New Orleans Mardi Gras Marathon Course History

	The 45th Annual New Orleans Mardi Gras Marathon Marathon, Half-Marathon, 5K Sunday, February 1, 2009 Presented by the New Orleans Track Club
Copyright © 2007, 2008 by the New Orleans Track Club. All rights reserved. Page last updated 05 February 2008 08:09 EST
Home Lodging 2008 Results Contact Us	New Orleans Mardi Gras Marathon Course History By Dudley Stadler This is the story of the Mardi Gras Marathon route through the eyes of one who loves New Orleans and whose family has lived in New Orleans for many generations. It is also the story of the route through the eyes of one who loves history. My hope is that this route story encourages you to run or walk the route or at least to visit New Orleans and see the sites which are historical and beautiful. Who started this beautiful city? Canadian born Iberville and his younger brother Bienville left Brest, France board the Badine and the Marin to secure the Mississippi River, the third largest river in the world, for France. It is possible that when he sounded the passes of the Mississippi, Bienville was the first to make that order. On Mardi Gras Day of 1699, Bienville and Iberville celebrated the first Louisiana Mardi Gras and named the nearby waterway Mardi Gras Bayou. Bienville may have been the person who named New Orleans as well. In May of 1717, Bienville wrote a report saying that the settlement between Lake Pontchartrain and the Mississippi River should be named after Phillipe, duc de Orleans. It was founded in a crescent moon shaped area of the Mississippi and became known as the Crescent City. In the next year, 1718, Bienville made a clearing with eighty men. The city could be protected from the River and the Lake. If you want to take a foot tour of the area Bienville and his men cleared, then join us in New Orleans, in the Mardi Gras Marathon in the City That Care Forgot and run or walk the route people of New Orleans chose to display in the marathon. The Mardi Gras Marathon was composed by people who know and care about the city. On the marathon route, you will see many aspects of New Orleans, both nice to look at and with an interesting history to study. If you enter New Orleans by airplane you get a pelican's eye view of the skyline of the city. The New Orleans skyline has many noticeable and unique features. Among these features is the New Orleans Superdome, the start and finish spot for the Mardi Gras Marathon. Poydras Street This street has many office buildings on it. Some of them older then others. It offers a good view of these buildings and some modern art along the way. Poydras Street is named for one of the first residents of the city of New Orleans during statehood and a writer of the first constitution of Louisiana. Carondelet At the corner of Poydras and Carondelet, you will turn on Carondelet Street. It is named for the Baron de Carondelet, a Spanish governor of Louisiana. Carondelet outlawed importation of slaves from Jamaica and the Indies due in large part of fear of slave revolt. This part of the city is still business buildings and banks. Carondelet turns into Bourbon Street when it crosses Canal Street. On Canal Street are streetcars and Canal Street is the reason we have a neutral ground. In the early days of New Orleans, when Americans were first coming into New Orleans, there was both an American Quarter and a French Quarter. The Americans lived on the up river side of Canal Street and the French lived on the down river side of Canal Street. They could meet in the middle and trade but if they met each other in the other�s area, there might be a fight. The French Quarter is part of the city known for its partying. As you cross Canal Street, the name of the streets changed. Now we get to Bourbon Street. Bourbon Street Bourbon Street is known for its bars and its rowdiness. Bourbon Street is named for the ruling house in France, not the drink. This is not to say that drinking does not take place on Bourbon Street. It sure does. When you drink, drink responsibly and have a designated driver. Also have fun. The section of Bourbon Street connected with the marathon contains history, bars, and restaurants. Dumaine You will be turning onto Dumaine Street, Louis Auguste de Bourbon, duc du Maine was the illegitimate son of Louis XIV and Madame de Montespan. King Louis XIV legitimized his son and he was Louis XIV's favorite son. He came close to becoming king but was blocked by the Duke of Orleans. Dumaine has an interesting view of the back of the St. Louis Cathedral. It also has an interesting museum here. It is the Voodoo Museum which will give you the history of Voodoo. Royal From Dumaine you will be turning onto Royal Street, which is a little classier then Bourbon Street. Along Royal Street are antique stores, restaurants, and the Supreme Court of Louisiana. St. Charles Ave. Once again, we cross Canal Street which means another name change. On the other side of Canal Street is St. Charles Ave. Some New Orleanians refer to it simply as the Avenue. It does not look like an avenue at this point but it will later on in the route. You will see the mansions of the rich American people of New Orleans from the time of the Louisiana Purchase to about the turn of the last century. You will also see banks, churches, and places to eat along the Avenue. The Avenue will bring you to Audubon Park. Audubon Park Now the route takes you through Audubon Park. The park places you near beautiful oak trees many people exercise under on a daily basis. Native Americans once lived and worked here. The white men then moved in. The first to move in were the French who needed to make a living here. They tried sugar cane but had trouble granulating the sugar. Then came Etienne de Bore, who lived in the vicinity of Audubon Park, he is credited with developing the process of making granulated sugar. Of noble Norman descent, de Bore was born in the Illinois district of the Louisiana province on December 27, 1741. On coming of age he joined the king's Musketeers, in which only the nobility could qualify. In the tenth year of his service he accepted the command of a company of cavalry. Prompted no doubt by his marriage to the daughter of Destrehan, former royal treasurer of the Louisiana colony under the French, he returned to the land of his birth where his wife had inherited much property. De Bore planted indigo, which the insects repeatedly destroyed, while his slaves sickened of fever and died. De Bore determined to risk what there was left of his modes savings on sugar. After turning his crops to cane and the crops were harvested, he decided to try a new technique he had learned from Norbert Rilleaux, a free man of color who invented the technique. They put the kettles to boil. With a dubious audience gathered around, the sugar-maker's technique proved that sugar could be granulated, and de Bore's industry took off. This revolutionized the sugar making industry. As he prospered in his undertaking, his fame and his fortune expanded. His great house, surrounded by a moat and ramparts, opened its doors with equal hospitality to the exiled brothers of Louis XIV and to the officers who served under General Jackson. In 1798 three princes of the royal blood found refuge from France's reign of terror on his estate. When Louisiana was transferred from Spain to France in 1803, de Bore was appointed mayor of New Orleans and served in that capacity into the American period. He was then appointed a member of the first legislative Council, but, opposed the form of government imposed, and he refused to serve and retired to his plantation. He died at the age of seventy-nine, requesting that his funeral be conducted in simplicity so that the money saved might be given to the Charity Hospital of New Orleans. During his lifetime he was revered as the agricultural savior of his people, and his plantation was the social center of Louisiana. In 1804, a year after the Louisiana Purchase, Audubon Park area had a racetrack the Eclipse Horse Course in the park. This was also the site of the Foucher's plantation after Etienne died. During the Civil War, the location alternately hosted a Confederate camp and a Union hospital. In 1866, it was the activation site for the 9th Calvary, the "Buffalo Soldiers" whose defense of our country's western frontier made an indelible mark on America's African-American heritage. Site improvements made for The World's Industrial and Cotton Centennial Exposition of 1884 (Louisiana's first world's fair) laid the foundation for an urban park. The city had purchased the land for this purpose in 1871, and by the turn of the century, had entrusted its development to landscape architect John Charles Olmsted. Olmsted's family firm had risen to prominence for its design of New York's Central Park, and New Orleanians soon watched their own scenic retreat materialize from Louisiana swamplands and old plantation lands. In 1886, city planners changed the park's name from Upper City Park to Audubon Park. This was in tribute to artist/naturalist John James Audubon who painted many of his famed "Birds of America" in Louisiana. In 1915, the last of the expos buildings were destroyed by a hurricane. The park now has a world ranked zoo as well. I spent many happy hours in this park as a man and a boy. The route then turns around and back to the Superdome where you can either stop or continue depending on if you are doing the half or the full. South Galvez Street The first turn for the second half of the marathon is off of Poydras and onto Galvez Street. Galvez, a governor of Louisiana during the time of Spanish occupation, assisted the soon to be United States tremendously during the American Revolution. He communicated with the leaders of the Revolution including Thomas Jefferson, later to be president during the Louisiana Purchase, Patrick Henry, and others. He also supported Oliver Pollock, an emissary from the Revolution's leaders. During the American Revolution, there was actually a battle of Baton Rouge in which Louisianans defeated the British freeing Mississippi from possible British control and saving New Orleans from having a battle. From Galvez, you turn to Banks Street. Banks Street The route turns on Banks Street, named for Thomas Banks who owned a place in New Orleans called the Banks Arcade. It was the first office building in Louisiana. The Arcade, three stories high and a block long, was the largest building in New Orleans in 1814. Some of the planning for the Texas Revolution and many plans for filibustering into South America transpired in the Banks Arcade. Thomas Banks died broke after the Panic of 1837. From Banks Street, you turn onto South Jefferson Davis Parkway. South Jefferson Davis Parkway Jefferson Davis Parkway is named, of course, after the President of the Confederacy. Jefferson Davis not only visited New Orleans on various occasions but he also died here and was buried in Metairie Cemetery. You can see his signature on a grave in Metairie Cemetery. Unfortunately, his body did not remain there. It was taken out of the tomb and placed into a tomb in Richmond, Virginia. This area is a pretty area with many residences and trees in the area. There are also a few monuments to some of the great people either of New Orleans or admired by New Orleanians. Moss Street From South Jefferson Davis Parkway, you turn onto Moss Street. Moss Street will give you a good view of Bayou St. John. Spanish moss is a member of the pineapple family. In the early days of Louisiana, the French called Spanish moss, Spanish beard. The Spanish used to call the moss Frenchmen's wig. Bayou St. John was the way to enter New Orleans in the early days of New Orleans. Most of this area was where the first settlers of New Orleans lived. Previous to the European settlers living here, the Native Americans called this place home. The Native Americans showed this to Bienville which is part of why New Orleans is where it is. Bienville wanted to settle a city that would have a front and back door or water entrance. This was the back entrance. The Mississippi River was the other entrance. Wisner Blvd. This Blvd. presents a scenic view. It travels between City Park and Bayou St. John. It includes the only hill in the entire race. It is actually an overpass of about 40 feet which is only crossed once. It goes over I-10. Robert E. Lee Blvd. The park continues from here to Robert E. Lee Blvd., named for the great general of the Confederacy and one time head of West Point. Robert E. Lee Blvd. gives you a view of the City Park on one side and houses on reclaimed land on the other side. The land was reclaimed so more people could live in New Orleans. Marconi Drive From Robert E. Lee Blvd., the route goes to Marconi Drive. On Marconi Drive, one gets a view of City Park on both sides of them. Marconi Drive offers a view of waterways and possibly ducks. New Orleans has more waterways then any other city including Venice, Italy. Roosevelt Mall Street This is a Street which was built by the WPA which was part of Franklin Delano Roosevelt's New Deal. It is a road on which a lot of New Orleans Track Club and other races take place. As you run down the road and see all of the oak trees, then you will appreciate why the track club has races here in the park. Stadium Drive Stadium Drive is named for Tad Gormley Stadium. Tad Gormley worked for as a coach Loyola, Tulane, and Louisiana State Universities. This either means he could not hold down a job or was really a great coach. It is this writer's opinion that he was a great coach. He was the overseer of "Gormley Handicap Games" a track meet staged at City Park each year. His love was track and field. The Stadium was the site of the 1992 Olympic Trials and also where Jimmy Buffet, the Beatles, and other bands played when they came to New Orleans. It flooded during Hurricane Katrina but was still structurally sound. Dreyfous Drive You continue through City Park on Dreyfous Drive. Dreyfous Drive is named for Felix J. Dreyfous, the president of the City Park Commission and a member of the original board of the New Orleans City Park Improvement Association. Dreyfous Drive takes you back to backtrack to the Superdome for the post race party. The End I hope you enjoy your tour of New Orleans and many of the sites along the way. I hope this writing brings you a deeper appreciation of the city and its many people.

New Orleans Mardi Gras Marathon Course History

This is the story of the Mardi Gras Marathon route through the eyes of one who loves New Orleans and whose family has lived in New Orleans for many generations. It is also the story of the route through the eyes of one who loves history. My hope is that this route story encourages you to run or walk the route or at least to visit New Orleans and see the sites which are historical and beautiful. Who started this beautiful city?

Canadian born Iberville and his younger brother Bienville left Brest, France board the Badine and the Marin to secure the Mississippi River, the third largest river in the world, for France. It is possible that when he sounded the passes of the Mississippi, Bienville was the first to make that order. On Mardi Gras Day of 1699, Bienville and Iberville celebrated the first Louisiana Mardi Gras and named the nearby waterway Mardi Gras Bayou. Bienville may have been the person who named New Orleans as well. In May of 1717, Bienville wrote a report saying that the settlement between Lake Pontchartrain and the Mississippi River should be named after Phillipe, duc de Orleans. It was founded in a crescent moon shaped area of the Mississippi and became known as the Crescent City. In the next year, 1718, Bienville made a clearing with eighty men. The city could be protected from the River and the Lake.

If you want to take a foot tour of the area Bienville and his men cleared, then join us in New Orleans, in the Mardi Gras Marathon in the City That Care Forgot and run or walk the route people of New Orleans chose to display in the marathon. The Mardi Gras Marathon was composed by people who know and care about the city. On the marathon route, you will see many aspects of New Orleans, both nice to look at and with an interesting history to study. If you enter New Orleans by airplane you get a pelican's eye view of the skyline of the city. The New Orleans skyline has many noticeable and unique features. Among these features is the New Orleans Superdome, the start and finish spot for the Mardi Gras Marathon.

Poydras Street

This street has many office buildings on it. Some of them older then others. It offers a good view of these buildings and some modern art along the way. Poydras Street is named for one of the first residents of the city of New Orleans during statehood and a writer of the first constitution of Louisiana.

Carondelet

At the corner of Poydras and Carondelet, you will turn on Carondelet Street. It is named for the Baron de Carondelet, a Spanish governor of Louisiana. Carondelet outlawed importation of slaves from Jamaica and the Indies due in large part of fear of slave revolt. This part of the city is still business buildings and banks.

Carondelet turns into Bourbon Street when it crosses Canal Street. On Canal Street are streetcars and Canal Street is the reason we have a neutral ground. In the early days of New Orleans, when Americans were first coming into New Orleans, there was both an American Quarter and a French Quarter. The Americans lived on the up river side of Canal Street and the French lived on the down river side of Canal Street. They could meet in the middle and trade but if they met each other in the other�s area, there might be a fight. The French Quarter is part of the city known for its partying. As you cross Canal Street, the name of the streets changed. Now we get to Bourbon Street.

Bourbon Street

Bourbon Street is known for its bars and its rowdiness. Bourbon Street is named for the ruling house in France, not the drink. This is not to say that drinking does not take place on Bourbon Street. It sure does. When you drink, drink responsibly and have a designated driver. Also have fun. The section of Bourbon Street connected with the marathon contains history, bars, and restaurants.

Dumaine

You will be turning onto Dumaine Street, Louis Auguste de Bourbon, duc du Maine was the illegitimate son of Louis XIV and Madame de Montespan. King Louis XIV legitimized his son and he was Louis XIV's favorite son. He came close to becoming king but was blocked by the Duke of Orleans. Dumaine has an interesting view of the back of the St. Louis Cathedral. It also has an interesting museum here. It is the Voodoo Museum which will give you the history of Voodoo.

Royal

From Dumaine you will be turning onto Royal Street, which is a little classier then Bourbon Street. Along Royal Street are antique stores, restaurants, and the Supreme Court of Louisiana.

St. Charles Ave.

Once again, we cross Canal Street which means another name change. On the other side of Canal Street is St. Charles Ave. Some New Orleanians refer to it simply as the Avenue. It does not look like an avenue at this point but it will later on in the route. You will see the mansions of the rich American people of New Orleans from the time of the Louisiana Purchase to about the turn of the last century. You will also see banks, churches, and places to eat along the Avenue. The Avenue will bring you to Audubon Park.

Audubon Park

Now the route takes you through Audubon Park. The park places you near beautiful oak trees many people exercise under on a daily basis. Native Americans once lived and worked here. The white men then moved in. The first to move in were the French who needed to make a living here. They tried sugar cane but had trouble granulating the sugar. Then came Etienne de Bore, who lived in the vicinity of Audubon Park, he is credited with developing the process of making granulated sugar. Of noble Norman descent, de Bore was born in the Illinois district of the Louisiana province on December 27, 1741. On coming of age he joined the king's Musketeers, in which only the nobility could qualify. In the tenth year of his service he accepted the command of a company of cavalry. Prompted no doubt by his marriage to the daughter of Destrehan, former royal treasurer of the Louisiana colony under the French, he returned to the land of his birth where his wife had inherited much property. De Bore planted indigo, which the insects repeatedly destroyed, while his slaves sickened of fever and died.

De Bore determined to risk what there was left of his modes savings on sugar. After turning his crops to cane and the crops were harvested, he decided to try a new technique he had learned from Norbert Rilleaux, a free man of color who invented the technique. They put the kettles to boil. With a dubious audience gathered around, the sugar-maker's technique proved that sugar could be granulated, and de Bore's industry took off. This revolutionized the sugar making industry.

As he prospered in his undertaking, his fame and his fortune expanded. His great house, surrounded by a moat and ramparts, opened its doors with equal hospitality to the exiled brothers of Louis XIV and to the officers who served under General Jackson. In 1798 three princes of the royal blood found refuge from France's reign of terror on his estate.

When Louisiana was transferred from Spain to France in 1803, de Bore was appointed mayor of New Orleans and served in that capacity into the American period. He was then appointed a member of the first legislative Council, but, opposed the form of government imposed, and he refused to serve and retired to his plantation.

He died at the age of seventy-nine, requesting that his funeral be conducted in simplicity so that the money saved might be given to the Charity Hospital of New Orleans. During his lifetime he was revered as the agricultural savior of his people, and his plantation was the social center of Louisiana.

In 1804, a year after the Louisiana Purchase, Audubon Park area had a racetrack the Eclipse Horse Course in the park. This was also the site of the Foucher's plantation after Etienne died. During the Civil War, the location alternately hosted a Confederate camp and a Union hospital. In 1866, it was the activation site for the 9th Calvary, the "Buffalo Soldiers" whose defense of our country's western frontier made an indelible mark on America's African-American heritage.

Site improvements made for The World's Industrial and Cotton Centennial Exposition of 1884 (Louisiana's first world's fair) laid the foundation for an urban park. The city had purchased the land for this purpose in 1871, and by the turn of the century, had entrusted its development to landscape architect John Charles Olmsted. Olmsted's family firm had risen to prominence for its design of New York's Central Park, and New Orleanians soon watched their own scenic retreat materialize from Louisiana swamplands and old plantation lands.

In 1886, city planners changed the park's name from Upper City Park to Audubon Park. This was in tribute to artist/naturalist John James Audubon who painted many of his famed "Birds of America" in Louisiana. In 1915, the last of the expos buildings were destroyed by a hurricane. The park now has a world ranked zoo as well. I spent many happy hours in this park as a man and a boy.

The route then turns around and back to the Superdome where you can either stop or continue depending on if you are doing the half or the full.

South Galvez Street

The first turn for the second half of the marathon is off of Poydras and onto Galvez Street. Galvez, a governor of Louisiana during the time of Spanish occupation, assisted the soon to be United States tremendously during the American Revolution. He communicated with the leaders of the Revolution including Thomas Jefferson, later to be president during the Louisiana Purchase, Patrick Henry, and others. He also supported Oliver Pollock, an emissary from the Revolution's leaders. During the American Revolution, there was actually a battle of Baton Rouge in which Louisianans defeated the British freeing Mississippi from possible British control and saving New Orleans from having a battle. From Galvez, you turn to Banks Street.

Banks Street

The route turns on Banks Street, named for Thomas Banks who owned a place in New Orleans called the Banks Arcade. It was the first office building in Louisiana. The Arcade, three stories high and a block long, was the largest building in New Orleans in 1814. Some of the planning for the Texas Revolution and many plans for filibustering into South America transpired in the Banks Arcade. Thomas Banks died broke after the Panic of 1837. From Banks Street, you turn onto South Jefferson Davis Parkway.

South Jefferson Davis Parkway

Jefferson Davis Parkway is named, of course, after the President of the Confederacy. Jefferson Davis not only visited New Orleans on various occasions but he also died here and was buried in Metairie Cemetery. You can see his signature on a grave in Metairie Cemetery. Unfortunately, his body did not remain there. It was taken out of the tomb and placed into a tomb in Richmond, Virginia. This area is a pretty area with many residences and trees in the area. There are also a few monuments to some of the great people either of New Orleans or admired by New Orleanians.

Moss Street

From South Jefferson Davis Parkway, you turn onto Moss Street. Moss Street will give you a good view of Bayou St. John. Spanish moss is a member of the pineapple family. In the early days of Louisiana, the French called Spanish moss, Spanish beard. The Spanish used to call the moss Frenchmen's wig. Bayou St. John was the way to enter New Orleans in the early days of New Orleans. Most of this area was where the first settlers of New Orleans lived. Previous to the European settlers living here, the Native Americans called this place home. The Native Americans showed this to Bienville which is part of why New Orleans is where it is. Bienville wanted to settle a city that would have a front and back door or water entrance. This was the back entrance. The Mississippi River was the other entrance.

Wisner Blvd.

This Blvd. presents a scenic view. It travels between City Park and Bayou St. John. It includes the only hill in the entire race. It is actually an overpass of about 40 feet which is only crossed once. It goes over I-10.

Robert E. Lee Blvd.

The park continues from here to Robert E. Lee Blvd., named for the great general of the Confederacy and one time head of West Point. Robert E. Lee Blvd. gives you a view of the City Park on one side and houses on reclaimed land on the other side. The land was reclaimed so more people could live in New Orleans.

Marconi Drive

From Robert E. Lee Blvd., the route goes to Marconi Drive. On Marconi Drive, one gets a view of City Park on both sides of them. Marconi Drive offers a view of waterways and possibly ducks. New Orleans has more waterways then any other city including Venice, Italy.

Roosevelt Mall Street

This is a Street which was built by the WPA which was part of Franklin Delano Roosevelt's New Deal. It is a road on which a lot of New Orleans Track Club and other races take place. As you run down the road and see all of the oak trees, then you will appreciate why the track club has races here in the park.

Stadium Drive

Stadium Drive is named for Tad Gormley Stadium. Tad Gormley worked for as a coach Loyola, Tulane, and Louisiana State Universities. This either means he could not hold down a job or was really a great coach. It is this writer's opinion that he was a great coach. He was the overseer of "Gormley Handicap Games" a track meet staged at City Park each year. His love was track and field. The Stadium was the site of the 1992 Olympic Trials and also where Jimmy Buffet, the Beatles, and other bands played when they came to New Orleans. It flooded during Hurricane Katrina but was still structurally sound.

Dreyfous Drive

You continue through City Park on Dreyfous Drive. Dreyfous Drive is named for Felix J. Dreyfous, the president of the City Park Commission and a member of the original board of the New Orleans City Park Improvement Association. Dreyfous Drive takes you back to backtrack to the Superdome for the post race party.

The End

I hope you enjoy your tour of New Orleans and many of the sites along the way. I hope this writing brings you a deeper appreciation of the city and its many people.