Hey Blake,

When was Mrs. Maguire's School for Boys founded? When did Mrs. Maguire's school cease to exist? When did Capt. Robert McCaw Perrin join her school, and where was it located? When was the New Orleans Academy founded, where was it, and was Mrs. Maguire on the faculty?

Hunter

Dear Hunter,

Let's start with Mrs. Maguire. Norah Collins Maguire was born in 1850 in New Orleans. Before her marriage, she was trained as a teacher. She was widowed at an early age, and when her son died about 1910, she turned to teaching. Maguire taught for a brief period at the University School, and then opened a school of her own for boys. In 1913 she merged her school with the New Orleans Academy. She remained there until her death at the school on June 17, 1925.

The New Orleans Academy opened on Oct. 1, 1913, and was located at 1910 Carondelet St. at the corner of St. Andrew Street. The principal was Capt. Robert McCaw Perrin, and Maguire was the vice-principal. In an advertisement in the Times Democrat, the school was described as 'A school for a limited number of boys," one that 'prepares for the universities and the government academies."

Perrin, the founder of the New Orleans Academy, was born in Abbeville, S.C. He was educated at The Citadel and the University of South Carolina, where he received a law degree. He spent several years at the Porter Military School in Charleston, S.C., and came to New Orleans in 1902. For several years after that, he was commandant at Dyer's Military Academy. After three years at Dyer's, he practiced law for several years, and in 1913 founded the New Orleans Academy. Perrin served as the head of the school until his death, except during World War I when he was camp adjutant of Camp Beauregard at Pineville, La. Perrin died of a heart attack on Sept. 8, 1938.

Hey Blake,

My husband and I have been wondering about what looks like a streetcar rail line that perhaps was covered over on Laurel Street. We looked on the Internet and through several books with no success. Any thoughts from you on the history of this, or are they something totally different?

Vicki

Dear Vicki,

Yes, there was a streetcar line on Laurel Street. The original company that operated the line was the New Orleans Railroad and Light Company. The line, always electric, began service on Aug. 12, 1913. Its original route traveled from Canal Street and S. Franklin (now LaSalle St.) in on Canal, up Camp, Magazine, Peters Avenue (now Jefferson Ave.) and Laurel, to Exposition Blvd. (Audubon Park). It returned via Laurel, Louisiana and Magazine to Canal.

By 1919, another line " the Annunciation Line " had been discontinued, and a portion of its route went to the Laurel line. The new route sent the streetcars from Canal and Carondelet, up Carondelet, Clio, Camp, Erato, Annunciation, Louisiana, Constance, Valmont and Laurel to Exposition Boulevard. The return trip took passengers on Laurel, Louisiana, Chippewa, Race, Annunciation, Erato, Camp and Canal.

Routing for the Laurel line changed again in 1930, and in 1932 the route was shortened. Its final route didn't even include Laurel Street, and the cars went from the foot of Canal up Tchoupitoulas, Annunciation and Louisiana to Magazine. They returned via Louisiana, Chippewa, Race, Annunciation, Howard and S. Peters to Canal.

At one time, New Orleans was covered with well over 200 miles of streetcar tracks, and there were dozens of lines. During the time that the Laurel line was running, almost every streetcar line in the city not only came to Canal Street, but also ran along it in both directions for at least a few blocks. You cannot possibly imagine the resulting congestion and confusion or the meticulous planning it took to route these cars. For passengers, it was a nightmare.