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Uptown
Driving
away from the Lower Garden
District down St. Charles Avenue,
Victorian mansions border this
oak-lined boulevard. Uptown New
Orleans represents the lushness
that is the beauty of New Orleans.
Uptown
offers the best of New Orleans:
outstanding restaurants and
coffeehouses, antique, import and 
clothing stores, breathtaking
architecture, and wide open green
spaces. Audubon Park and Zoo,
Loyola University, and Tulane
University, can all be found in
this area.
An area of Uptown, originally
known as Jefferson City (annexed
to the City of New Orleans in
1870), had been a section of New
Orleans' founder, Jean Baptiste
LeMoyne Sieur de Bienville's
plantation. In 1723, Bienville
began selling parcels of his
property mostly to the Jesuits and
German immigrants. From this, much
land was transferred to colonial
French families who developed
plantations. Out of these new
residents came some of New
Orleans' premier families who had
quite an influence on Mardi Gras
and played a feature part in the
civic and public life of the city.
Until 1835, Felicity Street in the
Lower Garden District ended the
city- proper. Further down the
Mississippi River from Felicity,
15 plantations lined the river of
present-day Uptown. In 1833, the
legislature chartered the New
Orleans & Carrollton Railroad
and the train's route followed the
present-day streetcar line up to
the intersection of St. Charles
and Carrollton avenues.
From the availability of this
new-found access, more people
flocked to this new section of New
Orleans.
Unlike
the rest of the city whose
architectural styles reflects
local cultural customs and trends,
Uptown's architecture imitates
national trends taking place from
1870 to 1900. St. Charles Avenue
and Prytania Street saw an influx
of wealthy New Orleanians who
wanted to make their wealth
apparent. Colonial Revival and
Queen Anne architecture envelops
both streets and show a suburban
spread for that time period. For
example, the Isidore Newman House,
located at 3607 St. Charles
Avenue, represents a fantastic
example of Romanesque architecture
in the city.
Uptown New Orleans reflects a
grand, wealthy time of long gone
days. Its grandeur and beauty
strikes most who visit who return
to its beauty time and again.
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