Venue Status: Open
Historically, Lakeview referred to the area of the city that is bounded by Lakeshore Drive, Orleans Avenue, City Park Avenue and the Jefferson Parish line. That area encompasses four present day neighborhoods – Lakeview, Lakewood, West End and Navarre. The land that encompassed the large Lakeview area of the past was originally owned by an order of priests called the Capuchins. The priests sold the land to Don Almonester y Roxas during Spanish rule. Don Almonester y Roxas is known for rebuilding the St. Louis Cathedral with his own funds and his daughter, the Baroness Pontalba, built the beautiful Pontalba Apartments around Jackson Square. Almonester’s holdings included parts of present day City Park and the Lakewood neighborhood.
Later, Alexander Milne owned most of Lakeview and the New Orleans lakeshore. The main artery of the Lakeview area was the New Basin Canal, built in the 1830s by Irish immigrants. The New Basin Canal contributed significantly to the character of the Lakeview area. It provided access to uptown New Orleans for the transport of many products from across the lake. It served as a boundary between the east and west sections of Lakeview.
Lakeview was one of the first residential areas to develop in response to the potential beauty and leisure time enjoyment of the land near Lake Pontchartrain and its yacht and country clubs. This neighborhood, adjacent to the 1500 acre City Park, is made up of several subdivisions filled with luxurious homes and its major boulevards are lined with giant oaks. The Lakeview neighborhood has its roots in the work of Charles Louque who initiated the reclamation of this area of land near Lake Pontchartrain. Development of the area between the New Basin Canal and the Orleans Avenue Canal was encouraged by the West End and Spanish Fort street car lines providing access to the area and by the New Orleans and West End Country Clubs, which were located on the shell road, facing the New Basin Canal.