Maison Blanche: The White House of Canal Street
For generations of New Orleanians, Christmas didn't officially start until the Maison Blanche window displays went up on Canal Street. Maison Blanche wasn't just a department store. It was a desti...
K&B Drugstore: The Purple Paradise New Orleans Never Got Over
If you grew up in New Orleans, you didn't go to the drugstore. You went to K&B. For more than six decades, Katz & Besthoff wasn't just a pharmacy chain — it was part of the fabric of daily...
The Dixie Brewery: A New Orleans Beer That Refused to Die
Dixie Beer survived two World Wars, Prohibition, and the rise of national beer brands. It took a hurricane to finally shut the doors — but even then, the story wasn't over. The Dixie Brewery at 24...
The Plaza Tower: 45 Stories of Nothing
It's been empty for over two decades. You can see it from miles away. And nobody can figure out what to do with it. The Plaza Tower rises 45 stories above the Central Business District, a stark co...
The Jax Brewery: From Beer to Boutiques on the Mississippi
For 84 years, the Jax Brewery made beer on the banks of the Mississippi. Now it sells souvenirs. Progress is complicated. The Jackson Brewery building stands on Decatur Street at the edge of the F...
The Market Street Power Plant: New Orleans' Biggest What-If
It powered a city for decades. Now it just sits there, waiting for someone to figure out what to do with it. On the banks of the Mississippi River, wedged between the Warehouse District and the Co...
The St. Charles Streetcar: The Oldest Line in the World, Still Rolling
The St. Charles streetcar is the oldest continuously operating street railway in the world. But the line you ride today isn't quite the one your great-grandmother rode. The St. Charles Streetcar i...
D.H. Holmes: Meet Me Under the Clock
"Meet me under the clock at Holmes." For more than a century, every New Orleanian knew exactly what that meant. D.H. Holmes was the grand old man of Canal Street department stores. Founded in 1842...
The Rivergate: The Masterpiece New Orleans Traded for a Casino
They tore down a masterpiece to build a casino. And New Orleans is still arguing about it. The Rivergate Exhibition Hall stood at the foot of Canal Street for barely three decades, but its demolit...
The Dew Drop Inn: Where American Music Found Its Voice
Before Motown, before Stax, before the world paid attention, the Dew Drop Inn was where it was happening. At 2836 LaSalle Street in Central City, a modest building housed one of the most important...
Schwegmann's: Where New Orleans Made Groceries
Schwegmann's wasn't just where you made groceries. It was where New Orleans made groceries. In a city that takes food more seriously than most places take anything, Schwegmann's Giant Super Market...
Godchaux's: Canal Street's Quiet Aristocrat
On a street of giants, Godchaux's held its own — and dressed New Orleans while doing it. Canal Street in its prime was lined with department stores that each had their own personality and loyal fo...
Pontchartrain Beach: Where New Orleans Went to Play
Before there was Jazzland, before there was Six Flags, there was Pontchartrain Beach — and nothing has ever replaced it. For 55 years, Pontchartrain Beach was the place where New Orleans went to h...
Jazzland: The Rise, Ruin, and Haunting Afterlife of New Orleans' Lost Theme Park
It was supposed to put New Orleans on the theme park map. Instead, it became the most haunting ruin in a city full of them. Jazzland Theme Park opened in 2000 with big ambitions and a distinctly N...
The Old Absinthe House: Bourbon Street's Most Historic Pour
Some bars serve drinks. The Old Absinthe House serves history. At 240 Bourbon Street, tucked between the neon and the noise, stands one of the oldest and most storied bars in America. The Old Absi...
The LaSalle Hotel: The Grand Dame They Shouldn't Have Torn Down
It was elegant, it was grand, and in 1974, they knocked it down. New Orleans has been second-guessing that decision ever since. The LaSalle Hotel stood on the corner of St. Charles Avenue and Comm...
The Lake Pontchartrain Causeway: 24 Miles of Water and Nerve
Twenty-four miles of bridge. Nothing but water in every direction. And for a stretch in the middle, you can't see land at all. The Lake Pontchartrain Causeway is one of those structures that sound...
The Saenger Theatre: The Night Sky on Canal Street
Walk into the Saenger Theatre, look up, and you'll see the night sky over a Florentine courtyard. It's fake. It's also one of the most beautiful things in New Orleans. The Saenger Theatre on Canal...
Ernie K-Doe: The Emperor Who Made New Orleans His Kingdom
There are exactly two types of people in this world: those who know that Ernie K-Doe once declared himself the Emperor of the Universe, and those who haven't been paying attention. In a city full o...
New Orleans Second Line Parades
You hear it before you see it. A tuba line rumbling through the neighborhood, a snare drum cracking off something syncopated, and then the unmistakable sound of a trumpet cutting through a Sunday a...
