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| From 1855 to 1874, before the town of Carrollton was annexed by the city of New Orleans, it was the seat of government for Jefferson Parish and this building served as its courthouse. (Before 1852, the seat of Jefferson Parish had been in the town of Lafayette--now the Garden District--but the city had annexed it in 1852.) The town of Carrollton was annexed by New Orleans in 1874 and, several years later, the city purchased the Courthouse and renovated it to make it a school. In 1889, ready for its first students, it was named after the man whose bequest had made the purchase possible and became John McDonogh No. 23 school. It remained one of the many McDonogh schools in New Orleans until 1950. After that, the building was vacant for several years, then opened, once more, as a school, this time as Benjamin Franklin Senior High School. In 1990, requiring more space, Ben Franklin School moved onto the campus of the University of New Orleans on the lakefront. For a few years, the building was used as an extension of the Lusher Elementary School. But, it serves today as the Audubon Charter School, still serving the children of New Orleans, as it has done for almost 120 years. The photo above and the next three below were taken in the early 1900's, when it was McDonogh No. 23. |
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| The Old Carrollton Courthouse: Building with a History ~McDonogh No. 23 School~ ~Ben Franklin Senior High School~ |
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| The land where the town of Carrollton was located has an interesting history. It was once a part of Jean Baptiste LeMoyne, Sier de Bienville's original 1719 land grant. And, later, it became a part of the huge McCarty Plantation. In the 1830's, investors John Slidell, Laurent Millaudon and Samuel Kohn purchased part of the plantation and hired planner Charles Zimpel to create a street grid for the new community of Carrollton. By the 1850's, Carrollton was booming and was a favorite weekend get-away for New Orleanians, sometimes stopping on the train journey to spend the night at the Sacred Heart Convent on St. Charles Avenue. (Something that's truly hard for us to imagine, when the same Carrollton location is only a 20 minute drive from the French Quarter today!) |
| The Carrollton Courthouse, ca. 1950's. |
| The famous New Orleans architect, Henry Howard, designed the Carrollton Courthouse. He is well known as the architect who designed, among many other homes and buildings, Madewood and Nottoway Plantations. He was one of the most successful and famous architects who ever called the city home. He'd immigrated to New Orleans from County Cork, Ireland. |
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| The Carrollton Courthouse - Audubon Charter School, 2007 |
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