What was the name of the library on Royal Street across from Washington Square ?
Blake Pontchartrain
Hey Blake,
What was the name of the library on Royal Street across from Washington Square that was torn down? When was it torn down?
A Reader
Dear Reader,
Once upon a time, we had many more library branches than we do now. Hurricanes seem to wreak havoc on them.
In 1902, the city received $250,000 from Andrew Carnegie to build a new main library and three new branch libraries. One of these branches was located in the Faubourg Marigny at the corner of Royal and Frenchmen streets. By 1908, the new main library was open at Lee Circle, and two other branches opened on Pelican Avenue in Algiers and Napoleon Avenue in Uptown.
The Royal Street Branch of the New Orleans Public Library — it never had another name — was a fine old building, but it could not take the wind, rain and falling debris of Hurricane Betsy in 1965. Not long afterward, the library and the Holy Redeemer Church, which was on the same block, were demolished. In their place you will find the Christopher Inn.
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