Historic Preservation Excellence

November 30, 2013 by Charlie London

LLSlogopreservation-award

Louisiana Landmarks Society
Awards for Excellence in Historic Preservation

LLS announces the inaugural Louisiana Landmarks Society Awards for Excellence in Historic Preservation. These awards will honor projects completed in Orleans Parish (outside of the French Quarter) in 2012 or 2013 that represent outstanding examples of restoration or rehabilitation of historic buildings, as well as new construction in a historic district.Nominations for the 2014 Awards may be submitted from individuals, companies, or organizations. Nominations should be submitted via a nomination form on the LLS website starting today. The deadline for nominations is January 15, 2014. Of particular interest are projects which:

  • Demonstrate that historic preservation can be a tool to revitalize older neighborhoods
  • Show that historic preservation is “green” and sustainable
  • Support the cultural and ethnic diversity of the preservation movement
  • Are creative examples of saving a historic building
  • Involve properties that utilized various federal or state tax incentive programs
  • Represent new design that is appropriate to historic neighborhoods

“It is important to recognize the extraordinary investment of time, money, effort, and attention to detail that is required to create projects that stand out in a city known for historic preservation,” said Elliott Perkins, executive director of the Historic District Landmarks Commission.The Selection Committee includes representatives from Louisiana’s State Historic Preservation Office, New Orleans and CBD Historic District Landmarks Commissions, Tulane School of Architecture and the Louisiana Landmarks Society.

“We are excited to be able to continue this important awards program, and to inaugurate it in 2014, marking fifty years since Louisiana Landmarks Society saved the Pitot House,” said Walter Gallas, LLS Executive Director.

The 2014 Louisiana Landmarks Society Awards for Excellence in Historic Preservation winners will be presented at a luncheon on April 9, 2014.

We encourage you to nominate projects you may know, and to spread the word. Questions can be sent to [email protected] or by calling 504.482.0312.

NOMINATE A PROJECT

If you have a project to nominate for the 2014 Awards, please submit your project before January 15, 2014.
NOMINATE A PROJECT

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Filed Under: Featured, HISTORY Tagged With: bayou, bayou st john, best new orleans neighborhood, faubourg st john, history, history of new orleans, housing, landmarks, louisiana, louisiana landmarks, new orleans best neighborhood, preservation

Bayou St. John is the Reason for New Orleans

March 25, 2013 by Charlie London

by Angela Carll
Times Picayune – November 15, 1985
Bayou St. John is the reason New Orleans is located where it is. The bayou provided a connection from the Mississippi River overland via an old Indian path to Lake Ponchartrain.

A number of historic landmarks still stand in this neighborhood to remind visitors of the city’s heritage.

The Old Spanish Custom House, built in 1784 at the corner of Moss Street and Grand Route Saint John, is the oldest structure in this neighborhood.
Another renowned home is the Pitot House, named for James Pitot, the second mayor of New Orleans. Built in 1799 at 1370 Moss Street, the Pitot House was later moved a short distance up the bayou to 1440 Moss in 1970.

The Tivoli amusement park once stood where the Pitot House is now. It featured a pavillion, orange trees, and dances were held there on Sundays.

Much of Bayou St. John remained swampy and unable to be developed while the city was attempting to drain the area, which was called “back of town” as early as 1835.

In 1866, the city started using the bayou as a drainage receptacle, and a community of houseboats grew up along it. In 1936, the State House of Representatives declared the bayou a non-navigable stream.

Fort St. John, where the bayou and lake meet, was originally built as a fortification by the French and later became the most prominent resort area in New Orleans during the 1930s. The Old Spanish Fort still stands on this site.

The fort is a modern-day battleground. The Orleans Levee Board has proposed replacing the Lakeshore Drive bridge that spans the bayou at its entrance to the lake with a grade-level crossing using culverts for water to flow back and forth from the lake to the bayou.

Members of the Bayou St. John Improvement Association have sued the Levee Board to halt construction, arguing that wind moves water currents and that the City Park lagoons which are fed by water from the bayou will soon stagnate. They also contend that closing the mouth of the bayou will damage an important part of the city’s historical heritage. (The “waterfall dam” near the mouth of Bayou St. John was removed in 2013. Please visit the link for more information: https://fsjna.org/2012/08/update-on-dam-removal/)

Although the bayou today lacks even the rowing clubs, which were popular in the last century, a drive along its curving shore shows typical Louisiana country homes. It still exists to remind us of New Orleans’ earliest beginnings, and why the city was built in a place that seems most improbable to us today.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW A PDF OF THE ORIGINAL ARTICLE.

Faubourg St. John was a community ten years before the founding of New Orleans in 1718.

Click on the map of Faubourg St. John for a larger view.

For more information, please visit the ABOUT and HISTORY tabs at FSJNA dot ORG

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