Louisiana | Photo of the Day

[dimebag1980]

Here's a photo, courtesy of Wet Willie's, which shows the area in front of Wet Willies' daiquiri bar in the Red River District at night. This is what the District looked like back before the life was sucked out of it.

Edited July 21, 2006 by SBCmetroguy

[NCB]

Downtown Natchitoches is awesome, and the buildings are reminiscent to the French Quarter. Afterall, Natchitoches was established in 1714 and New Orleans in 1718, so there are some extreme similarities between the two cities from that time period. It's just hard to believe that it's older than New Orleans and yet it's so small.

If you ever get to stop in, even for an hour, do so. Heck, you can pretty much see it all in less than an hour, it's so small... but you'd need a bit longer do DO it all. It's such a cool little city. The best time to visit Natchitoches... or Shreveport-Bossier and Marshall, TX for that matter, is at Christmas time. Keep that in mind.

I do really want to get up there and check it out myself. I've driven outside of it so many times on I-49, and normally stop off there and get Boudin Balls and Meat Pie's from a Chevron station near the interstate, but I've never actually been in the city of Natchitoches.

BTW, for some historic dates, I'll throw this in:

New Orleans

First settled: 1691-95

Officially established: 1699

Officially founded: 1718

Natchitoches

First settled: ???

Officially established: 1699

Officially founded: 1714

While Natchitoches is considered to be the oldest officially established settlement in the entire area of the Louisiana Purchase, I've always thought it was interesting just how similar the date's of its settlement and founding were with New Orleans'. Though I have still never been able to find an official date for when the Natchitoches area was first settled.

[dimebag1980]

I do really want to get up there and check it out myself. I've driven outside of it so many times on I-49, and normally stop off there and get Boudin Balls and Meat Pie's from a Chevron station near the interstate, but I've never actually been in the city of Natchitoches.

BTW, for some historic dates, I'll throw this in:

New Orleans

First settled: 1691-95

Officially established: 1699

Officially founded: 1718

Natchitoches

First settled: ???

Officially established: 1699

Officially founded: 1714

While Natchitoches is considered to be the oldest officially established settlement in the entire area of the Louisiana Purchase, I've always thought it was interesting just how similar the date's of its settlement and founding were with New Orleans'. Though I have still never been able to find an official date for when the Natchitoches area was first settled.

Weird that you can't find a "settled" date for Natchitoches. But I'm with you on the similarities in the dates of establishment and founding of both cities. I'm so surprised Natchitoches didn't grow, but rather a city that didn't exist until more than 100 years later (Shreveport) eventually grew up only 60 some miles north and is much larger. That surprises me, but Shreveport had the advantage of the railroad and a river port.

[NCB]

Weird that you can't find a "settled" date for Natchitoches. But I'm with you on the similarities in the dates of establishment and founding of both cities. I'm so surprised Natchitoches didn't grow, but rather a city that didn't exist until more than 100 years later (Shreveport) eventually grew up only 60 some miles north and is much larger. That surprises me, but Shreveport had the advantage of the railroad and a river port.

Yea, the railroad alone put Shreveport on the map. The river port got it going, but IMO if the railroad had never come around, we probably wouldn't be looking at a city with 200,000 people today. And that can be said for all kinds of cities across the country in some way. Hell, the majority of cities.

[dimebag1980]

Yea, the railroad alone put Shreveport on the map. The river port got it going, but IMO if the railroad had never come around, we probably wouldn't be looking at a city with 200,000 people today. And that can be said for all kinds of cities across the country in some way. Hell, the majority of cities.

Very true... most cities rose from the railroad. The railroad shall forever be an important piece of Americana, even if one day it's a thing of the past.

By the way, did you see the photo I posted above? You were already in this topic when I posted it so you may have missed it.

[NCB]

By the way, did you see the photo I posted above? You were already in this topic when I posted it so you may have missed it.

Yea it looks like I missed that one. Looks like there was plenty to do there when that picture was taken. Has the activity gone down there greatly since then? I would hope not.

[dimebag1980]

Yea it looks like I missed that one. Looks like there was plenty to do there when that picture was taken. Has the activity gone down there greatly since then? I would hope not.

It certainly has. Follow the last week or so in the SBC Development thread over on the SBC subforum for more about this. When the District first opened, it was full of tenants in both the outdoor area and the indoor "mall" area. Now, you can count the tenants on one hand (seriously.)

[NCB]

It certainly has. Follow the last week or so in the SBC Development thread over on the SBC subforum for more about this. When the District first opened, it was full of tenants in both the outdoor area and the indoor "mall" area. Now, you can count the tenants on one hand (seriously.)

Ahh, you hate to see that happen, especially to a center that was doing well previously. I'll certainly read through the info about this in the SBC Development Thread, but just for a quick fix, is anything being done to bring the Red River District back?

[NCB]

The Sheraton New Orleans, at 479 feet it is the tallest hotel in the state, and one of the tallest hotels in the South:

[dimebag1980]

Ahh, you hate to see that happen, especially to a center that was doing well previously. I'll certainly read through the info about this in the SBC Development Thread, but just for a quick fix, is anything being done to bring the Red River District back?

If I give you the Cliff's Notes, you'll never read the book. Some people!!!

Oh well, I'll tell you anyway. El Dorado Casino, whose property actually touches the district, is now the owner of the properties and is planning on trying to revive it. They're starting by installing more overhead surveillance cameras throughout the district for added security. The inside portion of the District was actually built on the bottom floor of the Hollywood (now El Dorado) Casino parking deck.

[NCB]

If I give you the Cliff's Notes, you'll never read the book. Some people!!!

Oh well, I'll tell you anyway. El Dorado Casino, whose property actually touches the district, is now the owner of the properties and is planning on trying to revive it. They're starting by installing more overhead surveillance cameras throughout the district for added security. The inside portion of the District was actually built on the bottom floor of the Hollywood (now El Dorado) Casino parking deck.

Hey what do you expect, I'm a lazy American!

But seriously, it's good to hear that at least something is being done to bring some life back to the RRD.

[richyb83]

^ Nice pic of Louisiana's tallest hotel ! Would it rank#3 only behind Miami's FourSeason's and Atlanta's Westin.

^I heard Nachitoches has a great Christmas Light Festival on their smaller river(Cane) ?. Was Nachitoches also Louisiana's Capital for a time long ago ?

[NCB]

Was Nachitoches also Louisiana's Capital for a time long ago ?

Not that I know of. I'm pretty sure that the capital of the historical Louisiana colony rotated between Mobile, Biloxi, and New Orleans. And that the capital of the state of Louisiana, as it is today, has only rotated between Baton Rouge and New Orleans. Though Natchitoches was a major settlement first for French trading, and also to stop Spanish advances into Louisiana.

Seriously, I don't know of a state with a more interesting history than Louisiana. I could read and learn about this stuff forever, and no matter how much you think you know, there's always some interesting fact that you didn't know that you end up learning from someone/something.

[richyb83]

Seriously, I don't know of a state with a more interesting history than Louisiana. I could read and learn about this stuff forever, and no matter how much you think you know, there's always some interesting fact that you didn't know that you end up learning from someone/something.

So true, that's makes it so much fun. We never stop learning. Louisiana is not boring; it may be alot of different things in history, but boring is not one of them.

[dimebag1980]

^ Nice pic of Louisiana's tallest hotel ! Would it rank#3 only behind Miami's FourSeason's and Atlanta's Westin.

^I heard Nachitoches has a great Christmas Light Festival on their smaller river(Cane) ?. Was Nachitoches also Louisiana's Capital for a time long ago ?

I don't think so, but Shreveport was the state capital for a while during the Civil War. Short-lived, but a neat little piece of history for north Louisiana.

[NCB]

I don't think so, but Shreveport was the state capital for a while during the Civil War. Short-lived, but a neat little piece of history for north Louisiana.

I forgot to mention that, thanks for throwing that in Brian. That's definately an interesting piece of history for north Louisiana. Louisiana had three different state capital's during and after the Civil War; Baton Rouge, New Orleans, and Shreveport, and of course it ended up being permanently set in Baton Rouge again. I wonder how Shreveport and Baton Rouge would look now if the Capital had stayed in Shreveport?

[NCB]

This is one of my personal favorite photos, the Saint Louis Cathedral through the trees:

[richyb83]

I see why that would be one of your personal favorites. I really like it myself. That could be a post card classic. The iron fence adds to it as well.

[NCB]

Thanks Richy! Glad you like it!

[dimebag1980]

This is one of my personal favorite photos, the Saint Louis Cathedral through the trees:

That has a really cool effect. And again, awesome lighting. What time of day was that taken if you may recall? I've been experimenting lately with different times of day for my photographs. I anticipated spending most of today taking pictures, but I had to work some this morning and then I spent 2 hours waiting for my stylist to cut my hair.

[NCB]

That has a really cool effect. And again, awesome lighting. What time of day was that taken if you may recall?

I took that photo at about 6:30 in the morning, which is my favorite time to take photos in the French Quarter, as you have everything to yourself, you get great lighting in most of your photos, and you get that "quiet and historic" feel to your pictures. When I see that photo of the Saint Louis Cathedral, it just makes me envision the city as very quiet and just waking up, which I love being able to do just from looking at a photo.

[Mith242]

Well, we can combine Coors Light and Bud Light together to form one superbeer!

Hmmm....when you say things like that, it doesn't quite put me in a mood to come visit you.

Downtown Natchitoches is awesome, and the buildings are reminiscent to the French Quarter. Afterall, Natchitoches was established in 1714 and New Orleans in 1718, so there are some extreme similarities between the two cities from that time period. It's just hard to believe that it's older than New Orleans and yet it's so small.

If you ever get to stop in, even for an hour, do so. Heck, you can pretty much see it all in less than an hour, it's so small... but you'd need a bit longer do DO it all. It's such a cool little city. The best time to visit Natchitoches... or Shreveport-Bossier and Marshall, TX for that matter, is at Christmas time. Keep that in mind.

Interesting that I see this now because I just watched something earlier today on PBS talking about Natchitoches. It did look interesting from what little I got to see. Looked more interesting than the little I've heard of the similar named city in Texas. I don't think it's spelled quite the same. Apparently they aren't pronounced the same either. The guy on PBS pronounced the one in Louisiana a bit different from what I was expecting.

[Mith242]

Weird that you can't find a "settled" date for Natchitoches. But I'm with you on the similarities in the dates of establishment and founding of both cities. I'm so surprised Natchitoches didn't grow, but rather a city that didn't exist until more than 100 years later (Shreveport) eventually grew up only 60 some miles north and is much larger. That surprises me, but Shreveport had the advantage of the railroad and a river port.

You never know how that's going to work out. You'll have two cities settled around the same time in the same region. One ends up becoming a big city the other hardly develops at all. I don't want to speculate on what happened. But the show I saw that was talking about it was mainly talking about the Creole culture. It also mentioned how many of the Creoles had a bit of a hard time because back then you had to be either white or black. People back then didn't really accept any mixture of the two. I got the impression the town was rather important as far as Creole culture was concerned and wondered if in some ways it hindered some progress with people's reactions to Creoles.

Guess I should also say nice pics, now that I'm finished replying to everyone's comments.

[NCB]

Hmmm....when you say things like that, it doesn't quite put me in a mood to come visit you.

Interesting that I see this now because I just watched something earlier today on PBS talking about Natchitoches. It did look interesting from what little I got to see. Looked more interesting than the little I've heard of the similar named city in Texas. I don't think it's spelled quite the same. Apparently they aren't pronounced the same either. The guy on PBS pronounced the one in Louisiana a bit different from what I was expecting.

Oh yes, that would be Nacogdoches, Texas. Nacodoches is pronounced Nac-a-dosh-es while Natchitoches, Louisiana is pronounced Nac-it-ish.

And as for the beer in New Orleans, I'm sure we can all figure something out.

[dimebag1980]

Hmmm....when you say things like that, it doesn't quite put me in a mood to come visit you.

Interesting that I see this now because I just watched something earlier today on PBS talking about Natchitoches. It did look interesting from what little I got to see. Looked more interesting than the little I've heard of the similar named city in Texas. I don't think it's spelled quite the same. Apparently they aren't pronounced the same either. The guy on PBS pronounced the one in Louisiana a bit different from what I was expecting.

Nacogdoches is the similarly-named city in Texas. Nack-a-tish (Natchitoches) and Nack-ag-do-shus (Nacogdoches.)

I'll be down in Natchitoches next weekend if everything goes as planned. If so, I'll bring back lots of pictures. Expect pictures of hungry gators as well.