The 12th Ward or Twelfth Ward is a division of the city of
, one of the 17
Wards of New Orleans
The city of New Orleans, in the U.S. state of Louisiana, is divided into 17 wards. Politically, the wards are used in voting in elections, subdivided into precincts. Under various previous city charters of the 19th century, aldermen and later cit ...
.
The Ward was formerly part of the old Jefferson City annexed by New Orleans in 1870.
Boundaries
The roughly wedge-shaped Ward stretches back from the
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it f ...
. The lower boundary is Toledano Street, across which is the
11th Ward; the upper boundary is Napoleon Avenue, across which is the
13th Ward, and the back boundary is South Broad, across which is a portion of the
14th Ward. It includes a section of
Uptown New Orleans
Uptown is a section of New Orleans, Louisiana, United States, on the east bank of the Mississippi River, encompassing a number of neighborhoods (including the similarly-named and smaller Uptown area) between the French Quarter and the Jefferso ...
, part of the
Broadmoor neighborhood, and the neighborhoods of
Milan
Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...
and
Touro.
12th Ward, New Orleans
New Orleans LA (NOLA) Retrieved February 25, 2013
Landmarks
Landmarks include Touro Infirmary
Touro Infirmary is a non-profit hospital located in New Orleans, Louisiana. Founded by Judah Touro in 1852, it is a part of the LCMC Health System.
Organization
Touro Infirmary is affiliated with the Louisiana State University Health Science C ...
, Saint Charles General Hospital. Down from Napoleon Avenue is a series of streets perpendicular to the River named after the victories of Napoleon I
Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...
. Other streets in this series are named after cities Napoleon dreamed of conquering but never reached (Constantinople) or at which his armies were defeated (Cadiz). Constantinople Street was the home of the fictitious New Orleans character Ignatius J. Reilly in John Kennedy Toole
John Kennedy Toole (; December 17, 1937 – March 26, 1969) was an American novelist from New Orleans, Louisiana whose posthumously published novel, ''A Confederacy of Dunces'', won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1981; he also wrote ''The N ...
's novel ''A Confederacy of Dunces
''A Confederacy of Dunces'' is a picaresque novel by American novelist John Kennedy Toole which reached publication in 1980, eleven years after Toole's death. Published through the efforts of writer Walker Percy (who also contributed a foreword) a ...
''. Saint Charles Avenue
St. Charles Avenue (french: avenue Saint-Charles) is a thoroughfare in New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S. and the route of the St. Charles Streetcar Line. It is also famous for the dozens of mansions that adorn the tree-lined boulevard for much of th ...
, with the famous St. Charles Avenue Streetcar, cuts through the neighborhood, and is the route of many New Orleans Mardi Gras
The holiday of Mardi Gras is celebrated in all of Louisiana, including the city of New Orleans. Celebrations are concentrated for about two weeks before and through Shrove Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday (the start of lent in the Western ...
parades. The Columns Hotel, a small hotel converted from a 19th-century mansion, on St. Charles, was used as a location in the film ''Pretty Baby Pretty Baby may refer to:
* ''Pretty Baby'' (1950 film), a comedy film featuring Dennis Morgan and Betsy Drake
* ''Pretty Baby'' (1978 film), a drama film featuring Brooke Shields
** ''Pretty Baby'' (soundtrack), a soundtrack album from the film ...
''. The Ward contains two branches of the New Orleans Public Library
The New Orleans Public Library (NOPL) is the public library service of the city of New Orleans, Louisiana, United States.
History
The system began in 1895 in the Fisk Free and Public Library in a building on Lafayette Square. Abijah Fisk was a ...
. The old Carnegie library on Napoleon just back from Magazine is now the city's Children's Resource Center library, and the Rosa Keller Branch at Broad & Napoleon. Portions of the Magnolia Projects
The Magnolia Projects, officially the C. J. Peete Public Housing Development, was one of the Housing Projects of New Orleans. As part of the ongoing redevelopment, the area has been renamed Harmony Oaks. The project was among the largest, housi ...
along Louisiana Avenue are in the Ward. Other 12th Ward landmarks are Tipitina's
Tipitina's is a music venue located at the corner of Napoleon Avenue and Tchoupitoulas Street in Uptown New Orleans, Uptown New Orleans, Louisiana, United States.
History
Local music enthusiasts opened the venue on January 14, 1977.[Tchoupitoulas Street
Tchoupitoulas Street ( ) is a street in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. Running through uptown, it is the through street closest to the Mississippi River. Formerly, the street was heavily devoted to river shipping commerce, but as ship ...]
and Walter L. Cohen Senior High School on Dryades Street.
Hurricane Katrina
The majority of the Ward back from St. Charles Avenue flooded in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina was a destructive List of Category 5 Atlantic hurricanes, Category 5 Atlantic hurricane that caused over 1,800 fatalities and $125 billion in damage in late August 2005, especially in the city of New Orleans and the surrou ...
in 2005.
References
Wards of New Orleans
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