Canal Street: New Orleans’ Great Wide Way

by Peggy Scott Laborde, John Magil

Stretching from the riverfront to the cemeteries, Canal Street has served as a place for meeting, shopping, protesting, and parading since its creation in 1807. From white-gloved shopping trips at D.H. Holmes to department store boycotts by the NAACP, from Mardi Gras parades to Christmas displays, steamships to streetcars, Canal Street has been a gathering place full of diverse sights and sounds for 200 years. Written by local historian and Historic New Orleans Collection curator John Magill and WYES-TV host Peggy Scott Laborde, Canal Street: New Orleans' Great Wide Way chronicles the evolution of this grand street and all its events, memories, failures, and successes.

240 pages, Hardcover

First published October 17, 2006

About the author

Peggy Scott Laborde is the producer and host of Steppin' Out, which airs on WYES-TV in New Orleans. Since earning a B.A. in political science from the University of New Orleans, Laborde has produced a number of documentaries based on the city she calls home. Her professional accomplishments have earned her awards from the Press Club of New Orleans, Public Relations Society of America, and American Women in Radio and Television. She has garnered praise for her extensive efforts in conserving the arts and history of New Orleans."

Reviews

[Billy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautifully presented history of Canal Street, filled with photographs from all eras and anecdotes to make you feel like an insider! The book is divided into chapters that deal broadly with all aspects of the street over its history: for example, Mardi Gras, Shopping, Cemeteries. It's almost like catching a streetcar through history and looking out the window at the sights while allowing the conductor to tell the story.