Time and Place in New Orleans

Winner of the 2002 Joseph A. Arrigo Local Book of the Year presented by the New Orleans Gulf-South Booksellers Association

"Campanella has a gift for making a wealth of technical information both lively and accessible. . . . the average citizen will come away informed and intrigued by this unusual look at the city."

--New Orleans Times-Picayune

"Truly informative and highly recommended."

--Midwest Book Review

"with an abundance of both scholarly detail and superior artistry, succeeds in spanning a readership from the living room coffee table to the shelves of the academic library."

--Louisiana History

"As the most extensive geographical description of the city to date, Campanella's book fills a great need . . . anyone who has an interest in the distinctive city of New Orleans must have this book."

--Journal of Southern History

New Orleans, Louisiana is unlike any other urban center in America. Newcomers and natives alike are charmed by its shady boulevards and architecturally distinct neighborhoods, or faubourgs . However, visitors are often confused when directed to drive uptown (or upriver) and look for some attraction on the lakeside of the street. New Orleans seems to occupy a special geography as unique as its spicy cuisine or its spirited jazz music.

Time and Place in New Orleans proves that the city is indeed defined by its location. Sandwiched between the imposing Lake Pontchartrain and a curve in the mighty Mississippi River, the original settlement clung to a narrow crescent of high ground; this situation inspired the nickname, the Crescent City. From the city's problematic founding (the site was moved six times in twenty-three years) to its present reliance on century-old pumping stations, Richard Campanella explores the influence of New Orleans 1/2 singular topography and geography on the city 1/2s growth and development.