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City Park Neighborhood Snapshot

Census 2000 Data Tables: People & Household CharacteristicsHousing & Housing Costs, Income & Poverty, Transportation, Employment, Educational Attainment, Immigration & Language, Disabilities, Neighborhood Characteristics

The City Park neighborhood consists of the park itself plus the residential area immediately south of the park. The households in this area are of mixed income. With a population of approximately 5% Hispanic, this neighborhood has one of the largest Hispanic populations in Orleans Parish (Census 2000).

Snapshots of City Park’s history

The ground in the City Park neighborhood was high and fertile, lying along Bayou St. John and Bayou Tchoupitoulas (Metairie). Thus, in the early 1700s, several plantations developed there. Ferdinand d’Hemecourt acquired the area, running along Metairie Road from Bayou St. John to St. Patrick Cemetery.


Image courtesy New Orleans Public Library (nutrias.org). Permission for reuse required

  Peristyle, City Park. Date unknown. [From the Harry D. Johnson Collection]
   

John Arrowsmith purchased the property from d’Hemecourt and named the area Faubourg Jackson and subdivided much of it in the 1830s into 46 lots fronting on Metairie Road. Arrowsmith sold the area shortly after it was subdivided.

The land along Bayou St. John was used for recreational purposes during the 19th and early 20th centuries. Baseball was the favorite sport of those who frequented the area.

Although the area was higher than land in the rest of the city of New Orleans, it still suffered from flooding. The construction of pumping stations in the latter part of the nineteenth century facilitated development. The Canal and Esplanade Belt Line, the Dumaine Electric Line and the Spanish Fort and Canal Street Car Lines provided transportation to the area.


Image courtesy New Orleans Public Library (nutrias.org). Permission for reuse required.

  One of the entrances to City Park, circa turn of the century. [C. Milo Williams Photograph Collection]  
     

City Park

Bordering the area on the north is City Park, the city’s largest park. The park is the highlight of this neighborhood. The original City Park, since enlarged by several acquisitions, was the sugar plantation of Louis and Robert Allard. The Consolidated Association of Planters of Louisiana foreclosed the mortgage on the Allard Plantation in 1845. Shortly thereafter, it was purchased by John McDonogh, who willed the land to the cities of New Orleans and Baltimore (where he was born) in 1850. Baltimore’s share was acquired by New Orleans in 1854 after it defaulted on taxes on the land.

In 1872, the first substantial effort was made to improve the land as a park. Bogart and Culter, designers of New York’s Central Park, drew up plans for City Park. Many years passed before implementation of the design. In 1891, Victor Anseman sparked renewed interest in the park and organized the City Park Improvement Association. Finally, the swampy land was drained, the underbrush cleared, and the muddy stagnant bayous were transformed into winding lagoons arched by artistic bridges.


Courtesy New Orleans Museum of Art (noma.org)

New Orleans Museum of Art, at One Collins C. Diboll Circle at City Park.  
   

The park was expanded through separate purchases from the 1890s through 1927 when the park extended to the lake. Presently the park is 1,500 acres. The Delgado Museum of Art, now called New Orleans Museum of Art, built in 1911, was fashioned after a Greek temple and terminates the entrance drive to City Park from Esplanade Avenue. Nearly every tree found in Louisiana is represented in City Park. Of special interest is the “Dueling Oaks” (giant live oaks) found in the park. City Park is one of the most beautiful and well-maintained attractions in New Orleans.

For more information:

123 New Orleans.com travel guide to City Park and Bayou St. John
www.123neworleans.com/city-park-st-john.htm

The official website of New Orleans’ City Park. Read about City Park’s many facilities including golf courses, tennis courts, softball diamonds, Storyland, and the botanical garden. The web site has calendar of events hosted throughout the year in City Park and hours of operation.
www.neworleanscitypark.com/

The Dueling Oaks website describes the many duels that took place in City Park between French New Orleanians
www.duellingoaks.com/

official website of the New Orleans Museum of Art. Learn about the museum’s upcoming special exhibits, permanent collection, events, and programs.
www.noma.org/

Old photos of City Park from the Harry D. Johnson Collection
www.nutrias.org/%7Enopl/monthly/sept99/sept99.htm

Photos of Roosevelt speaking to a crowd in City Park
hnutrias.org/monthly/oct2000/fdr11.htm

More Photos of Roosevelt speaking to a crowd in City Park
nutrias.org/monthly/oct2000/fdr3.htm

1999 Land Use Plan New Orleans City Planning Commission
www.new-orleans.la.us/cnoweb/cpc/1999_dist_nine.htm

Carll, Angela. “Historical Parks and Bayous.” Times Picayune. July 8, 2001.

Neighborhood Profiles Project Document prepared by the City of New Orleans Office of Policy Planning and the City Planning Commission. Published December 1980. Study available at the Williams Research Center (non-circulating collection).

Census 2000 Data Tables: People & Household CharacteristicsHousing & Housing Costs, Income & Poverty, Transportation, Employment, Educational Attainment, Immigration & Language, Disabilities, Neighborhood Characteristics

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Last modified: October 8, 2002