Garden District

Why Residents Like This Neighborhood

"It's like living in a piece of history."

"So many beautiful houses and gardens everywhere you look!"

"A quiet residential neighborhood that's literally minutes away from everything."

"Who could resist having a parade going right by your front door once a year?"

Description
For many people, their first view of the Garden District comes from a streetcar rolling up St. Charles Avenue. This is often enough for them to form a life-long love-affair with the place. Whether you're searching for a ghost in Lafayette Cemetery, exploring the memory of New Orleans' ante-bellum past, watching a Mardi Gras parade, or viewing the secluded mansions, the Garden District will work its spell on you. A close-knit, neighborly and friendly place, the Garden District is also minutes away from the Central Business District, the French Quarter, the Warehouse Arts District, and the University Section of Uptown. Its canopy of oak trees is world-famous, while its characteristic gardens of hibiscuses and crape myrtles, angel trumpets and bougainvillea, make it New Orleans' most beautiful inner-city neighborhood.
The Garden District developed in the 1840s as the city expanded upriver, and as such it was located on relatively high ground close to the Mississippi. During the flooding following Hurricane Katrina, this area was almost completely spared, although a number of homes had damaged roofs. Today, the Garden District is again nearly pristine, although those famous streetcars are still waiting to return. Here, as in the past, you can sit on a shaded gallery and watch the world go by...or walk down a street lined with live oaks and enjoy, as writers and artists have before you, some of the world's most stunning man-made beauty.

History
The Garden District was one of New Orleans' first suburbs to be developed after the Louisiana Purchase. It was originally formed when the Livaudais Plantation was divided into plots, c. 1825, and incorporated with two other faubourgs to create the town of Lafayette. Here rich American planters and businessmen, drawn to New Orleans by its booming economy, settled in the years prior to the Civil War and build great homes in the English style, surrounded by gardens. The Americans didn't want walled houses built right up to the sidewalk, with interior courtyards, such as were popular in the French Quarter. They wanted their neighbors to see (and admire) the beauty of their surroundings. Originally an area of large lots and extensive lawns, during the Depression many properties in the Garden District were sub-divided, and newer houses were built between the original massive mansions.
However, the Garden District's current close concentration of houses reveals its nature as part of an urban setting, and today, as in the past, it remains an exquisite and overflowing oasis.

Schools
Louise S. McGehee School
Trinity Episcopal School

City Council Representative:
Stacey S. Head - District B
City Hall Room 2W10
1300 Perdido Street
NOLA 70112
Telephone: 504-658-1020
Fax: 504-658-1025
E-Mail: SHead@cityofno.com

Police District:
New Orleans Police Department - 6th District

Demographics
Generally well-to-do, a mix of older couples and families with young children

Architecture
Greek Revival and Victorian predominate with a mix of 20th century styles

Read more about The Garden District
The Preservation Resource Center
Garden District /Cemetery Tour