Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2007 - (Page 72)

H eralded as “one of the miracles of our time,” MR-GO was not only seen as a navigational expressway, but savior of the aging port of New Orleans. Mayor DeLesseps S. Morrison said that it “will have the effect of bringing another Mississippi River to New Orleans that will be safer and cheaper to maintain.” Neither the mayor, nor any of the dignitaries present could foresee how such a “miracle” would sour and become embroiled in nearly a half-century of not living up to expectations and creating environmental problems not even contemplated in the 1950s. Man-made waterways serving as shortcuts between New Orleans and the Gulf were nothing new in 1957. Although New Orleans was founded at a strategic point on the Mississippi River, its proximity to Bayou St. John and Lake Pontchartrain with their connection to the Gulf was used from the start as a shorter, safer route to the sea than the treacherous, ever-changing river. To enhance the lake/bayou route in the 1790s Governor Francisco Luis Héctor de Carondelet ordered construction of the Carondelet (Old Basin) Canal between the tip of the bayou and modern Basin Street. Four decades later, the New Basin Canal was dug on the site of today’s Westend Boulevard and Pontchartain Expressway. Although both canals are now memories, they were once integral parts of maritime New Orleans carrying substantial amounts of trade to the city from the north shore of Lake Pontchartain and other Gulf ports. In the 19th century a canal at Violet in St. Bernard Parish was built between the river and Lake Borgne, but still the city’s long held dream of connecting the Mississippi and Lake Pontchartrain with a navigation canal did not came to fruition until the Industrial Canal was dedicated in 1923. The president of the Hibernia Bank called it, “the boldest and most progressive stroke ever undertaken in port affairs.” Each canal was a step in providing easier access to the port of New Orleans, while also avoiding the bothersome lower reaches of the Mississippi. None of them provided the wished for direct route between the city and Gulf, although as early as 1826, planners advocated such a canal. In 1875 a plan for a deepwater canal and lock starting at Breton Sound was proposed. At the time the passes to the Mississippi River were blocking up with silt and hindered shipping. Instead of a canal, the Eads Jetties were built at the southwest pass of the river which eliminated the troublesome problem of silt buildup. The dream of a Gulf outlet did not end here, and with the digging of the Intrcoastal Waterway in the 1940s such a project became more attainable. A SHORTCUT TO THE GULF The Intracoastal Waterway was the idea of Texas banker Clarence Holland and railroad man Roy Miller. In 1905 Holland arranged a meeting between business and port leaders from Texas and Louisiana to discuss the merits of an inland waterway connecting the states’ rivers, tributaries, bayous and ports. Initially the proposal progressed slowly. Finally with passage of the federal River and Harbor Acts of 1925 and 1927 construction of a 9-foot deep, 100-foot wide barge canal between New Orleans and Corpus Christi was authorized. The secure position of the canal became apparent during World War II when barges safely moved through the protected inland route within sight of marauding German U-boats. As a result, Congress approved the expansion of the canal in 1942 to 12 feet deep and 125 feet wide. It was also extended southwest to the 72 LOUISIANA ENDOWMENT FOR THE HUMANITIES\Winter 2007-08 PORT OF NEW ORLEANS ARCHIVES above: Illustration of Oyster Schooners in the New Basin Canal by George F. Castleden. left: New Orleans’ dream of a river to lake channel was realized with the 1923 completion of the Industrial Canal. THE HISTORIC NEW ORLEANS COLLECTION

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2007

Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2007 Contents Friends Editor’s Column Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities Katrina: Days of Terror, Months of Anguish Paintings by Rolland Golden The Historic New Orleans Collection The Great Ouachita River Flood of 1932 Jazz Notes Louisiana Architecture Louisiana: Where Land Meets Water Louisiana State Museum Through A Lens Sharply: An Interview with Michael Lewis MR-GO: A “miracle” mired in controversy Louisiana Foodways Louisiana Association of Museums New Orleans: An Autopsy Bookstand Sound Advice Forum

Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2007

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