BATON ROUGE, La. – Officials from the Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism, City of New Orleans, Housing Authority of New Orleans, and local elected leaders unveiled a series of banners depicting the history of Basin Street in New Orleans at an outdoor ceremony at the Bienville Basin Development at 393 Basin Street. The announcement was shared in a press release.
The banners take people through time, from the site’s original Storyville neighborhood in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s, to the development and demolition of the Iberville Housing Development, to the current $600 million Bienville Basin Development. The banners are displayed in both English and French.
“These banners will serve as a history lesson on the storied past of New Orleans and bring that past to the present,” said Lt. Governor Billy Nungesser. “As we celebrate 300 years of New Orleans history, this is an opportunity to honor one of the city’s oldest neighborhoods, an area where so much culture has been derived from the inception of Jazz music to the lifestyle of a working-class neighborhood.”
The banners were made possible by the Louisiana Office of Cultural Development’s Divisions of Archeology and Historic Preservation, in partnership with the Housing Authority of New Orleans (HANO) and Historic Restoration Inc. (HRI) Properties.
“The banners being unveiled on Basin Street are a fitting addition to our city’s Tricentennial celebration,” said New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell. “The history of Storyville is a crucial part of the story of New Orleans, and this project is a beautiful and unique way of telling that story.”
“Through our partnership with HANO and HRI, we’re able to showcase the transformation of the Basin Street area over the past 250 years. The banners will serve as a way to tell the story of the captivating history of the neighborhood through pictures and artifacts unearthed through the excavation of the site,” said Kristin Sanders, assistant secretary for the Office of Cultural Development.
In 2011, HANO received a federal grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to improve the sustainability of the neighborhood and increase access to high-quality services. Demolition of the Iberville Housing Projects began in 2013 making way for the Bienville Basin Development.
During construction of Bienville Basin, archaeologists excavated numerous sites in the area, unearthing remains of buildings and artifacts giving more insight into the lives of those who once called the area home. Items such as smoking pipes, ginger beer bottles, and porcelain jars to blue green glass gothic-style glass pickle jars, glass pharmaceutical bottles, and gaming devices such as dice capture the daily lives of the people who lived and visited there. Some of the artifacts found are displayed on the banners unveiled today.
“Although much of the history of New Orleans can be seen in its buildings, there is so much more we can learn about the development of its culture from what’s buried beneath the ground,” added Sanders.
Originally the site of the Storyville neighborhood from 1897 until its closure in 1917, the city demolished many of the buildings in the 1930s to make way for the Iberville Housing Development. Only three buildings remain, which include Lulu White’s Saloon on Basin Street (now Basin Supermarket), Frank Early’s My Place Saloon on Bienville Street (now New Image Supermarket), and Joe Victor’s Saloon on St. Louis Street (now French Quarter Food Mart). The Iberville Housing Development was constructed in the 1940s and included 75 residential buildings with 858 units. Bienville Basin neighborhood includes 682 mixed-income residential units.
Source: Department of Culture, Recreation & Tourism
