Lakeview
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[edit] History of Lakeview
Lakeview was one of the first residential areas to develop in response to the potential beauty and leisure time enjoyment of the land near Lake Pontchartrain and its yacht and country clubs. This neighborhood, adjacent to the 1500 acre City Park, is made up of several subdivisions filled with luxurious homes and its major boulevards are lined with giant oaks. The Lakeview neighborhood has its roots in the work of Charles Louque who initiated the reclamation of this area of land near Lake Pontchartrain. Development of the area between the New Basin Canal and the Orleans Avenue Canal was encouraged by the West End and Spanish Fort street car lines providing access to the area and by the New Orleans and West End Country Clubs, which were located on the shell road, facing the New Basin Canal.
Between 1905 and 1910, groups of homes were built in the area. Lakeview’s first school was built in 1913 and destroyed by fire in 1915. Lakeview School, the first public school in the area, was built in 1915. The first Catholic Church, Ave Maria Chapel, was erected in 1912. The church was destroyed by a storm in 1915. Another chapel was built at Milne and Harrison in 1917 to replace Ave Maria Chapel. By 1923, St. Dominic’s Church and school were built on Harrison Avenue. Even with all of this construction, lots in Lakeview were not selling very quickly. The area remained very rural for some time.
Finally, by 1926, Lakeview was beginning to emerge as a prestigious neighborhood. Development was slowed by the Depression of the 1930s. As the economy improved in the later 1930s, development of the area adjacent to Canal Boulevard picked up until the beginning of World War II.
After World War II, efforts began to complete modernization of transportation in the area. West End Boulevard was repaved in 1949 and bus service was introduced in 1950 when the streetcar line was discontinued. In 1949, the New Basin Canal was closed and in 1952 the Canal Boulevard railroad underpass was constructed just below the Lakeview neighborhood. By 1949, settlement in Lakeview had expanded from West End Boulevard to Orleans Avenue.
While industrial uses in the area decreased between 1927 and 1949, there was an increase in commercial uses. The commercial area emerged in the area of Harrison Avenue at Canal Boulevard and on Robert E. Lee and still remains that way today.
[edit] Rebirth
Lakeview is part of the City Planning Commission's Planning District 5. Together with the other neighborhoods in our district, we have formed the District 5 Recovery Team. The Lakeview Civic Improvement Association is collaborating with representatives of Lake Vista, Lakeshore, Lakewood, Country Club Estates, Parkview, Country Club Gardens, and the City Park Neighborhood to create a plan for our neighborhood. We are working with experts from UNO's College of Urban and Public Affairs and Bermello, Ajamil & Partners to develop the plan.
- District 5 Recovery Team Website
- District 5 Recovery Team Organizational Structure
- District 5's April Newsletter
- Learn more about District 5 Recovery Team News and see how you can volunteer to help.
[edit] How to Help Rebuild Lakeview
- We are organizing block captains to locate our neighbors and survey infrastructure in the area. Does your street need a block captain? Find out if you can help.
- Our neighbors are coming back! See results of our first resident surveys.
- One of our first fundraising efforts is aimed at Rescuing Lakeview's Firehouses, which were badly flooded in the storm.
- Every small step is a reason to celebrate in Lakeview. Here are some pictures of the Surge to Rebuild in front of Lakeview Harbor and the service station opening at the corner of Harrison and Fleur de Lis.
[edit] Keep in Touch With Your Neighbors
- The Lakeview Forum
- Rebuild Lakeview Forum on Yahoo!
[edit] History
[edit] Levee Protection
The river has always had naturnal levees, but they are built up by the river overflowing its banks. So obviously, they were not very effective in preventing flooding. Prior to 1927, Mississippi River levee building was a local issue. Cities would build ring levees around the city. There was no concerted effort to control flooding along the whole length of the Mississippi River. The 1927 flood inundated large areas of Mississippi and Louisiana. New Orleans was on the verge of being flooded, so the City leaders decided to blow up the levee and flood St. Bernard to relieve the pressure on the New Orleans levees. Blowing the St. Bernard levee in 1927 was well-documented and well publicized at the time. As a result of the 1927 flood, the Corps of Engineers was put in charge of flood protection on the entire Mississippi River valley. Rising Tide is the story of the 1927 flood and the political maneuvering that resulting in the Corps taking charge of flood control on the Mississippi.
The lake did not really have levees. I think the lake was created by building up the Mississippi River delta. If you look at a map of the Gulf Coast, the Alabama/Mississippi Gulf Coast pretty much lines up with the North Shore of Lake Pontchartrain. As the Mississippi River Delta was created by silt accumulation over the eons, it trapped and area of the Gulf that became Lake Pontchartrain. So the south shore of Lake Pontchartrain was created as a natural levee deposited by some distibutary of the Mississippi River.
Prior to the early 1900's people lived primarily on the high ground along the river and the people who couldn't afford to live on the high ground would flood periodically. In the 1890's the City came up with a plan to provide drainage for the city and the Sewerage and Water Board took over responsibility for constructing that drainage system in 1903 (I think that was the date).
People complain about the fact that the pump stations were built in the middle of the City, rather than at the lakefront. But, when they were built, the goal was to drain the area between the river and the Metairie/Gentilly Ridge. They were not trying to drain the area between the ridge and the lake, so putting the pump stations at the ridge, made a lot of sense at the time.
Also, at that time, the lakefront was located roughly along where Robert E. Lee Blvd. is today. During the Depression, one of the WPA projects was to reclaim some of the lake. The seawall was constructed out in the lake, and sand was pumped into the area behind the seawall. The area that was created was owned by the Orleans Levee Board and it was the Levee Board that developed those subdivisions north of Robert E. Lee. (That is why Levee Board Police used to patrol those neighborhoods.) Originally, this entire area was built up to about 10' above sea level and this essentially formed the first lakefront levee. This made it possible to drain the area between the lake and the Metairie Ridge and open it up to development. Over the years, there were some small hurricane protection levees built along the lakefront, but they didn't amount to much. In 1965, Hurricane Betsy flooded large areas of the City and in the aftemath, the Corps of Engineers was authorized by Congress to construct the Lake Pontchartrain and Vicinity Hurricane Protection Levee. The Corps was put in charge of planning and building the levees, but Congress had to appropriate the funds, and each year, they would appropriate less than the Corps requested. Today, over 40 years after it was authorized, the Lake Pontchartrain and Vicinity Hurricane Protection System still has not been completed because the money was not appropriated by Congress.
During Hurricane Betsy, the Industrial Canal levee failed on the east side and flooded the lower Ninth Ward and St. Bernard. A lot of the poor people in the Lower Ninth Ward believe that the city intentionally blew up the levee on the east side of the Industrial Canal and flooded the poor black neighborhoods in the lower Ninth Ward to save the richer, white neighborhoods west of the Industrial Canal. In a lot of black neighborhoods, this is considered to be a fact, although all city officials have always denied that the city blew up the levee. But, the precedent of the 1927 decision to blow the levees in St. Bernard is considered to be enough evidence.
- Gerry Preau
[edit] Recovery
[edit] Recovery Resources
- Are you in a flood zone? Check this map.
- Demographic data about Lakeview from the New Orleans Community Data Center.
- City Councilwoman Shelley Midura
