The 8th Ward is a section of

New Orleans, Louisiana New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

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 ci ...

, with a Creole history. The 8th Ward is a narrow strip stretching 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 fl ...

on the south to

Lake Pontchartrain Lake Pontchartrain ( ) is an estuary located in southeastern Louisiana in the United States. It covers an area of with an average depth of . Some shipping channels are kept deeper through dredging. It is roughly oval in shape, about from wes ...

in the north. East, or "down," is the 9th Ward, the boundary being Franklin Avenue, Almonaster Avenue, then People's Avenue, and a line straight north into the Lake at part of the

University of New Orleans The University of New Orleans (UNO) is a public research university in New Orleans, Louisiana. It is a member of the University of Louisiana System and the Urban 13 association. It is classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High rese ...

campus. On the west, or "upper" side, the boundary is

Elysian Fields Avenue Elysian Fields Avenue is a broad, straight avenue in New Orleans named after the Avenue des Champs-Élysées in Paris. It courses south to north from the Lower Mississippi River to Lake Pontchartrain, a distance of approximately . The avenue i ...

, the boundary with the

7th Ward of New Orleans The 7th Ward is a section of New Orleans, Louisiana. It is geographically the third largest of the 17 Wards of New Orleans, after the 9th Ward and 15th Ward. New Orleans Districts and Wards Boundaries and geography The 7th Ward stretches from ...

History

As in most of New Orleans, the area along natural high ground of the riverfront was developed for urban use first. This is now part of

Faubourg Marigny The Faubourg Marigny ( ; sometimes called The Marigny) is a neighborhood of the city of New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. Its boundaries, as defined by the City Planning Commission, are North Rampart Street and St. Claude Avenue to the ...

. Other than the narrow high ground of Gentilly Ridge, the majority of the area between Claiborne Avenue and the Lake was little developed until improved drainage was initiated at the start of the 20th century (see:

Drainage in New Orleans Drainage in New Orleans, Louisiana, has been a major concern since the founding of the city in the early 18th century, remaining an important factor in the history of New Orleans today. The central portion of metropolitan New Orleans (New Orleans/ ...

). In the 19th century, in the area from Gentilly Ridge to the lake, the People's Avenue Canal formerly stretched along the ward's back boundary, with the Lower Line Protection Levee in back of it, marking the city limit of New Orleans. This section of the canal has been filled in, but a raised

railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

line built atop the old levee still gives a distinct dividing line from the neighborhoods of the 9th Ward on the other side. On the upper edge of the Ward, the commercially important

Pontchartrain Railroad Pontchartrain Rail-Road was the first railway in New Orleans, Louisiana. Chartered in 1830, the railroad began carrying people and goods between the Mississippi River front and Lake Pontchartrain on 23 April 1831. It closed more than 100 years late ...

ran for about 100 years, connecting the Riverfront with Milneburg on the Lakefront. Neighborhoods in the 8th Ward include the Marigny Rectangle, St. Roch, Gentilly Terrace, Milneburg, Seabrook and Lake Oaks. Theodore M. Hickey represented the 8th Ward in the Louisiana State Senate from 1955 to 1957 and again from 1963 to 1984.

Influences

Native Americans called the city of New Orleans Balbancha, which translates to "land of many tongues," and they inhabited rich delta lands between the Mississippi River. They also would call the Mississippi River ("Father of Waters") and Okwa-Ta ("Big Water," Lake Pontchartrain). It was during the Spanish colonial era that New Orleans transformed from a village-like environment of wooden houses to a city of sturdier brick buildings with urban infrastructure, largely due to the unpaid labor of enslaved people. Residents in the new American city of New Orleans held tight to their Francophile ways, including language, religion, customs, a complex social strata, and a penchant for the epicurean.

Neighborhoods

Neighborhoods in the 8th ward include Marigny Rectangle, St. Roch, Gentilly Terrace, Milneburg, Seabrook and Lake Oaks. Marigny Rectangle is down the river of the French Quarter, which is to the north-east by compass. This neighborhood is an odd shape as it follows a bend in the Mississippi River. This is often divided by the locals into the Marigny triangle. This triangle runs from Esplanade Avenue to Elysian Fields Avenue. The Gentilly Terrace boundaries are defined by the City Planning Commission consists of Filmore Avenue of the North, People's Avenue to the east, Dahlia Walk and Benefit street to the South. This neighborhood is divided into Gentilly Terrace & Gardens, Edgewood Park and Fairmont Park.

References

External links

* https://www.neworleans.com/things-to-do/history/history-of-new-orleans-by-period/ * Wards of New Orleans {{NewOrleans-stub