The two Lower Ninth Ward areas, including Holy Cross and the Lower Ninth Ward Neighborhood in relation to the rest of the city of New Orleans.

The Lower 9th Ward is a section of the city of New Orleans, Louisiana. New Orleans (nʲuːˈɔrliənz nʲuːˈɔrlənz French: La Nouvelle-Orléans) is a major United States port city and the largest city in Louisiana As the name implies, it is part of the Ninth Ward of New Orleans. The Ninth Ward or 9th Ward is a distinctive region of New Orleans, Louisiana that is located in the easternmost downriver portion of the city

Geography

The term "Lower" refers to its location further towards the mouth of the Mississippi River, "down" or "below" the rest of the city in local geographic terminology. The Mississippi River is the second longest River in the United States, with a length of from its source in Lake Itasca in Minnesota to The area is sometimes just referred to as the "Lower 9". The area came to national attention for its tragic devastation in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was the costliest hurricane, as well as one of the five deadliest in the history of the United States Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar.

The neighborhood borders the Mississippi River to the South, and the border of Saint Bernard Parish to the east. St Bernard Parish (Paroisse de Saint-Bernard is a parish located southeast of New Orleans in the U To the west is the Industrial Canal, across which is the Bywater section of New Orleans. The Industrial Canal is a 55 mile (9 km Waterway in New Orleans Louisiana, United States. Bywater is a neighborhood of the city of New Orleans. A subdistrict of the Bywater District Area its boundaries as defined by the City Planning Commission are The northern or inland boundary is often given as the Florida Canal with Florida Avenue, a levee, and railroad tracks running beside it. The Florida Canal or 40 Arpent Canal is a Canal in the New Orleans metropolitan area and land down river Alternatively, the industrial area north of Florida Avenue is sometimes included as being part of the Lower 9th Ward, extending the boundary to the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet. The Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet Canal (also known as MRGO MR-GO or "Mr

Excluding the industrial and swamp areas north of the Florida Canal, the neighborhood of the Lower 9th Ward is about 1. 25 miles (2 km) from east to west and 2 miles (3. 2 km) from north to south. Three major avenues cross the neighborhood parallelling the river, each with bridges over the Industrial Canal. Closest to the River is Saint Claude Avenue; about midway through the neighborhood is Claiborne Avenue. Claiborne Avenue is a major thoroughfare in New Orleans, Louisiana. Most major businesses serving the neighborhood are on these two avenues, although a smattering of additional neighborhood business are located throughout the area. On the northern "back" side is Florida Avenue. The first two of these three avenues continue into St. Bernard Parish; a continuation of Florida Avenue through and beyond the Parish line has been repeatedly proposed but at present does not exist.

Demographics

The population is mostly African American, with the majority of the non-African American minority in the section of the neighborhood closer to the river. African Americans or Black Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have origins in any of the black populations of Africa Although mostly working class, about 60% of the homes in the Lower Ninth Ward were owner occupied. [1]

The Lower Ninth Ward has the distinction of being one of only a few areas in the city without housing projects. The Housing Authority of New Orleans is a Housing authority in New Orleans Louisiana tasked with providing housing to low-income residents

Notable Residents and Buildings

The Lower Ninth Ward is also home to the Jackson Barracks. Jackson Barracks is a military base in New Orleans Louisiana. The barracks now serve as headquarters for the Louisiana National Guard, and had an extensive military museum in the old powder magazine and in a new annex, with a large collection of military items from every American war. The Louisiana National Guard consists of the Louisiana Army National Guard Website http//www The 2000 NRA Shooting Sports Camp and Coaches School was held at Jackson Barracks June 28 – July 2, 2000

Major sections of the Mississippi River embankment along the Lower Ninth Ward and inside the Jackson Barracks were used for filming the 1994 movie adaptation of Anne Rice's "Interview with the Vampire", starring Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise. Interview with the Vampire is a Vampire Novel by Anne Rice written in 1973 and published in 1976

Notable Lower 9th Ward residents include musician singer songwriter Fats Domino, NFL star Marshall Faulk, poet & author Kalamu ya Salaam, and rapper Magic. Antoine Dominique "Fats" Domino (born February 26, 1928 in New Orleans Louisiana) is a classic R&B and Rock and roll Marshall William Faulk (born February 26, 1973 in New Orleans, Louisiana) is a former American football Running back, who Kalamu ya Salaam, born 24 March 1947 is a Poet, Author, and Teacher from the 9th Ward of New Orleans. Awood Johnson (born in New Orleans, Louisiana) better known by his Stage name Magic, is a New Orleans hip hop artist who first

The section on the River side of Saint Claude Avenue which developed as an urban area first is sometimes called the "Holy Cross Neighborhood" for Holy Cross High School, the large Catholic school there, which long drew students not only from the Lower 9th but from throughout the city. Holy Cross High School is a High school and Middle school founded in 1879 by the Congregation of Holy Cross in New Orleans Louisiana This article is about Catholic schools in general for specific schools named Catholic High School, see Catholic High School (disambiguation.

The Doullet "Steamboat houses" from the start of the 20th century were long picturesque landmarks of the Holy Cross section of the Lower 9th Ward.

History

In Louisiana's colonial era this was plantation land. The State of Louisiana ( or, État de Louisiane, pronounced) is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America Fundamentally a plantation is usually a large Farm or estate, especially in a tropical or semitropical country on which Cotton, Tobacco The portion closer to the river was developed for residential use at the start of the 19th century at the same time as the Bywater area. The 19th century of the Common Era began on January 1, 1801 and ended on December 31, 1900, according to the Gregorian calendar In 1834 the U.S. Army established the Jackson Barracks here. The United States Army is a military organization whose primary mission is to "provide necessary forces and capabilities. Jackson Barracks is a military base in New Orleans Louisiana. As late as the 1870s the area behind St. Claude was still mostly small farms with scattered residences, and the area on the "woods" (away from the river) side of Claiborne mostly undeveloped cypress swamp.

What became the Lower 9th Ward did not become distinct from the parts of the 9th Ward just upriver until the Industrial Canal was dredged at the start of the 1920s, bisecting the 9th Ward. The 1920s is sometimes referred to as the " Jazz Age " or the " Roaring Twenties " when speaking about the United States and Canada At this time, people started referring to the area "above" (up river) from the Canal as the "Upper" 9th Ward, and this area as the "Lower".

The Industrial Canal prompted development of the land further back along the Canal, and provided steady work for labor in the area. As shipping became containerized in the later 20th century, demand for labor declined with negative economic consequences on the neighborhood

Betsy

In 1965, Hurricane Betsy hit New Orleans. Year 1965 ( MCMLXV) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar of the 1965 Gregorian calendar. Hurricane Betsy was a powerful Hurricane of the 1965 Atlantic hurricane season which caused enormous damage in the Bahamas, Florida, and A levee on the Industrial Canal collapsed, flooding much of the Lower 9th Ward. Dike (constructionEmbankmentA levee, levée, dike (or dyke) embankment, floodbank or stopbank is a natural or artificial

President Lyndon B. Johnson visited the devastated flooded area shortly after the storm, and ordered aid for the storm victims.

Katrina

In 2005, Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans. Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was the costliest hurricane, as well as one of the five deadliest in the history of the United States Multiple breaches in the levees of at least 4 canals resulted in catastrophic flooding of the majority of the city; see Effect of Hurricane Katrina on New Orleans. The effects of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans were shattering and long-lasting

Ruins of residential area in the Lower 9th Ward, with ING 4727 barge in the background

Persistent rumors allege that the levee was deliberately dynamited. Following the destruction wrought by Hurricane Katrina, various conjectures were put forward suggesting that Katrina was not an ordinary natural event but was instead influenced by Dynamite is an explosive based on the explosive potential of Nitroglycerin, initially using Diatomaceous earth (kieselgur US Spelling kieselguhr ^{[1][2][3][4][5]}

Damaged photo in floodsilt. Remains of ruined possessions were common on the streets of the Lower 9th Ward for months after the floodwaters had been drained.

Nowhere in the city was the devastation greater than in the Lower 9th Ward, especially the portion from Claiborne Avenue back. Storm surge flood waters appear to have poured into the neighborhood from at least three sources. Storm surge or tidal surge is an offshore rise of water associated with a low pressure weather system typically a Tropical cyclone. To the east, water flowed in from Saint Bernard Parish, while to the west the Industrial Canal suffered two distinct major breaches: one a block in from Florida Avenue, the second back from Claiborne Avenue. The force of the water did not merely flood homes, but smashed or knocked many off their foundations. A large barge, the ING 4727 (owned by the Ingram Barge Company) came into the neighborhood through the breach near Claiborne Avenue, leveling homes beneath it as it floated in the flood waters. ING 4727 was a Barge belonging to Ingram Barge Company that became infamous when it went over or through a Levee and landed in a residential neighborhood The Ingram Barge Company is a Barge company based in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Storm surge was so great that even the highest portions of the Lower 9th were flooded; Holy Cross School, which had served as a dry refuge after Hurricane Betsy, was inundated, and even the foot of the Mississippi River levee, the area's highest point, took on some 2 to 3 feet of water. Hurricane Betsy was a powerful Hurricane of the 1965 Atlantic hurricane season which caused enormous damage in the Bahamas, Florida, and

As of January 2006, the great devastation and difficulties in restoring basic utilities and city services have made the Lower 9th Ward the last portion of the city of New Orleans not yet officially reopened to residents who wish to return to live, and was the last area of the city still under a curfew half a year after the disaster. A curfew can be one of the following An order by a Government for certain persons to return home daily before a certain time Officially residents were allowed in during daylight hours to look, salvage possessions, and leave, although some few have already done extensive work gutting and repairing their damaged homes in preparation to move back.

The most severely damaged section of the Ward is the lower elevation section, north of Claiborne Avenue. A Bring Back New Orleans Commission preliminary report suggested making this area in whole or part into park space. The Bring New Orleans Back Commission was established by Mayor Ray Nagin of New Orleans, Louisiana, after the flooding caused by a major civil The suggestion is vehemently objected to by most Lower 9th Ward residents.

A group of residents and Common Ground Collective volunteers broke into Martin Luther King Elementary School in March 2006 to begin cleanup efforts. Common Ground Collective is a network of volunteer organizations offering support to the residents of New Orleans. Not long after, the state school officials agreed to repair the school.

As of late 2006, a small number of local businesses in the area reopened and residents returned (many living in FEMA trailers). The term FEMA trailer,or FEMA travel trailer,is the name commonly given by the United States Government They provide intermediate term shelter intended to function However, much of the area is still little populated and in ruined condition. Work crews continue to remove debris and demolish unrepairable houses daily, but hundreds if not thousands are vacant and gutted. Many more buildings are still little touched since the waters were drained, with ruined possessions still inside severely damaged buildings.

In 2006, Mayor Ray Nagin threatened to use his powers of eminent domain to seize vacant severely damaged property in all of New Orleans that had not been gutted or scheduled to be gutted before early 2007. Clarence Ray Nagin Jr (ˈneɪgɨn (born June 11, 1956) is the Mayor of New Orleans. Eminent domain ( United States) compulsory purchase ( United Kingdom, New Zealand, Ireland) resumption/compulsory acquisition Such blighted property has been creating serious problems for returned New Orleanians, including infestations of rats and other vermin. Similar movements to seize abandoned blighted property are in effect in other parishes as well as Mississippi counties effected by the storm. However as hundreds of thousands of locals are still waiting for promised insurance or Road Home money, many of the poor lack resources. See also The Road Home Road Home is a program funded by the U The neighborhood has few stores and schools, and suffers from a high rate of violent crime.

On December 3, 2007, The Make it Right Project initiated a campaign, along with actor Brad Pitt, to rebuild 150 houses in the Lower Ninth Ward. William Bradley "Brad" Pitt Pitt received a Golden Globe Award and an Academy Award nomination for his role in the 1995 film Twelve Monkeys The houses will be sustainable, earth friendly, and on stilts to prevent later flood damage. ^[6]

In March of 2008, from the 8th to the 23rd, the Emerging Green Builders a committee of young professional and student members of the United States Green Building Council will be hosting Historic Green. US Green Building Council ( USGBC) is a non-profit trade organization that promotes sustainability in how buildings are designed built and operated This is a two week rebuilding effort within the Lower Ninth Ward bringing the historic preservation and sustainability communities together in conjunction with the residents of the Holy Cross Neighborhood to remediate and rebuild homes damaged during Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. ^[7]

References

External links

• Lower 9th Ward neighborhood snapshot dealing with the area in back of St. Claude Avenue
• Holy Cross neighborhood snapshot dealing with the area from St. Claude to the River
• Photographs of Hurricane Katrina's aftermath in the Lower Ninth Ward
• Holy Cross School closes
• Rebuilding the 9th Ward A Slideshow of photographic portraits and interview recordings of residents of the 9th Ward, focusing on the post-Katrina rebuilding process
• A People's Plan for Overcoming the Hurricane Katrina Blues Neighborhood recovery plan for the 9th Ward produced by the ACORN/University Partnership