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Camp Nicholls, a home for Confederate soldiers,
occupied 1700 Moss St. for more than 60 years.
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Photo by Eileen Loh Harrist
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Hey Blake,
Do you know anything about
the old Confederate soldiers' home on Moss Street by Bayou St. John? The Third
District Police Station is there now, but there is a place that says it was
the site of a Confederate soldiers' home. I can't find out anything about it
on the Web, so I thought I'd ask the expert.
Janessa Dawn
Dear Janessa,
Yes, ma'am, there was a home for Confederate
soldiers at this site, and it was named to honor a hero of the Civil War, Gov.
Francis T. Nicholls.
The new Confederate Soldiers' Home -- named
Camp Nicholls -- was dedicated on May 16, 1884. But way back in March of 1866,
the Louisiana Legislature had established the first Confederate Soldiers' Home
for our state. For two years, it was in operation in Mandeville, but in 1868,
the Reconstruction government stopped the appropriation.
It wasn't until many years later, in 1882,
that the 1866 Act was amended and a reorganized Board of Commissioners was able
to buy the tract of land on Bayou St. John with the explicit purpose of building
the new home for the old soldiers.
The day the new home was dedicated was a very
special occasion. The widow of General T.J. "Stonewall" Jackson had herself
made a Louisiana flag for the home, and her daughter Miss Julia Jackson raised
the flag to the top of a 70-foot flagpole while the big brass Washington Artillery
howitzer "Redemption" fired a 13-round salute. Also in attendance and helping
Miss Jackson were Mildred and Mary, the daughters of General Robert E. Lee;
Nanny, the daughter of General D. H. Hill; and Mary, daughter of Col. A. H.
May, veteran officer of the Washington Artillery.
For years, many Confederate veterans called
the camp at 1700 Moss St. home. But in 1949, the 39th Infantry Division of the
National Guard moved in and made it the state headquarters. Then in April 1951,
a new armory was built for $120,000, and the 135th Air Control and Warning Squadron
of the Louisiana Air National Guard became the new occupant of the site.
When this group moved, there was a period
of vacancy until 1983 when the building was renovated and the Police Department
took up residence.
Hey Blake,
What can you tell me about the St. Charles Hotel between 1835 and 1838?
--Patricia Gambino
Dear Patricia,
The St. Charles Hotel -- given this name because
it faced St. Charles Avenue -- was built by architect James Gallier for a private
corporation beginning in 1835. While it established his reputation, it didn't
make him rich as he got only $10,000 for three years' work. He wrote in his
memoirs that the work was "very arduous and onerous." And many workers died
the first summer from sunstroke and yellow fever.
The corporation wanted a hotel that would
be the grandest in the world -- a tall order indeed. But according to many,
Gallier delivered. At a total cost of $600,000 -- the furnishings cost $150,000
more -- it was truly magnificent. The hotel had six stories topped by a large
white dome. Taller than any other building in the city, it could be seen for
miles. Mr. Norman in his 1845 guidebook wrote, "The effect of the dome upon
the sight of the visitor, as he approaches the city, is similar to that of St.
Paul's, London."
Built in the Greek Revival style, the hotel
had a portico of Corinthian columns, but Gallier also included a raised main
floor with a central salon that featured Ionic columns and a statue of George
Washington. A feature of the street-level floor was a huge octagonal barroom
capable of holding 1,000 men. Elsewhere in the hotel guests would find shops,
dining rooms, public baths, and auction rooms for goods and slaves.
There were three floors of bedrooms and suites
under the dome where as many as 500 guests could stay in luxurious splendor.
Barely 15 years later, a daytime kitchen fire
that spread quickly destroyed the hotel in a matter of three hours.
