Richard Campanella

Nov 6, 2024 | nola.com | Richard Campanella

With the exception of the French Quarter, the streets, blocks and parcels of historic New Orleans fit within the framework of plantations created in the 1700s and urbanized by the mid-1800s. Known as French long-lots, the plantations were surveyed in elongated shapes, so that each parcel would front the Mississippi River and slice across the elevated natural levee, extending back to the swamp by 40 to 80 arpents, roughly 1.5 to three miles.

Oct 11, 2024 | nola.com | Richard Campanella

Bayou Convent. Bayou Coquil. Bayou Cazelard. These were among the natural waterways that once coursed through the West Bank of greater New Orleans. While they resembled the bayous of the East Bank, they differed in how they were oriented and used — and when they disappeared. The reasons are rooted in the two ways that bayous formed in southern Louisiana. Some bayous originated as effluxes (outflows) of larger waterways, namely the Mississippi.

Sep 1, 2024 | 64parishes.org | Richard Campanella |Alexandra Kennon Shahin

Below sea level” is a peculiarity of Earth’s lithosphere. The very notion of “land” implies a preponderance of soil over water, and one might presume, of soil being above water. But under two circumstances, the apparent absurdity becomes possible. One is natural—that is, geological in origin—and the other is anthropogenic, the product of human tinkering. Troughs in the Earth’s surface tend to form where tectonic plates converge or diverge.

Aug 29, 2024 | nola.com | Richard Campanella

Chef Menteur Highway stands apart from the thoroughfares of greater New Orleans. It’s the longest nonfederal artery in the city, extending more than 25 miles along a prehistoric pathway and reaching to St. Tammany Parish. It crosses two shipping channels that played key roles in colonial history, each now flanked by the oldest surviving structures in the vicinity.

Aug 8, 2024 | nola.com | Richard Campanella

Take a close look at old photos of downtown New Orleans, and you’ll notice something ubiquitous which has since grown scarce: awnings and canopies protruding from building façades, covering extensive stretches of sidewalk. Offering refuge from sun and rain, these friendly fixtures provided a public as well as a private service, benefiting all pedestrians while attracting potential patrons to participating businesses.