orleans family lore often includes stories of the "long" train ride up
St. Charles Avenue, sometimes with an overnight stop at Sacred Heart
Convent for the Catholic Creoles coming from the French Quarter and
beyond, to holiday in "The Historic Town of Carrollton."
Oak Street, one of Carrollton's main shopping districts, still has the
look and feel of the 1950s, while Maple Street offers small stores,
numerous coffee shops and a well established independent bookstore,
Maple Street Bookshop, in converted Victorian houses.
Good restaurants in all price ranges are plentiful in Carrollton,
including Matt and Naddie's and Dante's Kitchen, which sit across River
Road from the Mississippi Dine outside and enjoy the pleasant rumbles
as trains pass along the levee. For a late night bite, try famous
Camilla Grill near the corner of St. Charles and Carrolton.
The sounds of the River and the railroad and the streetcar still color
life in Carrollton, though this former resort is now solidly within
urban New Orleans.
