Masonry Magazine October 1976 Page. 4
77 MEAA Convention & Show
Jan. 21-27
Jan. 23-25
Hyatt Regency
New Orleans
get into the spirit of ...
New Orleans
1977 MCAA Convention & Show
January 21-27 Hyatt Regency Hotel
In 1976 the United States is celebrating its 200th birthday, New Orleans celebrated her 250th anniversary almost a decade ago!
Sier de Bienville, who had sailed down from French-Canada in 1718, decided that the then water-logged strip of marsh land between the Mississippi River and Lake Pontchartrain would be the site of his new colony.
The orginal settlement occupied the 100-block area known as the Vieux Carre or the French Quarter, as it later became known. Here, besides the huge bend in the Mississippi that gives New Orleans its nickname, "The Crescent City" Bienville's men laid out the net grid of streets and began constructing an inadequate three-foot levee.
In 1762 France ceded New Orleans and all of its holdings west of the Mississippi to Spain. Then in 1800 the colony transferred back to French rule only to have the U.S. purchase it in 1803. At this time New Orleans had a population of about 10,000; five years later it had doubled. The city incorporated in 1805; and in 1812 when Louisiana became the 18th State, New Orleans became the capital.
By 1840, thanks to the powerful riverboats, the port of New Orleans was second only to New York in the amount of tonnage handled. By 1853 there were 1,500 plantations in Louisiana. This sudden growth came to a halt in 1861 when Louisiana seceded from the Union. New Orleans became the chief port and military center for the Confederacy and a prime military objective of the Union troops.
Reconstruction was extremely difficult for New Orleans, however, River traffic revived, and by the early part of the century the City again joined the ranks of major ports.
The spirit of New Orleans past casts its shadow over the French Quarter. Today, New Orleans, a major commercial center, is in the midst of great changes-the Rivergate, the International Trade Mart and the multi-million dollar Superdome along with a multitude of multi-storied structures shows the great vitality of its economy.
masonry • October, 1976