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The Big Easy is known around the world, a name that immediately evokes
images of smoky jazz clubs, lacy ironwork balconies, tropical patios, fine
old Creole restaurants, riverboats, and Carnival parades. One of the oldest
cities in the U.S., New Orleans was founded in 1718 by Jean Baptiste LeMoyne,
Sieur de Bienville. It was named for the French Regent, Philippe Duc
d'Orleans. In the beginning, it was little more than a remote outpost set in
swampland bounded by the Mississippi River and Lake Pontchartrain, a murky
backwater plagued by yellow fever, hurricanes, floods, and fires. When it
was named capital of the Louisiana territories in 1723, the total population
numbered fewer than 500 European colonists and 300 slaves, but a gracious
Creole society had already taken root. In 1762, when Louis XV of France
ceded "the island of New Orleans" and all of the Louisiana Territory west of
the Mississippi River to his cousin, Charles III of Spain, aristocratic
Spaniards continued the tradition of civilized life in the wilderness.
The sugar industry was booming, thanks to development of nearby
plantations, and the city's already legendary taste for high living was
raised to new heights in 1789 when it became a favored refuge for European
nobles and royal sympathizers fleeing the French Revolution. France regained
the territory briefly after the 1800 Treaty of San Ildefonso, but it was
resold to the U.S. by Napoleon I in 1803 for $15 million, a part of a
transaction known as The Louisiana Purchase.
Louisiana was admitted to the Union in 1812, and by 1840 New Orleans
had become the fourth-largest city in the U.S., with some 100,000 residents.
It was also the second-busiest port, with water traffic surpassed only by
New York. Travellers arrived by steamboat to join the thriving social life
enlivened by opera houses, restaurants, cafes, and bordellos. After
Louisiana joined the Confederacy in 1861, New Orleans quickly fell to Union
forces in 1862. The onset of the Reconstruction Era in 1865 caused
tremendous political upheaval and social unrest. The state was readmitted to
the Union in 1868 with a new constitution that granted voting rights to
African-American citizens for the first time, but municipal government was
not returned to local control until 1872.
By the 1880s, flooding and yellow fever epidemics had been greatly
reduced by new drainage systems, and a deeper navigational channel allowed
ocean-going freighters to travel up the Mississippi River. Around the turn
of the 20th century, syncopated ragtime was evolving into jazz at local
clubs, led by Buddy Bolden, Louis Armstrong, and other home-grown musicians.
In 1901 the first oil well was drilled upstate, a discovery that would
eventually replace many of the great riverfront plantations with
petrochemical plants. Louisiana had been dragged into the modern age.
There's still plenty of kicking and screaming, though, as city
residents and their guests try to hold onto the romance of the past. Here
the world moves slowly, life is meant to be savored, and trendy fads are
viewed with suspicion. Waves of immigration have stirred Spanish, English,
Irish, German, Italian, and Asian cultural flavors into the French- and
African-based melting pot. The French Quarter is still the main attraction,
but if you limit yourself to its considerable charms, you'll miss many other
rich experiences. Ride the streetcar through the oak canopy of St. Charles
Avenue, past the mansions of the Garden District to Audubon Park's
world-class zoo. Take a cruise on a paddlewheel steamer, swamp boat, or
river ferry. Club-hop through the wee hours to catch a world of new and
traditional sounds. Cheer on the Saints at the Louisiana Superdome or play a
round at one of City Park's four golf courses. Crack some boiled crabs at
one of the seafood restaurants on Lake Pontchartrain. View works by old
masters at New Orleans Museum of Art or emerging artists at the galleries
along Julia Street. Above all, follow local example and allow plenty of time
to relax. |
