Search New Orleans History ~~ Lake Pontchartrain:

1940 Higgins Builds the Boats that Won the War From the book by Strahan, Jerry E.: ANDREW JACKSON HIGGINS AND THE BOATS THAT WON WORLD WAR II; Baton Rouge. Louisiana State University Press. 1994. posted 2002-11-17

1940s ? Houseboats in Bayou St. John Photo credit: http://nutrias.org/photos/wpa/images/25/250401.jpg

1941 Military Practices on the Shore of Lake Pontchartrain using Higgins Boats From the book by Strahan, Jerry E.: ANDREW JACKSON HIGGINS AND THE BOATS THAT WON WORLD WAR II; Baton Rouge. Louisiana State University Press. 1994. posted 2002-11-17

circa 1940 High Wire Act at Pontchartrain Beach Phote shows the beginning of a performance as well as the Milneburg Light which was near the stage.

circa 1940 The Milneburg Light at Pontchartrain Beach. Gene Leingang Collection New Orleans, Louisiana USA Source: http://www.bergeronstudio.com/gl01/pgl002.html

1940 Pontchartrain Beach postcard Kropp Postcard

1941 Building the Runways at Camp LeRoy Johnson 1941 U.S. Naval Reserve Air Training Base (Camp Leroy Johnson) Status: GONE Land now part of The University of New Orleans. Smokestack in left/center has been incorporated into the design of the UNO alumni center. Spreading asphalt for one of the two runways at the base. The runways are built to grade and drainage structures built by WPA labor. Actual laying of asphalt is being performed by contract. Unfinished hangar for the base is s hown in the background. Source: New Orleans Public Library--WPA Photograph Collection http://www.nutrias.org/~nopl/photos/wpa/images/02082.jpg

1941 Pontchatrain Beach. Compare this to the 1927 photo taken from the Milneburg Lighthouse Pontchartrain Beach no longer exists. Pontchartrain Beach Amusement park at the old Milneburg site was the venue for many great musicians. It closed in 1983. This area is now occupied by the University of New Orleans Technology Park.

1941Bathhouse at Lincoln Beach (which did not open until several years later) View of the original, WPA-built Lincoln Beach bath house (May 29, 1941). With the renovation of the Beach in the early 1950s, this building was remodeled and converted to a restaurant. Lincoln Beach was closed in 1964 by a federal order forbidding the operation of segregated facilities and over the years, the abandoned area fell into decay (though picnickers and sometimes swimmers still occasionally used it surreptitiously). Today, however, the immediate future of Lincoln Beach looks rosy. The Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation has determined that the water off Lincoln Beach is the cleanest on the south shore of the Lake, and plans for the redevelopment of the area are taking off. With the resolution of a property dispute between the Levee Board and the City and a promise of federal, state and local funding, the beach appears poised to make a spectacular comeback under the direction of the New Orleans Building Corporation, the city agency that oversees the management and development of City-owned real estate. Plans call for a restoration of the sand beach, construction of a swimming pool and and bath house, concessions, nature trails, a recreation center, pavilion, shelters, playground facilities and sports fields and courts. Source: http://nutrias.org/~nopl/monthly/july2001/6jul01.htm

1942 Map of Military Installments Source: http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/la/orleans/images/no1940.jpg