LAKEFRONT / LAKESHORE

In 1924 a grand reclamation project was commissioned to upgrade the New Orleans lakefront by improving the levee system and constructing a concrete seawall five and a half miles long. They extended this wall of steps approximately three thousand feet from the existing shoreline to create 2,000 acres of new land that was extremely high compared to the elevation of most areas of the rest of the city.

This land would become the lakefront developments of the New Orleans Levee Board. Before the land could be open for development, other areas of the city were seeing new homes sprout up. In addition, various military installations had to be demolished to make way for these new subdivisions. Lake Vista was the first ready for residential development with lots for sale as early as 1938, but the war years put things on hold. Building materials were promised just a few months after the war. Lake Terrace was ready for development in 1953. East and West Lakeshore, divided by Canal Boulevard, was finished in 1955.

LSUNO, using the navy buildings built during the war, would come along in 1958. It is UNO today, and its campus is divided by Lake Oaks which was ready for development in 1964. Lake Oaks is just to the east of Elysian Fields, the route of the third oldest railroad in the nation. Known affectionately as Old Smoky Mary, it ran from river to lake to what was then known as Milneburg. East and West Lakeshore (once the site of the Navy and Army hospitals) have streets named for gemstones. Jewel Street connects the two Lakeshores.

Lake Vista, whose streets are named for birds, was laid out in a design similar to a development in Radburn, New Jersey. It has a central common with all cul-de-sac streets radiating out to the perimeter and tree-lined pedestrian lanes in between. The idea was that one could walk to church, school and shopping without ever crossing a street.

Lake Terrace has some of the bird streets continuing eastward across Bayou St. John plus some of the streets named by Alexander Milne in the nineteenth century. Milne named his major east-west thoroughfare Edinburgh since he was a native Scot, but in 1923 it was given the Irish name of Hibernia. Paris Avenue, also named by Milne, divides Lake Terrace as it runs to the Lake. The London Avenue Canal divides Lake Terrace and the UNO campus. Lake Oaks also has bird streets running east and west with some of Faubourg Marigny's streets running north and south.

Fort St. John guarded the mouth of the bayou at Lake Pontchartrain later to become a resort and amusement area at Old Spanish Fort. The fort had been built by the French in 1701 before the founding of New Orleans and rebuilt by Carondelet in the late 1700s. The amusement park opened the same year as the Whitney Bank, 1883, but closed in 1903 when train service ended. The amusement park reopened in 1911 and continued as the "Spanish Fort" amusement park until 1926. In 1928 a new facility was built on the lakefront at Bayou St. John called Pontchartrain Beach. Since the fill from the lake had not been given enough time to settle, a better site was needed. Harry Batt, Sr., who had become the sole owner of the first Pontchartrain Beach in 1934, supervised the park's transfer to the end of Elysian Fields in 1939.

The Milneburg Lighthouse was still there, and soon the park would see the Zephyr and many other wonderful rides and attractions. The Bali Hai was a favorite evening stop for exotic drinks with a Polynesian flare. The Beach closed in the 1980s. West End, on the western edge of the Lakefront, is home to the Southern Yacht Club (the second oldest in the United States) and great seafood restaurants like Bruning's (established 1859, the third oldest restaurant in New Orleans). Robert E. Lee Boulevard is the major east-west thoroughfare, and it was once named Adams Ave.

The famous Rockery Inn was on the corner of Robert E. Lee and Canal Boulevard near the entrance to East and West Lakeshore. Years before a drive-in was located in this vicinity. All along the lake is a great green area with people enjoying the beautiful view. The Mardi Gras Fountain is a favorite site along the lakefront.