The District contains historically significant sites including West End Park
and West End Lighthouse and the seafood restaurants...built on pilings, are the few remaining examples of a building type formerly found throughout the lakefront region. 

       



Panoramic view of the west end of Lake Shore Park in 1915. Please scroll to the right to see the many camps existing at that time.




'The District contains historically significant sites including West End Park and West End Lighthouse
and the seafood restaurants found near the marina. These restaurants, built on pilings, are the few remaining
examples of a building type formerly found throughout the lakefront region.'
Quote source: New Orleans City
Planning Commission 1999 Land Use Plan

The only other examples of this building type are the 6 remaining Hayne Boulevard camps
(see the Hayne Blvd/Camps page for more information). 



     
         

Advertisement in Conde Nast Magazine for Hart Schaffner & Marx showing 'The West End' in New Orleans. Date unknown. 


         

1960--A view of the shorleline at West End in a Chubb & Son magazine advertisement featuring the Southern Yacht Club. 

     
         

Map of West End 



         

On Lake Pontchartrain.
'Men of the 182nd General Hospital, under the command of Colonel Charles Kirkpatrick, board Higgins boats at West End for a trip across the lake. The operators of the boats are men of the Coast Guard and Navy, students of the Higgins Boat Operators and Marine Engine Maintenance School.' The lake was an important testing and training venue for Higgins boats throughout the war.
[from January-March, 1944 (p. 119)]
Source: http://nutrias.org/monthly/june2000/june0018.htm



         
Source: http://nutrias.org/~nopl/exhibits/ccmem/10.htm This is a detail, showing the West End area, from a remarkable 1873 plan for the redevelopment of the south shore of Lake Pontchartrain in Orleans Parish. The larger plan provides us with several memories: the old, irregular shoreline prior to construction of the seawall, the Spanish Fort amusement park, and the Pontchartrain Railroad pier that allowed the 'Smoky Mary' to take its passengers all the way to the lake. Though never realized, this plan marked the beginning of the planning process that led to the Orleans Levee Board's 1920s reclamation project. [City Archives. Streets Department Records]