Elysian Fields Avenue

Not to be confused with Fields Avenue, The Philippines.
Louisiana Highway 3021 marker
Louisiana Highway 3021
Elysian Fields Avenue
Route information
Maintained by Louisiana DOTD
Length1.8 mi (2.9 km)
Existed1955 renumbering–present
Major junctions
South end LA 39 / LA 46 in New Orleans
Major intersections I-10 in New Orleans
I-610 in New Orleans
North end US 90 in New Orleans
Location
CountryUnited States
StateLouisiana
ParishesOrleans
Highway system
  • Louisiana State Highway System
← LA 3020→ I-110
Elysian Fields Avenue New Orleans

Elysian Fields Avenue is a broad, straight avenue in New Orleans named after the Avenue des Champs-Élysées in Paris. It courses south to north from the Lower Mississippi River to Lake Pontchartrain, a distance of approximately 5 miles (8.0 km). The avenue intersects with Interstate 610, Interstate 10, and U.S. Highway 90, Gentilly Boulevard passing by Brother Martin High School. The part between North Claiborne Avenue (Louisiana Highway 39) and Gentilly Boulevard (U.S. Route 90) is Louisiana Highway 3021 (LA 3021); the piece from N. Claiborne Avenue south to St. Claude Avenue carries Louisiana Highway 46 (which turns east on St. Claude Avenue).

For more than half of its route, from the river to Gentilly Boulevard (U.S. Route 90), it is six lanes wide; the remainder north of Gentilly Boulevard is four lanes wide. Anchoring the lake end and river end (northern and southern termini) respectively are the University of New Orleans and the Esplanade Avenue Wharf.

The location of Elysian Fields Avenue originated in the early 19th century placement of a sawmill canal on the Marigny Plantation, which at that time was just outside New Orleans proper (the present French Quarter).[1] In 1831 the Pontchartrain Railroad was built from that location straight to Lake Pontchartrain.[2] The railroad carried both goods and passengers.[2] Among the railroad's steady revenue sources was mail, which was carried from New Orleans to Lake Pontchartain for transfer to Mobile, Alabama-bound ships. The railroad, which came to be known locally as "Smoky Mary", operated until 1935.[3] The tracks were removed in the 1950s.[4]

  1. ^ "History". Faubourg Marigny Improvement Association. Archived from the original on 2006-02-07. Retrieved 2006-04-24.
  2. ^ a b "Antebellum Louisiana: Urban Life". Louisiana State Museum – The Cabildo. Retrieved 2006-04-24.
  3. ^ "Crescent City Choo Choo". New Orleans Public Library. Retrieved 2006-04-24.
  4. ^ "A History of the Faubourg Marigny Historic District". Archived from the original on 2004-02-16. Retrieved 2006-04-24.