New Basin Canal
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The New Basin Canal, also known as the New Canal and the New Orleans Canal, was a
shipping Freight transport, also referred as ''Freight Forwarding'', is the physical process of transporting Commodity, commodities and merchandise goods and cargo. The term shipping originally referred to transport by sea but in American English, it h ...
canal Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface flow un ...
in
New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster.
; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...
,
Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...
, operating from 1830s into the 1940s.


History

The New Basin Canal was constructed by the New Orleans Canal and Banking Company, incorporated in 1831 with
capital Capital may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** List of national capital cities * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences * Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used f ...
of 4 million
US dollars The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...
. The intent was to build a shipping canal from
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 west ...
through the
swamp A swamp is a forested wetland.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p. Swamps are considered to be transition zones because both land and water play a role in ...
land to the booming uptown or "American" section of the city, to compete with the existing
Carondelet Canal The Carondelet Canal, also known as the Old Basin Canal, was a canal in New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.A., operating from 1794 into the 1920s – nearly 135 years. Construction of the canal began in June 1794, on the orders of the Spanish Govern ...
in the
downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in North America by English speakers to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business distric ...
Creole part of the city. Work commenced the following year.
Yellow fever Yellow fever is a viral disease of typically short duration. In most cases, symptoms include fever, chills, loss of appetite, nausea, muscle pains – particularly in the back – and headaches. Symptoms typically improve within five days. In ...
ravaged workers in the swamp in back of town, and the loss of slaves was judged too expensive; so most of the work was done by
Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...
immigrant laborers. The Irish workers died in great numbers, but the Company had no trouble finding more men to take their place, as shiploads of poor Irishmen arrived in New Orleans. Many were willing to risk their lives in hazardous, back-breaking work for a chance to earn $1 a day. By 1838, after an expense of $1 million, the wide long canal was complete enough to be opened to small vessels drawing , with $0.375 per ton charged for passage. Over the next decade the canal was enlarged to deep, wide, and with shell roads alongside. No official count was kept of the deaths of the immigrant workers; estimates ranging from 500 to 20,000 and more have been published, with 8,000 being a commonly cited total. Many were buried without a grave marker in the
levee A levee (), dike (American English), dyke (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English), embankment, floodbank, or stop bank is a structure that is usually soil, earthen and that often runs parallel (geometry), parallel to ...
and roadway-fill beside the canal. Contemporary immigration records and other primary documents do not support a level of Irish population in the city sufficient to support the upper-end of the estimated deaths. Press reports from the time focused more on labor unrest when Irish workers recruited from Philadelphia went on strike to protest the canal's owner's failure to pay them according to the contracts. While it is certain workers died constructing the canal, the first claim of 10,000 deaths did not come until 1937 in a ''
Times-Picayune ''The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate'' is an American newspaper published in New Orleans, Louisiana, since January 25, 1837. The current publication is the result of the 2019 acquisition of ''The Times-Picayune'' (itself a result of th ...
'' article by Meigs O. Frost that included lyrics from a popular song that mentioned 10,000 Irish laborers dying from
cholera Cholera is an infection of the small intestine by some strains of the bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea that lasts a few days. Vomiting and ...
during the canal's construction. Over the years, press reports rose to as high as 20,000 before dropping to the commonly heard 8,000 deaths. The canal originally joined with Lake Pontchartrain around the present day intersection of Robert E. Lee and West End Boulevards, but jetties were added on both sides extending it farther into the lake. The New Canal Lighthouse or more commonly New Basin Canal Lighthouse was built on the far end of one of the jetties at the entrance to the canal. Starting from the entrance of the canal, it headed south through the swamp, cut through the high ground of Metairie Ridge, through the mid-city lowlands, into the city, ended in a
turning basin A turning basin, winding basin or swinging basin is a wider body of water, either located at the end of a ship canal or in a port to allow cargo ships to turn and reverse their direction of travel, or to enable long narrow barges in a canal to tu ...
at
Rampart Street Rampart Street (french: rue du Rempart) is a historic avenue located in New Orleans, Louisiana. The section of Rampart Street downriver from Canal Street is designated as North Rampart Street, which forms the inland or northern border of the Fr ...
and Howard Avenue in what is now the
New Orleans Central Business District The Central Business District (CBD) is a neighborhood of the city of New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. A subdistrict of the French Quarter/CBD area, its boundaries, as defined by the City Planning Commission, are Iberville, Decatur and C ...
. The canal was commercially important through the 19th century, and served additional uses such as improving drainage in nearby areas and being used to harvest the
bald cypress ''Taxodium distichum'' (bald cypress, swamp cypress; french: cyprès chauve; ''cipre'' in Louisiana) is a deciduous conifer in the family Cupressaceae. It is native to the southeastern United States. Hardy and tough, this tree adapts to a wide r ...
trees in what is now the Lakeview neighborhood. They were brought into the city near the River, via the canal, and used to build many uptown houses. The importance of the canal declined after
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, especially with the opening of the
Industrial Canal The Industrial Canal is a 5.5 mile (9 km) waterway in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. The waterway's proper name, as used by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and on NOAA nautical charts, is Inner Harbor Navigation Canal ( IHNC). ...
in 1923. In 1936 the
Louisiana State Legislature The Louisiana State Legislature (french: Législature d'État de Louisiane) is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is a bicameral body, comprising the lower house, the Louisiana House of Representatives with 105 represen ...
passed a state constitutional amendment to close the canal. In 1937–38 the area back to
Claiborne Avenue Claiborne Avenue is a major thoroughfare in New Orleans, Louisiana. It runs the length of the city, about , beginning at the Jefferson Parish line and ending at the St. Bernard Parish line; the street continues under different names in both dire ...
was filled in, but the rest of the length continued functioning on a more limited scale until after
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. It was filled in by about 1950, except for a half-mile-long stretch at the lakefront by the lighthouse, which has been used as a harbor for small boats and yachts and continues to exist. Much of the route became the
Pontchartrain Expressway The Pontchartrain Expressway is a parallel six-lane section of Interstate 10 (I-10) and U.S. Route 90 Business (US 90 Bus.) in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA, with a brief stand-alone section in between junctions with these highway ...
in the 1950s, which was incorporated into
I-10 Interstate 10 (I-10) is the southernmost cross-country highway in the American Interstate Highway System. I-10 is the fourth-longest Interstate in the United States at , following I-90, I-80, and I-40. This freeway is part of the originally pl ...
the following decade. The stretch from the Interstate to just shy of Robert E. Lee Blvd was developed into the present-day New Basin Canal Park, a linear green space paralleling West End Boulevard. On November 4, 1990, the Irish Cultural Society of New Orleans dedicated a large
Kilkenny Kilkenny (). is a city in County Kilkenny, Ireland. It is located in the South-East Region and in the province of Leinster. It is built on both banks of the River Nore. The 2016 census gave the total population of Kilkenny as 26,512. Kilken ...
marble
Celtic cross The Celtic cross is a form of Christian cross featuring a nimbus or ring that emerged in Ireland, France and Great Britain in the Early Middle Ages. A type of ringed cross, it became widespread through its use in the stone high crosses er ...
in New Basin Canal Park to commemorate all of the Irish workers who perished constructing the canal. The
lighthouse A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid, for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Lighthouses mar ...
which stands at the entrance to the canal, was added to the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
in 1985 as the New Canal Lighthouse. It was heavily damaged during the 2005 hurricane season by
Hurricanes A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depend ...
Katrina Katrina or Katrine may refer to: People * Katrina (given name) * Katrine (given name) Meteorology * List of storms named Katrina, a list of tropical cyclones designated as Katrina ** Hurricane Katrina, an exceptionally powerful Atlantic hurrican ...
and
Rita Rita may refer to: People * Rita (given name) * Rita (Indian singer) (born 1984) * Rita (Israeli singer) (born 1962) * Rita (Japanese singer) * Eliza Humphreys (1850–1938), wrote under the pseudonym Rita Places * Djarrit, also known as Rita, ...
. The first floor had collapsed and its
cupola In architecture, a cupola () is a relatively small, most often dome-like, tall structure on top of a building. Often used to provide a lookout or to admit light and air, it usually crowns a larger roof or dome. The word derives, via Italian, from ...
had fallen off. In 2006, the
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 west ...
Basin Foundation signed a lease with the
United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, mult ...
to repair the damaged lighthouse. It was disassembled and the building was put into storage. Reconstruction of the lighthouse began in February 2012 and was completed in 2013.


Geography

The New Canal Lighthouse is located on (30.026944, -90.113056).


Gallery

File:NewBasinCanalAirView1948.jpg, New Basin Canal Aerial View - 1948 File:NewBasinCanalLighthouseDamaged.jpg, New Canal Lighthouse - Damage after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita - 2005 File:NewBasinLighthouseDown25Jan06PontchartarainBoatExits.jpg, New Canal Lighthouse - Collapse after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita - 2005 File:New Basin Canal Lighthouse 2013 - New Orleans, LA.jpg, New Canal Lighthouse - 2013


See also

*
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/ ...
*
Lakeview, New Orleans Lakeview is a neighborhood of the city of New Orleans. A subdistrict of the Lakeview District Area, its boundaries as defined by the City Planning Commission are: Allen Toussaint Boulevard to the north, Orleans Avenue to the east, Florida Boulev ...
* New Canal Lighthouse *
West End, New Orleans West End (also referred to as West Lakeview) is a neighborhood of the city of New Orleans. A subdistrict of the Lakeview District Area, its boundaries as defined by the City Planning Commission are: Lake Pontchartrain to the north, the New Basin ...


References


External links


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{{coord, 29, 57, 28, N, 90, 05, 40, W, display=title Ship canals Canals in New Orleans History of New Orleans Canals opened in 1838 1838 establishments in Louisiana