National Register Evaluation of New Orleans Drainage System, Orleans Parish, Louisiana

The modern New Orleans drainage system represents a unique technological solution to natural conditions that have played an important role in the settlement and expansion of the city. The system was designed in 1895, and construction of the system began in 1897. Improvements to Drainage Pumping Stations Nos. 1, 3, 4, 6, and 7 are proposed - under the Southeast Louisiana Flood Control Project and the Lake Pontchartrain and Vicinity Louisiana Hurricane Protection Project. Drainage Pumping Stations Nos. 1, 3, 6, and 7, built in the period 1897-1903, are original constituents of the system that have been expended in capacity as the drainage requirements of the city have grown. he 12 Wood screw pumps in Station No. 1 have been designated National Engineering Landmarks, and stations 3, and 7 have other examples of these pumps. Drainage Pumping Station No. 4 was constructed 1945-1946 as an addition to the system. This report recommends that Drainage Pumping Stations Nos. 1, 3, 6, and 7 be considered individually eligible for nomination to the National Register of Historic Places. In addition, these stations, along with their associated canals, should be considered contributing elements of a drainage system National Historic District. Proposed improvements under the Southeast Louisiana Flood Control Project and the Lake Pontchartrain and Vicinity Louisiana Hurricane Protection Project will have no adverse affect on the associative, architectural, and engineering significance of these stations or on the drainage system as a whole.