St. Charles Ave.Streetcar BW

Two St. Charles Ave. streetcars pass each other on the neutral ground of Canal Street in the Big Easy, New Orleans, LA. These olive green streetcars... more

by Kathleen K Parker

Title

St. Charles Ave.Streetcar BW

Artist

Kathleen K Parker

Medium

Photograph - Photography

Description

Two St. Charles Ave. streetcars pass each other on the neutral ground of Canal Street in the Big Easy, New Orleans, LA. These olive green streetcars travel through the central business district and uptown New Orleans. We call the median of a boulevard the neutral ground because that is where Americans from the newer part of the city met "neutrally" with the French and other inhabitants of the French Quarter.

From neworleans.com comes the following description: All aboard for a trip into New Orleans' past on the oldest continuously operating streetcar in the world! The mahogany seats, brass fittings and exposed ceiling light bulbs are from a day when plastic seats and aluminum rails were not even a thought. Rumbling around the ''neutral ground'' of St. Charles Avenue and Carrollton Avenue for more than 150 years, the streetcar symbolizes the charm and romance of the City of New Orleans.

The route traditionally forms a 13.2-mile crescent from Carondelet at Canal Street in the Central Business District through the oldest and most majestic section of uptown New Orleans, around the Riverbend to Carrollton at Claiborne Avenue. Swaying along St. Charles Avenue through a tunnel Live Oaks, the streetcar passes dozens of antebellum mansions, historic monuments, Loyola and Tulane universities, the sweeping grounds of the Audubon Zoological Gardens, shopping centers, fine restaurants and hotels.

If you visit the city, I do encourage you to take a streetcar ride! Copyright Kathleen K. Parker. Color image available, too.

Uploaded

September 21st, 2014