French Market – New Orleans LA

Description

The Public Works Administration (PWA) provided the funds for the restoration and expansion of the historic French market along the waterfront of the Vieux Carré of New Orleans.  Short and Brown’s 1939 compilation of important PWA projects has the following to say:

“Along the Mississippi River water front in New Orleans is located a group of buildings comprising the old French market, which is one of the largest public markets in the United States. One of the buildings was erected during the Spanish domination in the eighteenth century, and it has been an object of interest to tourists for the past 100 years.

This project consisted of three main parts, the first being alterations and additions to the existing meat market, the second consisting of the erection of a unit containing fruit, vegetable, and poultry markets, and a restaurant, and the third, a group of three buildings including the famous stall market and a coffee shop. The project was completed in January 1938 at a construction cost of $287,716 and a project cost of $323,750.”

There are no plaques acknowledging the work of the PWA on the buildings, only the subsequent restorations done by the city in 1973 and 1993.

We are not sure about the labeling of the photographs, given the several buildings that compose the French Market today.  Any corrections appreciated.