Carrollton, Louisiana
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Carrollton is a neighborhood of uptown New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. It is the part of Uptown New Orleans furthest up river from the French Quarter. It was formerly a separate town incorporated in 1833, and was annexed by New Orleans in 1874 (becoming the 16th Ward and 17th Ward of the city) but has long retained some elements of distinct identity.
Historically the boundaries of the city of Carrollton were the Mississippi River, the downriver border of Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, Claiborne Avenue, and Lowerline Street. As Lowerline is a small street, some people think of the neighborhood of Carrollton as extending two blocks further to the larger thoroughfare of Broadway. The incorporation of Carrollton creates an apparent anomaly in New Orleans street names; Lowerline is upriver from Upperline Street, which was originally the upriver boundary of another suburb annexed in the 1850s.
The main street is broad Carrollton Avenue, lined with live oaks, with the St. Charles Avenue Streetcar running on the "neutral ground" or central median. The streetcar barn is a block off the avenue in Carrollton. The old Neoclassical Carrollton city hall building is on Carrollton Avenue near the Mississippi; today it houses Lusher Extension Middle School.
As Carrollton Avenue extends further inland beyond Claiborne, some people (especially from other parts of New Orleans) sometimes think of that area as part of Carrollton as well; sometimes the phrase "Old Carrollton" is used to refer to the stricter boundaries.
The neighborhood and Avenue are pronounced "Care-ol-ton" by residents and other uptowners, but many people from the downtown parts of New Orleans (especially those born in the mid 20th century and earlier) pronounce the names as "Karl- ton".
Tulane University and Loyola University New Orleans are just a few blocks below Carrolton, and many students, faculty, and staff live in the area and patronize the businesses there.
In addition to Carrollton Avenue and Saint Charles Avenue, the neighborhood still retains two "neighborhood main streets" of mixed residential and commercial use. Lower Carrollton centers on Maple Street, with many restaurants, coffee houses, bars, and upscale shops. Upper Carrollton has Oak Street, formerly hosting somewhat larger businesses (such as Woolworth); current businesses there range from restaurants and a hardware store to the best known of the neighborhoods live music venues, the Maple Leaf Bar.
At the inland boundary of Carrollton on Claiborne Avenue is Palmer Park, which hosts some moderate sized live music festivals each year. The park has a monument to the Carrolltonians who died in World War I.
The historically predominantly African-American part of Carrollton along the riverfront has been known since the mid 20th century as "Black Pearl." In the late 19th century and early 20th it was also called by the nickname (now considered very derogatory) common for African American neighborhoods at the time, "Nigger-town"; the name is now used by some residents of Carrollton's Pigeon Town neighborhood. A possible location of the legendary House of the Rising Sun was here. Mahalia Jackson was from the Black Pearl section of Carrollton.
Most of Carrollton has long been ethnically mixed, with "free people of color" owning homes in other parts of the town before the American Civil War. Many immigrants from Germany, Ireland, and other parts of the United States settled here in the 19th century.
The post of "mayor of Carrollton" survived to the 1980s, although it was an informal one, representing the concerns of the neighborhood to the New Orleans city council.
As of 2004, the United States Postal Service still delivers mail addressed either as "Carrollton, Louisiana" or "New Orleans, Louisiana. The ZIP Code is 70118.
During New Orleans Mardi Gras celebrations, the Krewe of OAK parades through Carrollton. The Phunny Phorty Phellows krewe also holds its "parade" in Carrollton, throwing beads from the streetcar.
