Featured Apartment:
New Orleans- West End- We've got a newly-renovated one bedroom unit near Tulane that has a great layout for roommates who need their privacy but also need a one-bedroom sized rent. In this apartment, we've put a door on the living room, so it can be used as a second bedroom. Studio apartments, lofts, and efficiency apartments also available. View More Listings -->
West End Information
Located in New Orleans, the West End neighborhood of the city is a large area
built mostly on land reclaimed from Lake Pontchartrain in the 1920's. It is a
recreational and commercial seafood boating hub for the city and is known for
its historic and renowned seafood restaurants. In recent years, the area has
seen large condominium complex developments overlooking the lake.
West End is bordered to the south by the Lakeview neighborhood and to the west
by Jefferson parish's Bucktown neighborhood. It is home to two large marinas,
the Orleans Marina and the New Orleans Municipal Harbor.
Two Yacht Clubs, the New Orleans Yacht Club and Southern Yacht Club, along with
several marine and yacht related businesses populate the areas surrounding the
park, marinas and channels.
The area was adjacent to the levee breach on the 17th Street Canal during
Hurricane Katrina which inundated and devastated all of Lakeview. The heavy
winds and storm surge also destroyed every restaurant and music club built out
over the lake. Because West End was developed above sea level, it did not flood
and became a staging area for the US military and National Guard conducting
rescues of stranded residents.
West End's most recognizable icon, the New Basin Canal Lighthouse, constructed
in the 1830's was heavily damaged by Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita.
West End was originally a nationally renowned resort built between 1835 and 1876
and named New Lake End. In 1880, the name was changed to West End with the
additions of a hotel, restaurant and an amusement park built on piers over Lake
Pontchartrain.
The City of New Orleans followed and constructed a harbor and railroad and
streetcar facilities along the New Basin Canal and the 17th Street Canal and by
1921 had constructed a seawall 500 feet out into the lake and filled in this
space to create the large and oak lined West End Park.
West End was a popular music venue in the early days of jazz. Joe "King" Oliver
wrote the tune West End Blues in commemoration of the area; a recording of the
number by Louis Armstrong is one of the most famous jazz recordings of the
1920s.
The area grew to become a well known area for great and historic seafood
restaurants, including Brunings which opened in 1859 and operated nearly
continuously-- damage from Hurricane Georges prompted a move to a nearby
building somewhat better sheltered from storm surge, but it was destroyed by
Hurricane Katrina on August 29, 2005 along with most other buildings in the
area.