Holy Cross neighborhood celebrates ‘300 Years of Resilience’ Sunday
The Holy Cross Neighborhood Association will celebrate 300 years of the neighborhood’s history Sunday with a daylong event inaugurating the new Global Green Climate Action Center at 5400 Douglas St.
A variety of talks and presentations will mark the day, titled “300 Years of Resilience.” Dr. Emilie Leumas, of the Archdiocese of New Orleans, will speak at 1:30 p.m. Nunez College History Professor Ron Chapman will discuss the Holy Cross School and Industrial Canal at 2:30 p.m., and Leona Tate, founder of the Lower Ninth Ward Museum, speaks at 3:30 p.m.
A highlight of the celebration is the free walking tour of the neighborhood led by St. Bernard Parish historian Bill Hyland and preservation architect Gene Cizek.
This won’t be the first time the pair will lead a tour together, for they are frequently called upon by out-of-town groups to do so. But it will be the first time the two collaborate on a tour of the historic Holy Cross area.
“I can’t wait to talk about the neighborhood and especially its architecture,” Hyland said. “I don’t think most people realize that the history of Holy Cross really does stretch back nearly 300 years to the 1700s, when the king of France made a land grant to Joachim de Gaubrit measuring 22 arpents wide, or about 4,300 feet. His land stretched all the way from modern day Flood Street to what is now Mehle Avenue in Arabi.”
Hyland noted that St. Maurice Avenue was named — of course — for the saint who was a patron of soldiers and for the circa 1852 church erected on the site.
“The patron saint of soldiers refers to the fact that Jackson planned a second line of defense in the 1815 battle, and it was where Jackson Barracks stand today — just a few blocks from the church,” he said. “In fact, Orleans Parish extended farther downriver than it does today, and the Chalmette battlefield was within the boundaries of the parish in 1815.”
The early history of the area established it as Creole, Hyland said. It wasn’t until much later that the property was sold to William Flood, who had been Andrew Jackson’s surgeon during the 1815 Battle of New Orleans. Flood Street in the Lower Ninth Ward is named after him.
Eventually, the former indigo plantation was sold and the property subdivided for settlement.
Later in the 19th century, German immigrants began moving to the area, as well as Irish and a few Sicilian immigrants. In the early to mid-1900s, the area developed into dairy farms and then truck farms. As a result of the neighborhood’s history, its streets are lined with examples of house types hat include Creole cottages, centerhall houses, shotgun singles and doubles, sidehall houses and more.
“Part of the reason for the tour is show off the interesting housing stock in the neighborhood and how important the streetscapes are,” Hyland said. “Authenticity is at a premium and adds value to historic homes. It may cost a bit more to renovate appropriately, but it pays off down the road.”
The 6,300-square-foot Community Development and Climate Action Center will house space for shops, meetings and a business incubator. Financed by a grant from the U.S. Department of Energy and a New Orleans block grant, it’s built to withstand storms and to serve as an emergency location for first responders.