Fun Facts About New Orleans History (Sun: appointed, restaurants, vs.)

[Neworleansisprettygood]

Originally Posted by Jimbo_1

I found this quote on the Wikipedia page:

"The Patrick F. Taylor Library, formerly known as the Howard Memorial Library, was built soon after Richardson's death. It is sometimes called "the only Richardson building located in the South".[38] Residents of New Orleans had wanted an example of Richardson's work, a native son of New Orleans. The office of Shepley, Rutan and Coolidge used a Richardson design which had been submitted and rejected some years earlier for a library in Saginaw, Michigan. This leads some, particularly those in New Orleans, to argue that the building can be said to be by Richardson; the counter argument is that the design was not originally intended for this location and the building was constructed after Richardson's death with no input from the architect beyond the initial design. The library building is currently part of the Ogden Museum of Southern Art."
File:NOCBDTaylorLibrary30Nov07.jpg - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Henry Hobson Richardson - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is another example in the city, Gibson Hall at Tulane.
File:Gibson Hall angle.jpg - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I can see why they rejected it...that building has always reminded me of a dungeon.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

[green_mariner]

Originally Posted by confusedasusual

I just learned that New Orleans used to have a overnight ferry that could take you to Havana, Cuba. I am fascinated by this (and sad I missed out by being born too late!) West India Fruit and Steamship Company - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I know that a lot of you on here are history buffs, so I thought I would start a thread with fun and interesting historical facts about our ville jolie. What are some fun and interesting tidbits you would care to share?

There is a blog entry you should read:
PanGeographic: The Original Gateway To Latin America.

[green_mariner]

Originally Posted by Neworleansisprettygood

On the same note, New Orleans was home to Standard Fruit (now Dole) and United Fruit (Chiquita). They exerted so much pull in Latin America that the term "banana republic" was born.

The Cuban flag, as we know it today, was first flown on Poydras St. There's a plaque outside the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Ska came about largely through the influence of New Orleans radio stations. Their powerful signals would reach all the way into the Caribbean.

New Orleans currently has a sizable Honduran population, one of the largest in the USA. What many people don't is that Hondurans in New Orleans are not anything new. Hondurans have been living in the New Orleans area since the early 20th Century. The Standard Fruit Company was big in Honduras and bananas were shipped from there to New Orleans. Many Hondurans worked for Standard Fruit Company and many went to New Orleans. Some enrolled in the Catholic schools in New Orleans.

New Orleans’ Latin Flavor

[Neworleansisprettygood]

Originally Posted by green_mariner

New Orleans currently has a sizable Honduran population, one of the largest in the USA. What many people don't is that Hondurans in New Orleans are not anything new. Hondurans have been living in the New Orleans area since the early 20th Century. The Standard Fruit Company was big in Honduras and bananas were shipped from there to New Orleans. Many Hondurans worked for Standard Fruit Company and many went to New Orleans. Some enrolled in the Catholic schools in New Orleans.

New Orleans’ Latin Flavor

Yep. It's not uncommon to see someone driving with a Honduran flag hanging from their rearview mirror.

Oh, and pupusas: $$$

[green_mariner]

Originally Posted by Neworleansisprettygood

Yep. It's not uncommon to see someone driving with a Honduran flag hanging from their rearview mirror.

Oh, and pupusas: $$$

My cousin had a few Honduran classmates.

I've never had a pupusa.

New Orleans also became home to Cubans fleeing Castro.

New Orleans was a major gateway to and from Latin America long before Miami. It had a Latin flavor long before Miami even existed.

[FueledByBlueBell]

I love this thread!

[green_mariner]

Originally Posted by FueledByBlueBell

I love this thread!

So do I. New Orleans has more Spanish and Latin influences than many people realize. Jambalaya actually came from the Spanish. It was based on the Spanish rice dish paella. And as one person said, there was alot of travel between New Orleans and Cuba.

[moiraesfate]

I have a ghost story for you that I learned on the Haunted History tour.

Our tour guide called it "The Singing Morning".

As we all know, New Orleans was settled by the French. Some stories go that it was criminals that settled it, but I'm not sure how true that is.

Well, the city had been here a while, and honestly there wasn't much money coming from it and the French king was starting to see it as a money pit. So he entered into negotiations with Spain. And he didn't bother to tell New Orleanians he was doing it.

Suddenly, a bunch of Spanish showed up on the shores of New Orleans. When the French town leaders (don't think there was a mayor at that point) went out to greet them, the Spanish told them that they were there to take over. The response, as you can expect, was in the realm of "hell no". But the Spanish took over, whether the locals liked it or not, with guns and fists as needed.

Of course, this ticked off the locals very badly, and they rose up against what they perceived to be invaders. They grabbed the Spanish, stripped them of their clothing, tied them to the mast of their boat, and sent them back down the river to the nearest Spanish fort.

Of course, the Spanish were ticked off at this and sent trained Spanish soldiers back down the river. The Spanish soldiers quickly put down the rebellion and captured several people they called the leaders of the rebellion. Whether they actually were or not is up for debate, but they hung the poor men in Jackson Square and staked their bodies out for the public to see as examples of what happens if they rebel.

Now, at that time, St Louis wasn't a Cathedral, but a Bastion instead. A very small church made of wood that was only a story or two high with a graveyard out back.

The church priest begged the Spanish to let him take the bodies down and give them a proper Christian burial. The Spanish, of course, absolutely refused.

What follows is considered the Three Miracles.

The priest prayed hard all day, and deep in the night it began to pour rain. And not just pour. It was a deluge. So bad that the guards that were making sure no one could tear down the bodies were forced to take refuge under the eves of the church. They couldn't see out in to the rain at all. This is called the First Miracle.

Out comes the Priest from the back of the church, along with some town members. They walked out to Jackson Square and cut down the bodies without being seen by the guards. This is called the Second Miracle.

And the group took the bodies down the side alley of the church all the while singing hymns at the top of their lungs to bless the bodies of their friends, and then to the back of the church where they dug graves for them and performed the Catholic rights. All the while, singing hymns. The fact that the guards heard nothing at all is called the Third Miracle.

It had rained so hard that the fact that there had been digging had been completed covered up and the Spanish never knew what happened.

It is said to this day, that if you are standing outside St Louis when it's raining at dawn, and in just the right circumstances, you can hear the sound of singing coming from the side of the church where the bodies were carried.

And that is the ghost story. I know lots more. Hope you liked this one. I don't know how much of it is true.

[MelismaticEchoes]

Originally Posted by confusedasusual

I just learned that New Orleans used to have a overnight ferry that could take you to Havana, Cuba. I am fascinated by this (and sad I missed out by being born too late!) West India Fruit and Steamship Company - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I know that a lot of you on here are history buffs, so I thought I would start a thread with fun and interesting historical facts about our ville jolie. What are some fun and interesting tidbits you would care to share?

A good interview with author and scholar Dr. Gwendolyn Midlo Hall on New Orleans and Louisiana (with information and audio interview link attached)

This woman breaks down the cultural history and synthesis of Louisiana to the core. She also goes into detail about some of the connections to Cuba:

Gwendolyn Midlo Hall • Hip Deep • Afropop Worldwide

[MelismaticEchoes]

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