| OUT TO OLD WEST END |
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| Aerial view of the New Basin Canal at West End, after the hurricane of 1947 |
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| West End bridge across New Basin Canal, with hotel in background, 1901, by Mugnier |
| Boat pulling logs on New Basin Canal; Southern Yacht Club on right; West End on left; the canal was filled in in the late 1940's |
| Above, West End Hotel & Restaurant, 1901, by Mugnier; below, West End, 1915. |
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| Lake House Restaurant at West End,1890's |
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| West End Park, 1951, with restaurants, Swanson's and Fontana's. West End Park was almost entirely destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. |
| Known originally as the New Canal Lighthouse, this well known landmark was constructed in 1838 to mark the entrance to the New Basin Canal at Lake Pontchartrain. The lighthouse survived for 167 years, but sadly fell victim to Hurricane Katrina in 2005. There is an effort under way by the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation to rebuild it. To check their progress or to see how you can help, click here. |
| The bar at Bruning's Restaurant, early 1900's, by Mugnier. With many thanks to Jerlyn Werner Courtney for identifying this location and for sharing information about Bruning's, which, for so many years, was a familiar landmark at West End: "The restaurant was named Bruning's because my Dad, Gus Werner, married Cap. Bruning's daughter and took over running the restaurant after the death of his father-in-law. The long bar shown in [these photos] was made by Brunswick Manufacturing in 1849." Jerlyn's family, also, owned The Bounty Restaurant at West End. Members of Jerlyn's extended family lost 18 homes in the Lakeview neighborhood of New Orleans, after the levees failed during Hurriane Katrina. So many in the city have lost so much...and not only their homes and belongings, but so much of their families' histories and collective memories. |
| West End Summer Resort New Basin Canal at Lake Pontchartrain |
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| West End Resort Pavilions, 1901, by Mugnier |
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| Bridge over New Basin Canal at West End Resort, ca 1890 |
| Construction began on the West End Summer Resort (first known as New Lake End) in 1871, at the site where the New Basin Canal met Lake Pontchartrain. In the early 1900's, an amusement park was added. It was a popular and fashionable resort, where New Orleanians retreated from the city in the summer to catch lake breezes and enjoy dining at the hotel's fine restaurant or to be entertained by band concerts at the open pavilions. Boating was a popular pastime, as well, and the Southern Yacht Club, formed in 1849, was located across the canal from West End Resort. West End Resort and Park closed in the 1920's, after a land reclamation project destroyed many of its structures. |
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| West End Amusement Park, 1915 |
| West End Resort Pavilions, 1915 |
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| Southern Yacht Club, pictured above on New Basin Canal at West End, in 1901; the Southern Yacht Club is the 2nd oldest yacht club in America, having been formed in 1849. The building pictured above was built in 1899; it was replaced in 1949 and that building, with several renovations, stood until 2005, when it was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. |
| Click on photo below to see larger image. |
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| West End Boulevard at Mouton, 1940's; the median or, as it's known in New Orleans, the neutral ground on the right is the site of the former New Basin Canal. |
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| The New Basin Canal, also, known as the "New Canal," was dug as a shipping channel, from the lake to the center of New Orleans, in the 1830's, mainly by Irish immigrants. They paid dearly for the privilege of earning one dollar a day in this dangerous, back-breaking work. No official count was kept, but estimates range to over 20,000 Irish laborers losing their lives in the construction of the New Basin Canal. Many were simply buried in the levee or roadway fill next to the canal. Several years ago, the Irish Cultural Society placed a large Celtic cross nearby to memorialize the workers who lost their lives. Nancy Brister |
| This postcard of The West End is dated December 6, 1906 and reads: "You speaking of snow storms sounds rather strange to to we people down here. Haven't had the slightest frost this season." |
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