Archaeology and Preservation from the 1930-1960s

Federal Relief Projects

Archaeological research in the New Orleans area began in earnest with the federal relief projects of the 1930s. The first systematic archaeological research in Orleans Parish came when Maurice Weil and Richard Czajkowski excavated at the Little Woods shell midden sites in New Orleans East (16OR1-5) as part of a Civil Works Administration project sponsored by the Louisiana Department of Conservation.

The Louisiana Works Progress Administration archaeological project became one of the most significant investigations of the Great Depression, at least partly due to the leadership of James Ford in the project. During 1939, an LSU-WPA team under the direction of Preston Holder continued excavations at the Little Woods sites, looking for further evidence of what was referred to as the Tchefuncte culture.

This was soon followed by Edwin Doran’s excavations at Big Oak Island (16OR6) in 1940. Work at these sites would allow Ford and George Quimby to define characteristics of the Tchefuncte culture, and to relate it to the physiographic history and geomorphology of the Lower Mississippi Valley.

Photographs from the WPA Collection, courtesy of City Archives and Special Collections at the New Orleans Public Library.

Another 1930 excavation were excavations undertaken around the extant walls of Fort St. John (also referred to as Spanish Fort), as part of the Historic American Building Survey. While no notes or artifact collections exist from these investigations, a collection of photographs in the Library of Congress depict extensive trenches exposing foundations. Those excavations differentiated the French and Spanish era fortifications from more recent construction associated with the re-use of the area as an amusement park and hotel. While not usually referred to as such, these excavation results mark some of the first historical archaeology done in the City of New Orleans.

Click between the Fort St. John photos below for examples

Spanish Fort, Bayou Saint John at Lake Pontchartrain, New Orleans, Orleans Parish, LA
Courtesy of Library of Congress.
Spanish Fort, Bayou Saint John at Lake Pontchartrain, New Orleans, Orleans Parish, LA
Courtesy of Library of Congress.
Spanish Fort, Bayou Saint John at Lake Pontchartrain, New Orleans, Orleans Parish, LA
Courtesy of Library of Congress.
Spanish Fort, Bayou Saint John at Lake Pontchartrain, New Orleans, Orleans Parish, LA
Courtesy of Library of Congress.
Spanish Fort, Bayou Saint John at Lake Pontchartrain, New Orleans, Orleans Parish, LA
Courtesy of Library of Congress.
Spanish Fort, Bayou Saint John at Lake Pontchartrain, New Orleans, Orleans Parish, LA
Courtesy of Library of Congress.
Spanish Fort, Bayou Saint John at Lake Pontchartrain, New Orleans, Orleans Parish, LA
Courtesy of Library of Congress.
Spanish Fort, Bayou Saint John at Lake Pontchartrain, New Orleans, Orleans Parish, LA
Courtesy of Library of Congress.
Spanish Fort, Bayou Saint John at Lake Pontchartrain, New Orleans, Orleans Parish, LA
Courtesy of Library of Congress.

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Historic Preservation

Of course, the 1930s also marked one of the most significant developments in historic preservation in the City of New Orleans: the creation of the Vieux Carré Commission. A private Vieux Carré Association had formed in the neighborhood during the 1920s; this group, under the leadership of Elizabeth Werlein, would lobby the Louisiana legislature to initiate an amendment to the state constitution to create an organization devoted to "the preservation of such buildings in the Vieux Carré section of the City of New Orleans, as...shall be deemed to have architectural and historical value, and which buildings should be preserved for the benefit of the people of the City of New Orleans and the State of Louisiana." Supported by James Fortier of the Louisiana State Museum, a voter referendum in support of the amendment passed in 1936, and the Vieux Carré Commission was created the following year. The Commission was given broad power to regulate private property with historical or architectural value in the district bounded by N. Rampart Street, Esplanade Avenue, the Mississippi River, and Iberville Street.

Excerpt from Report 1970-1974 The Vieux Carre Commission City of New Orleans, Vieux Carre Commission Collection, courtesy of City Archives & Special Collections.

Urban Renewal Debates in Preservation

B&W photo, circa 1930s. Delord Sarpy House, Howard Ave. near Camp St., New Orleans, Louisiana. Written on photo: Once a plantation house facing the Mississippi River. Courtesy of Louisiana Works Progress Administration (WPA) Collection, State Library of Louisiana.

Major controversies in this period also served to bring attention to the historical fabric of older riverfront neighborhoods in New Orleans, even if they didn’t explicitly address their archaeological potential. In 1957, the ca. 1810 Delord-Sarpy House, a brick ‘suburban plantation’ style home unique for the Warehouse District/CBD area, was demolished to make way for a ramp for the Mississippi River Bridge. The house’s historical and architectural significance had been celebrated by architectural historian Samuel Wilson, who stated in 1953 that “the preservation of this important landmark should be a civic obligation of the people of New Orleans”. While efforts to save the Delord-Sarpy were not successful, the controversy helped to galvanize the historic preservation movement in the city.

Sketch of park labeled: "River Front and Elysian Fields Expressway, New Orleans, Louisiana. Vieux Carré. Louisiana Department of Highways. Rader and Associates - Engineers and Architects - Miami, Florida - New Orleans, Louisiana." On reverse: "Riverfront Expressway 1967" Courtesy of General Interest Photograph Collection, City Archives & Special Collections, New Orleans Public Library.

""Surveying proposed ill-fated expressway site at Jackson Square"" Mayor Schiro, Councilman James Moreau Courtesy of Mayor Victor H. Schiro Photograph Collection, City Archives & Special Collections, New Orleans Public Library.

The proposed Riverfront Expressway project, a plan to build a section of interstate between the Vieux Carré and the Mississippi River, proved to be a much longer and more sustained battle between preservationists and developers. As detailed in Baumbach and Borah (1981), the “Second Battle of New Orleans” stretched over two decades, and when the effort was finally abandoned in 1969, John Volpe, the U.S. Secretary of Transportation, heralded it as marking “the beginning of a new tradition… regarding the preservation of the nation’s heritage”. Of course, the more telling mark of this new tradition was the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) of 1966. The passage of the NHPA was spurred at least in part by losses to the historic fabric of American cities caused by the excesses of highway building and suburban sprawl.

The Riverfront Expressway would have been a particular devastating example of these excesses; unfortunately, the eventual alternative did devastate a historic neighborhood, the Tremé, considered the center of historic Black New Orleans.

Click between the photos from the Claiborne Overpass Construction below for examples

Attached text: "This panoramic view of New Orleans' central business district shows, at lower left, the giant $5 million South Claiborne Overpass, and, at right, the new Union Passenger Terminal. in the lower center of the photo can be seen South Claiborne Avenue, which has been widened to ease traffic flow. Modern lighting has also been installed along this important artery which is the route of Highway 90 through the city. The Overpass, most elaborate grade separation in this section of the country, is two-thirds of a mile long." Courtesy of Streets Photograph Collection, City Archives & Special Collections, New Orleans Public Library.
South Claiborne Avenue Overpass from Tulane Avenue east bound, showing Cleveland Street on-ramp Attached text: "Rapidly approaching completion is the section of Interstate 10 from Orleans Avenue to Tulane Avenue. This project of the State Highway Department, costing $7.2 million, is scheduled to be opened to traffic in mid-May of this year." Courtesy of Streets Photograph Collection, City Archives & Special Collections, New Orleans Public Library.
South Claiborne Overpass from Poydras to Canal. Courtesy of Streets Photograph Collection, City Archives & Special Collections, New Orleans Public Library.
North Claiborne Avenue Overpass at Press Street looking downtown toward Clouet Street Attached text: "Construction of the superstructure of the North Claiborne Avenue-Press Street overpass is about two-thrids complete. This picture shows the project looking downtown toward Clouet Street." Courtesy of Streets Photograph Collection, City Archives & Special Collections, New Orleans Public Library.

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