New Orleans tourist information

New Orleans was founded in 1718 by the French Mississippi Company as la Nouvelle-Orléans, under the direction of Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville. The site was selected because of its relatively high elevation along the flood-prone banks of the Lower Mississippi River and its location adjacent to a Native American trading route and portage between the river and Lake Pontchartrain.

France, Spain and the USA
In 1763, the French colony was ceded to the Spanish Empire and remained under Spanish control for 40 years. Most of the surviving architecture of the French Quarter dates from this Spanish period. Louisiana reverted to French control in 1801, but two years later Napoleon sold it to the United States in the Louisiana Purchase. The city grew rapidly, with influxes of Americans, French and Creole French.

Andrew Jackson and the Battle of New Orleans
During the War of 1812 the British sent a force to conquer the city. The British were defeated by American forces led by Andrew Jackson in the Battle of New Orleans on January 8, 1815. However, a peace treaty was signed between the United States and Britain on December 24, 1814, and news of the treaty did not reach the United States in time to prevent the battle from occurring.

We are Rich
By 1840, New Orleans had become by far the wealthiest and was ranked as the third most populous city in the nation being beat by Baltimore by only 119 people. Since that time, the city is now the thirteenth poorest large city in the Nation. Up until 1960 New Orleans had consistently been ranked the fifthtenth largest City in the U.S. but since that time, the city has shrunken to the thirty-fifth largest city in the U.S.

The population of the city doubled in the 1830s, and by 1840 the city's population was over 100,000—one of the largest cities in the U.S. Population growth was frequently interrupted by yellow fever epidemics, the last of which occurred in 1905.

Slave Trade
As a principal port, New Orleans had a leading role in the slave trade, while at the same time having the most prosperous community of free persons of color in the South. Early in the American Civil War New Orleans was captured by the Union. Ironically, this action spared the city the destruction suffered by many other cities of the American South.

A. Baldwin Wood and his Pump
In the early 20th century, New Orleans was a progressive major city whose most portentous development was a drainage plan devised by engineer and inventor A. Baldwin Wood. Urban development theretofore was largely limited to higher ground along natural river levees and bayous. Wood's pump system allowed the city to expand into low-lying areas. Over the 20th century, rapid subsidence, both natural and human-induced, left these newly-populated areas several feet below sea level.

1995 Rain Revealed Vulnerabilities
New Orleans was vulnerable to flooding even before the age of negative elevation. In the late 20th century, however, scientists and New Orleans residents gradually became aware of the city's increased vulnerability. Hurricane Betsy in 1965 had killed dozens of residents even though the majority of the city remained dry. The rain-induced 1995 flood demonstrated the weakness of the pumping system.

Hurricane Katrina
By the time Hurricane Katrina approached the city at the end of August 2005, most residents had evacuated. Storm surge pushed ashore by the hurricane caused the city to suffer the worst civil engineering disaster in American history. Floodwalls constructed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers failed, and 80% of the city flooded. Tens of thousands of remaining residents were rescued by helicopter or otherwise made their way to shelters of last resort at the Superdome or the convention center. Over 1,300 people died.

Hurricane Rita
The city was declared off-limits to residents while clean-up efforts began. The approach of Hurricane Rita caused repopulation efforts to be postponed, and the Lower Ninth Ward was reflooded by Rita's storm surge. By October 1, parts of the city accounting for about one-third of the population of New Orleans had been reopened.

Clean Up
As of July 2006, efforts continue to clean up debris and restore infrastructure. Although most of the city has reopened to residents, and areas that suffered moderate damage have substantially resumed functioning, the parts of the city most severely damaged still have irregular utilities and city services, and the most severely damaged section of the Lower Ninth Ward is still not officially open for residents to return to live.

International Airport
The metropolitan area is served by Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport, located approximately nine miles west of the city in the suburb of Kenner. Prior to Hurricane Katrina, it served millions of passengers on approximately 300 nonstop flights per day to or from destinations throughout the United States, Canada, Latin America, and the Caribbean. The airport also handled a significant amount of charter operations to/from Europe, with which it's had a significant degree of success in retrieving. As of June 2006, Armstrong International is projected to return to 57% of its pre-Katrina total traffic, by seat-count.

Within the city itself is Lakefront Airport, a small, general aviation airport, as well as the New Orleans Downtown Heliport, located on the roof of the Louisiana Superdome's parking garage. There are also several regional airports located throughout the metropolitan area.

Amtrak
The city is also served by rail via Amtrak. The New Orleans Union Passenger Terminal is the central rail depot, and it is served by three trains: the Crescent to New York City, the City of New Orleans to Chicago, Illinois, and the Sunset Limited from Orlando to Los Angeles.

In addition, the city is served by six Class I freight railroads. Union Pacific Railroad and BNSF Railway approach the city from the west, Norfolk Southern Railway and CSX from the east, and the Canadian National Railway and Kansas City Southern Railway from the north.

Public Transportation
Public transportation in the city is operated by New Orleans Regional Transit Authority ("RTA"). In addition to the many bus routes connecting the city and suburban areas, there are three active streetcar lines moved by electric motors powered by DC wires overhead. The St. Charles line (green cars, formerly connecting New Orleans with the then independent suburb of Carrollton) is the oldest continuously operating streetcar line in New Orleans and a historic landmark.

The Riverfront line (also known as the Ladies in Red since the cars are painted red) runs parallel to the river from Canal Street through the French Quarter to the Convention Center above Julia Street in the Arts District. The Canal Street line uses the Riverfront line tracks from Esplanade Street to Canal Street, then branches off down Canal Street and ends at the cemeteries at City Park Avenue with a spur running from the intersection of Canal and Carrollton Avenue to the entrance of City Park at Esplanade near the entrance to the New Orleans Museum of Art.

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The city's streetcars were also featured in the Tennessee Williams play, A Streetcar Named Desire. The streetcar line to Desire Street became a bus line in 1948. There are proposals to revive a Desire light rail streetcar line.

As of April 2006, the St. Charles streetcar line is still not operational due to overhead wire damage from Hurricane Katrina. The Canal line is functioning, but the red cars were flooded by the hurricane, so the green cars are currently running on the Canal line.

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