<GNOCDC> St. Claude Neighborhood Snapshot

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This information is pre-Katrina.
Although the information on this page is out-of-date, we are continuing to make it available, as it provides insight about this neighborhood pre-Katrina.

Post-Katrina, we will not be making any changes or updates to this page. As a result, you may find outdated information and broken links.

For current data about New Orleans and its neighborhoods, visit our homepage.

St. Claude Neighborhood Snapshot

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

The famous streetcar named Desire ran through the St. Claude community. It is slated to be resurrected and will run down St. Claude Avenue to the industrial canal bringing much needed transportation to the community (see links at the bottom of this page for more about this streetcar).

The neighborhood derives its name from St. Claude Avenue, the neighborhood’s southern border. St. Claude Avenue runs through several neighborhoods, including, Marigny, Bywater, and the Lower Ninth Ward. It was originally named “Good Children Street” but was changed to honor Claude Treme, a wealthy landowner of the period.

	© GNO Community Data Center
	Railroad Tracks near Oliver Yard

A little history

Early maps of the city indicate that part of the St. Claude neighborhood was cypress swamp. With increasing pressure for living space, the St. Claude area continued to grow toward Pontchartrain Lake in the mid-1800s. There was access to the neighborhood through the Pontchartrain Railroad and the Mexican Gulf Railroad. In spite of the railroad access, growth was slow, perhaps because of drainage difficulties in the neighborhood.

In 1899, Orleans Parish passed its original legislation providing for drainage of back-swamp areas. Within ten years most of the middle city had been drained. The St. Claude neighborhood was served by the Franklin Avenue Canal, the Florida Avenue Canal and the Alvar Street Canal. These canals, dug at the turn of the century, were covered between 1919 and 1935 and subsurface drainage was installed. Finally, this made the area more desirable for development.

Residential settlement was complete by 1950. The Industrial Canal, completed in 1923, encouraged development of light industry in the St. Claude area and increased the level of railroad development. By 1946 the Gulf, Mobile, and Ohio Railroad was running alongside the Industrial Canal, the Louisville and Nashville Railroad along Almonaster, the New Orleans and Northeastern Railroad along Peoples, and the Public Belt Railroad along Florida Avenue.

Some community landmarks

	Image courtesy New Orleans Public Library (nutrias.org). Permission for reuse required.
	The Alvar Street Branch library opened in 1940. It was built by WPA.

The Alvar Branch of the New Orleans Public Library is located in St. Claude. It was renovated in 1982 and offers the community a collection of fiction, non-fiction, reference materials and African-American literature and history. The Bunny Field Playground is a place for children to gather after school. The beautiful and historic Vincent De Paul Cemetery is located in St. Claude.

The Kwan Tai Foundation is a community-based organization in St. Claude. The St. Claude Medical Center offers health services to the neighborhood.

Some more resources about St. Claude

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

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).

Times Picayune July 4, 2001. Census 2000 Neighborhood Case Studies A-10-11.

For more information about the Desire Streetcar

New Orleans All Time List of Streetcar Route Numbers
www-faculty.cs.uiuc.edu/~friedman/canal/CanalRoutes.htm

APTA Heritage Trolley Site
www.heritagetrolley.org/existNewOrleansRTOL12.htm

Streetcar to run down St. Claude
www.fta.dot.gov/library/policy/ns/ns2001/19desire.html

RTA New Orleans Desire Study
www.fta.dot.gov/library/money/3jfund/1998/nodesire.htm

Home Pre Katrina Home Orleans Parish Bywater District St. Claude Snapshot

Last modified: October 5, 2002