State Library of Louisiana Library System

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2014

Format:	Book
Author:	Campanella, Richard.
Title:	Bourbon Street : a history / Richard Campanella.
Publisher, Date:	Baton Rouge : Louisiana State University Press, [2014]
Description:	xvi, 368 pages : illustrations, maps ; 24 cm illustration map
Subjects:	Bourbon Street (New Orleans, La.) -- History. New Orleans (La.) -- History. New Orleans (La.) -- Social life and customs. New Orleans (La.) -- Social conditions.
Notes:	Includes bibliographical references (pages 313-351) and index.
Contents:	Part I. Origins -- A straight line in a sinuous space : creating Rue Bourbon, 1682-1722 -- A streetscape emerges : Rue Bourbon and Calle Borbon, 1722-1803 -- A transect of antebellum society : ethnicity, race, class, and caste on Bourbon Street, 1803-1860 -- A smell so unsavory : managing Bourbon Street in the mid-1800s -- A place to "see the elephant" : antecedents of modern-day Bourbon Street -- Part II. Fame and infamy -- How Bourbon Street germinated : 1860s-1910s -- How Bourbon Street blossomed : 1910s-1920s -- How Bourbon Street flourished : late 1920s-mid-1940s -- How Bourbon Street exploded : late 1940s-early 1960s -- How Bourbon Street degenerated : late 1960s-1970s -- How Bourbon Street stabilized : 1980s-present -- Part III. Bourbon Street as a social artifact -- Locating Bourbon Street : why here? -- Working Bourbon Street : how the machine runs -- Challenging Bourbon Street : the rise of the anti-Bourbons -- Hating Bourbon Street : on iniquity and inauthenticity -- Replicating Bourbon Street : spatial and linguistic diffusion -- Redeeming Bourbon Street : the cheerful defiance of adversity.
LCCN:	2013030627
ISBN:	9780807155059 (cloth : acid-free paper) 0807155055 (cloth : acid-free paper) * 9780807155066 (pdf) * 9780807155073 (epub) * 9780807155080 (mobi)
Other Number:	857141260
System Availability:	2
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CHOICE Review

The 21st century has witnessed an outpouring of scholarship addressing aspects of colonial Louisiana, the Americanization of Louisiana, and commerce, environmental challenges, slavery, and tourism in Louisiana. Understandably, a good deal of this work has focused on New Orleans. Noteworthy examples include Craig Colten's An Unnatural Metropolis: Wresting New Orleans from Nature (CH, Nov'05, 43-1779) and Lawrence Powell's The Accidental City: Improvising New Orleans (CH, Oct'12, 50-1064). Bourbon Street should now be added to that list. A geographer with the School of Architecture at Tulane University, Campanella devotes the first three-quarters of his colorful narrative to Bourbon Street's history. Establishing both historical and geographical context, he then focuses the remaining pages on analyzing Bourbon Street as a social artifact. Acknowledging without judgment the "entertainment" district's progressive and conservative critics, Campanella remains objective. Characterizing the street as "pugnacious, adaptable, and resilient," he describes Bourbon Street as "a triumph of localism, an argument for emergent over ordained order, and a case study of civic (if often uncivil) compromise." It is, the author concludes, "New Orleans's most lucrative sustained homegrown commercial success." Interesting and informative, Bourbon Street merits consideration by every academic library. --Brady M. Banta, Arkansas State University

Summary

New Orleans is a city of many storied streets, but only one conjures up as much unbridled passion as it does fervent hatred, simultaneously polarizing the public while drawing millions of visitors a year. A fascinating investigation into the mile-long urban space that is Bourbon Street, Richard Campanella?s comprehensive cultural history spans from the street?s inception during the colonial period through three tumultuous centuries, arriving at the world-famous entertainment strip of today.

Clearly written and carefully researched, Campanella?s book interweaves world events?from the Louisiana Purchase to World War II to Hurricane Katrina?with local and national characters, ranging from presidents to showgirls, to explain how Bourbon Street became an intriguing and singular artifact, uniquely informative of both New Orleans?s history and American society.

While offering a captivating historical-geographical panorama of Bourbon Street, Campanella also presents a contemporary microview of the area, describing the population, architecture, and local economy, and shows how Bourbon Street operates on a typical night. The fate of these few blocks in the French Quarter is played out on a larger stage, however, as the internationally recognized brands that Bourbon Street merchants and the city of New Orleans strive to promote both clash with and complement each other.

An epic narrative detailing the influence of politics, money, race, sex, organized crime, and tourism, Bourbon Street: A History ultimately demonstrates that one of the most well-known addresses in North America is more than the epicenter of Mardi Gras; it serves as a battleground for a fundamental dispute over cultural authenticity and commodification.

Table of Contents

	Preface	p. xiii
Part I	Origins
1	A Straight Line in a Sinuous Space: Creating Rue Bourbon, 1682-1722	p. 3
2	A Streetscape Emerges: Rue Bourbon and Calle Borbon, 1722-1803	p. 17
3	A Transect of Antebellum Society: Ethnicity, Race, Class, and Caste on Bourbon Street, 1803-1860	p. 29
4	A Smell So Unsavory: Managing Bourbon Street in the Mid-1800s	p. 45
5	A Place to "See the Elephant": Antecedents of Modem-Day Bourbon Street	p. 54
Part II	Fame and Infamy
6	How Bourbon Street Germinated: 1860s-1910s	p. 73
7	How Bourbon Street Blossomed: 1910s-1920s	p. 94
8	How Bourbon Street Flourished: Late 1920s-Mid-1940s	p. 105
9	How Bourbon Street Exploded: Late 1940s-Early 1960s	p. 141
10	How Bourbon Street Degenerated: Late 1960s-1970s	p. 201
11	How Bourbon Street Stabilized: 1980s-Present	p. 222
Part III	Bourbon Street as a Social, Artifact
12	Locating Bourbon Street: Why Here?	p. 253
13	Working Bourbon Street: How the Machine Runs	p. 259
14	Challenging Bourbon Street: The Rise of the Anti-Bourbons	p. 283
15	Hating Bourbon Street: On Iniquity and Inauthenticity	p. 292
16	Replicating Bourbon Street: Spatial and Linguistic Diffusion	p. 304
17	Redeeming Bourbon Street: The Cheerful Defiance of Adversity	p. 309
	Notes	p. 313
	Index	p. 353

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