How old are the Camps?

As far as we know, camps have been on the New Orleans lakeshore for about 200 years--hundreds of camps--one after the other for miles along the shore.

Many people called the Camps "Poor Man's Paradise" because they were a place that almost anyone could afford to go to for a weekend or a vacation. And you didn't even have to ride for hours and hours just to get there because the Camps are right in the city. They were, and are a great place to swim and fish and have a good time with your family and friends Many people actually lived in the camps and made their living from fishing, shrimping and crabbing in the lake. Other camps were popular restaurants and entertainment places. There are many reasons the camps are so special.

What exactly is a Camp?

Lake Pontchartrain Camps are big, sort of plain, wooden houses usually with tin roofs that are actually built on the Lake.

All of the camps had porches, some all the way around. Some porches were screened to keep the mosquitoes and bats out. Look closely at the picture and you'll see that the camps are built on "pilings". Pilings look just like telephone poles and are about as long. The camps sat about 10 feet above the water level in the lake. Some people described these camps as "houses on stilts". Every camp, because they sat quite far out in the Lake, had a "walk" or "run" from the shoreline to the camp. Most had a back walk with a fishing pier at the end of it. Many camps also had boat houses--tin sheds where the boat could be hoisted up and kept safe from rough weather. And all camps had steps leading down into the Lake so that you could go down for a swim or a ride in the boat. Camps have been described as modified "New Orleans Shotgun Architecture" meaning that they were often long and skinny on the inside but with porches on the sides and fronts. Other camps were built with "Bargeboard Architecture." Most camps had several bedrooms along with a couple of large rooms. One of the larger rooms was a gathering place for eating or hanging out. A screened porch was usually where the kids slept at night.

Where are the Camps?

A lot closer than you probably think. Here's a map: The blue part is the Lake. Yellow coverage is Northern New Orleans. You can see I-10 in red.

The 1800's (The 19th Century)

The first camps were built during the early 1800's. Many were privately owned and sometimes rented out for parties and dances. Others served as public bath houses, pavilions, road houses, and/or restaurants.

The city of Milneburg, developed by Alexander Milne during the 1830's, near Elysian Fields and the lake created new interest in the lake shore area. Beginning in 1832 the Pontchartrain Railway (Smoky Mary) brought the city folks to the lake to enjoy the camps and resorts. Spanish Fort, then at the lake and Bayou St. John (before the landfill projects of the 1920's and 30's), was another popular camp/amusement/resort area. West End, still vibrant today, was the home of the Southern Yacht Club, the New Canal Lighthouse, and a host of hotels, resorts, restaurants, amusement parks, and camps.

Early 1900's

Beginning in the early 1900's, developers attempted to replace orchards with subdivisions in the Edgelake (Hayne Boulevard) & Little Woods areas. A shell road was built, but the encroachment of "the city" was still years away--the subdivisions were not built and the camps remained much as they had been since the early 1800's with the exception of those damaged or destroyed in a 1915 hurricane.

The Roaring 20's

During the 1920's camps lined the entire New Orleans lakeshore. But most of these where destroyed to make way for the seawall, Lakeshore Drive, and new subdivisions. Along with the camps, during the late 20's we saw the end of the amusement parks, resorts, hotels, restaurants, dance halls, public piers, and "honky tonks" which nurtured the birth of the blues and jazz in New Orleans. Souchon recalled that "Lake Pontchartrain always had an attraction for musicians...Camps would be rented; large pavillions were reserved for dances and picnics, and...every camp had its own music" (File, "Bars, Buildings and Where Jazz was Played, Jazz Archives, Tulane University).

"Hallowed now in jazz history are the stretches known as Milneburg, Old Spanish Fort, Little Woods, Bucktown, and West End" (Rose and Souchon, New Orleans Jazz: A Family Album, Baton Rouge: LSU Press, 1967, p. 200). The fishing camps, dance halls and roadhouses of the Lake Pontchartrain resort communities teemed with pleasure-seekers, both rich and poor, especially in the early 1900's after the closing of Storyville (1917) and the start of Prohibition (1920) pushed revelers to the city's fringes.

The 30's

During the 1930's, 350 camps lined the shoreline from the Lakefront/Shushan Airport to Paris Road. But hundreds of other camps, west of the airport to West End, had recently been destroyed. The city was expanding, resulting in many changes and challenges to the lakefront camp area.

In 1930, Abraham Shushan (then president of the N.O. Levee Board) cancelled camp owners permits, giving them 30 days to vacate their camps--many of which were used as homes--to make way for the newly planned airport and the landfill project. The camp owners formed the Lakeshore Protective Agency which fought a battle all the way the state Supreme Court which ruled in 1931 that the levee board could not begin additional lake work (landfill/seawall) until the airport was completed. The Hayne Blvd. camps were spared and the landfill project was never undetaken. In 1932, the legendary "Smoky Mary" (Pontchartrain Railroad/Railway) ceased its route to the lakeshore--no need for it anymore for their were no more camps, resorts, restaurants, dance halls, or amusement parks to visit on the West End, Spanish Fort, or Milneburg area shorelines. They had all been destroyed to make way for the seawall, Lakeshore Drive, and new subdivisions. In 1934 the Shushan Airport was completed (now called Lakefront Airport) and in 1938 Hayne Boulevard was blacktopped, allowing easier access to the remaining camps. The Little Woods & Lakeshore Improvement Association presented fellow camp owner Mayor Maeistri with a plaque, thanking him for the help he had given them in preserving the camps. According to Helen Bourda, who had lived in camps since 1915, Gov. Huey P. Long visited her families camp/dance hall/pavillion during the 30's.

The 40's

Mama Lou's, Carlson's, and The Ruby were among the many popular combination pier/ dance hall / restaurant camps during the 40's & 50's. Many great musicians, including  the great Richard "Rabbit" Brown performed at Mama Lou's as well as other camps. From the early 1800's through the 50's the sounds of jazz and blues greats could be heard from the camps.