| Please Provide Information |
|
| |
|
|
|
| New Orleans Apartment Locator Services : New Orleans |  | Contents | |
| History |
New Orleans is a historic city. Sign at Jackson Square
in the French Quarter |
|
|
| New Orleans was founded in 1718 by
the French as La Nouvelle-Orléans, under the direction
of Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville. |
The site was selected because
it was a rare bit of natural high ground along the flood-prone
banks of the lower Mississippi, and was adjacent to a Native
American trading route and portage between the Mississippi
and Lake Pontchartrain via Bayou St. John (known to the natives
as Bayou Choupique). A community of French fur trappers and
traders had existed along the bayou (in what is now the middle
of New Orleans) for at least a decade before the official
founding of the city. Nouvelle-Orléans became the capital
of French Louisiana in 1722, replacing Biloxi in that role. |
19th Century
From early days it was noted for its cosmopolitan polyglot population
and mixture of cultures. The city grew rapidly, with influxes
of Americans, French and Creole French, many of the latter fleeing
from the revolution in Haiti. During the War of 1812 the British
sent a force to try to conquer the city, but they were defeated
by forces led by Andrew Jackson some miles down river from the
city at Chalmette, Louisiana on January 8, 1815 (commonly known
as the Battle of New Orleans).
20th Century
Much of the city is located below sea level between the Mississippi
River and Lake Pontchartrain, so the city is surrounded by levees.
Until the early 20th century, construction was largely limited
to the slightly higher ground along old natural river levees
and bayous, since much of the rest of the land was swampy and
subject to frequent flooding. This gave the 19th century city
the shape of a crescent along a bend of the Mississippi, the
origin of the nickname The Crescent City. In the 1910s engineer
and inventor A. Baldwin Wood enacted his ambitious plan to drain
the city, including large pumps of his own design which are
still used. All rain water must be pumped up to the canals which
drain into Lake Pontchartrain. Wood's pumps and drainage allowed
the city to expand greatly in area.
|
| | |
|
