Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
19
FAUBOURG ST. JOHN: BEAUTY ON THE
BAYOU
BOUNDARIES:
Esplanade Ave., N. White St., Grand Route St. John, Moss St.
DISTANCE:
1.66 miles
PARKING:
Free street parking
PUBLIC TRANSIT:
Canal Streetcar (City Park/Museum Line)
Faubourg St. John, a section of the Esplanade Ridge Historic District, is one of those neigh-
borhoods that, once you call it home, will likely be home forever. This community has it
all, from stunning Creole cottages and Victorian mansions to parks, restaurants, cafés, and
museums.
It is also a tight-knit community that, through the Faubourg St. John Neighborhood Associ-
ation, has participated in numerous beautification projects, among them playground and
park improvements, tree plantings, and neutral-ground maintenance.
Faubourg St. John dates back to 1708—10 years before the city of New Orleans was foun-
ded—when the French entered the city via Bayou St. John, which is connected to Lake
Pontchartrain by way of the Gulf of Mexico and the Mississippi River. It eventually be-
came the neighborhood of choice for the area's upper-class Creoles, particularly on Es-
planade Avenue, an oak- and sycamore-lined street that stretches 2.5 miles from the river to
City Park.
Just steps away from Bayou St. John and City Park, Faubourg St. John is within walking
distance of such festivals as Bayou Boogaloo, held annually along Bayou St. John, and the
New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, held every year on the last weekend in April and
the first weekend in May at the nearby Fair Grounds Race Course.
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Begin at St. Louis Cemetery No. 3, established in 1854, when a yellow fever
outbreak drove the need for more burial space. The cemetery is home to a
number of “society tombs” owned by fraternal organizations, including those
of the Dante Lodge of Masons, the Young Men's Benevolent Association, and
the United Slavonian Benevolent Association. Before it was a cemetery, the
site was a leper colony known as “Leper's Land.”
Across the street is Desmare Playground, one of the city's many neighborhood
parks and playgrounds. Desmare has undergone numerous facelifts over the
years, many of them courtesy of members of the Faubourg St. John Neighbor-
