Central City is an important neighborhood in New Orleans' culture, known for its brass music and Mardi Gras Indian traditions. It developed in the early 1800s and was a major commercial area for African Americans during segregation. The Civil Rights Movement also has deep roots in Central City, where organizations like the SCLC and CORE were founded. Today, the neighborhood contains historic sites and landmarks and is undergoing revitalization after being impacted by depopulation and Hurricane Katrina.

1. NewOrleans
Neighborhoods
Series:Central
City
Mohan Kailas

2. NewOrleans’CentralCityneighborhoodplaysanimportant
partintheculturaltraditionsoftheBigEasy.Predominantlyan
AfricanAmericancommunity,itshistoryofbrassmusicianship
andMardiGrasIndiantraditionsdistinguishitfromother
districtsinNOLA.
LocatedinthelowersectionofUptownandabovetheNew
OrleansCentralBusinessDistrict,itsitsonthelakesideofSt.
CharlesAvenue.It’sboundariesincludeMLKBoulevard,the
PontchartrainExpresswaytothenorthandothermajorstreets
tothesouthandwest.
ContinuingourfixationonNewOrleanshistoryandculture,
let’sexplorethehistoryandlandmarksofNewOrleans’
CentralCitydistrict:
Background

3. Theneighborhoodfirstdevelopedintheearly1800snear
SaintCharlesAvenue.TheopeningoftheNewOrleans&
CarrolltonRailwayandtheNewBasinCanalinthelowerend
helpedattractcommerceandIrish,Italian,andGerman
immigrantsandworkingclassresidentstothearea.Inthe
1830s,DryadesStreetbecameacommercialdistrictandin
1849,theDryadesMarketwasbuiltandservedasa
communalcenterpointfornearly100years.Afterthe
AmericanCivilWar,manyAfricanAmericansfromruraltowns
settledintheneighborhood.Bythe1870s,theurbanareahad
growntoClaiborneAvenue.Duringtheearly1900s,
commercialactivityhelpedmakeitthelargestNewOrleans
neighborhoodpatronizedbyAfricanAmericanresidentsduring
theJimCrowera.Italsobecameathemainhubforthe
UptownAfricanAmericancommunity.Duringthedistrict’s
heydeyafterWWII,ithousedover200business.
History

4. However,the
areastarted
todecline......inthelate1960s.Throughoutthe1980sthearea’s
economyslowlydeclinedanddepreciationpeakedby
1990withmanyvacantlotsandbuildings.However,
bythebeginningofthe2000s,communityprojects
startedtohelprevitalizethearea.AfterHurricane
Katrina,CentralCitywasrecognizedforitsplotof
high,dryground.Today,post-katrinaredevelopment
effortsfocusontheareaandtherevitalizationofold
publichousingfromthe1940s(duringsegregation).

5. CivilRights
Movement
Impact
MetricstoMeasure:
TheCivilRightsMovementisasignificantportionof
CentralCity’shistory.In1957,theSouthernChristian
LeadershipConferencewasfoundedwithMartin
LutherKingintheneighborhood.Inaddition,amajor
boycottofDryadesStreetoccurredtoprotest
segregationinthe1960s.Theneighborhoodisalso
wheretheCongressofRacialEqualitywasfounded.

6. Landmarks
CentralCityisaNationalRegisterHistoricDistrictandishometo
severallandmarkedbuildings.Herearesomeneighborhood
businessesandsightstocheckout:
Brown’sDairy
LeidenheimerBakery
OrethaCastleHaleyBoulevard—CentralCity’sNational
AccreditedMainStreet
CafeReconcile
Commercialstreets:StCharlesAve.,S.ClaiborneAve.,
andLaSalle/SimonBolivar

7. CentralCityoffersanexceptionalopportunitytobe
surroundedbyprofoundcivilrightshistory.
Acknowledgingtheimpacttheneighborhoodhas
hadonSouthernandnationalhistorymakesita
noteworthyadditiontoNewOrleans.

8. THANKYOUFormoreinformationvisit
www.MohanKailas.com