Since 1835, the St. Charles Avenue streetcar has been running up and down St. Charles Avenue. It’s a fantastic way to see the gorgeous mansions, lush foliage, and really get the feel of the beauty and history that New Orleans has to offer.

The St. Charles Streetcar line operates 24 hours a day, with cars coming every nine minutes. It’s an incredibly practical way to get around the city. You can either pay for a single ride, which is $1.25 (exact change required), or pay $3 for an all-day pass.

You can see the beautiful wood of the seats. Notice that brass handle on each corner? When the car reaches the end of the line the driver walks down the aisle and switches the backrest to the other side, so the passengers are always facing forward. Pretty neat! The cars in use today are from 1923-1924.

After swirling around Tivoli Circle, the first building to jump out is the Historic Jerusalem Temple, now converted to Church of the King. You can read about the conversion here.

Lower Garden District

Heading into the Lower Garden District, we pass the Historic Streetcar Inn. Both 19th Century townhouses have been converted into the inn.

Pontchartrain Hotel

You can’t miss the Pontchartrain Hotel (1927), at 2031 St. Charles Avenue. From their website: Lacquered black and mint-green hues mimic the majestic Spanish moss-laden oaks and balmy palms of the garden district, with layered Moroccan rugs, creating a cozy multi-textured, homey feel. Check out their website and see how gorgeous it is inside. The Pontchartrain Hotel has been in business since 1927.

Inside the St. Charles Streetcar, coming up to the Josephine Street stop:

The Lower Garden district has many lovely homes, and they definitely have a lived-in feel.

Garden District

2503 St. Charles Avenue (photo below) was built in 1880. It’s a Queen Anne Italianate mansion with 10 bedrooms, 9.5 bathrooms, and 7,757 square feet. The home has a grand staircase, original floors, plaster walls and moldings, pocket doors, gas lanterns, cast iron tubs, original fireplaces, wainscoting, medallions, 16′ ceilings, and oversized ornate doors. It also has a gourmet kitchen, patio, carriage house, and apartment. I know, it’s WAY too much to visualize! It last sold for $2,195,000. See the inside here.

We’re getting into the Garden District proper, now. The Garden District neighborhood is sought after because it’s on the Mardi Gras parade route, and home to many historic mansions.

The Italianate beauty below is known as the Alfred Grima House. It was built in 1857 by steamboat agent and real estate speculator Cornelius Bicknell Payne. You can read about the history of the home – and see a glorious photo of the sitting room here.

St. Charles was the city’s “millionaires row” in the 19th century. The Avenue rose to prominence in the 1880s with the construction of grand Queen Anne-style houses, mainly the work of architect Thomas Sully. You can see a listing and some photos at St. Charles Avenue Mansions.

The streetcar goes down the center of St. Charles Avenue, and the open windows allow for a fresh breeze and a beautiful view. Just keep your head and arms inside, some of the tree branches come very close. Ask me how I know…

Christ Church Cathedral

Christ Church Cathedral was founded by 53 Protestants in 1803, and was the first non-Roman Catholic Church in the entire Louisiana Purchase territory.

Terracotta Roofs

Prior to the fires of 1788 and 1794 in the City of New Orleans, roofing was generally wood shingles. Following the fires, roofs were typically replaced and new buildings were constructed with terracotta tiles and later slate.  City of NOLA Guidelines for Roofing

Elms Mansion

The Elms Mansion was built in 1869 and originally owned by Captain Watson Van Benthuysen, II, President of the Streetcar Company. Confederate President Jefferson Davis was a frequent guest in his home.

Today Elms Mansion is a favorite spot for weddings and other special events. Want to see inside? Click here for their official website.

Hubbard Mansion

Hubbard Mansion was built in 2000 after a mansion in Natchez, Mississippi. It offers five guest rooms furnished with period antiques and precious heirlooms. You can see more at their website.

Anne Rice’s Mansion

This magnificently restored Victorian mansion built in 1888 was once owned by author Anne Rice. It has the original 1880’s stained glass window, and a mahogany and cypress staircase. It sold in 2022 for $3,200,000. Read the article at NOLA.com You can see the full listing of the incredible home here.

The Columns Hotel

The Columns was built in 1883 by prominent New Orleans architect Thomas Sully, for Simon Hernsheim, the largest manufacturer of cigars in the country. During world War I it was used as a boarding house, and a local family turned it into a hotel in 1953. In 1978, it was featured in the film “Pretty Baby”, starring Brooke Shields. Today, it remains one of New Orleans’ favorite front porches and is listed on the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places. Source

Emlah Court

The city’s first cooperative apartment buildings, Emlah Court was built in 1912 by famed New Orleans architect Moise H. Goldstein. A sought-after residence, you can see interior photos from a listing here.

Uptown District

The Chloe – A Haunted Mansion?

Another beautiful design by Thomas Sully in the Queen Anne style, this home was built in 1891 for Henry Picard, a New Orleans merchant. The cost at the time was $12,000. From the 1950’s to the 1990’s the home was owned by Jeanie Ellison – who owned one hundred cats – and ran a bed and breakfast here.

Strange activity has been reported in this inn, such as ghost cats and mysterious singing. You can read about it on the Ghost City Tours website. Currently it’s home to The Chloe New Orleans, which markets it as a lively 14-room hotel with restaurant, bar, pool, and patio. Check out the lovely rooms here.

Milan, New Orleans

Milan is a small neighborhood in the Central City/Garden District. I find this home below (now a rental) so fascinating.

Foubourg Bouligny

The neighborhood of Foubourg Bouligny was once the site of a giant plantation owned by Louis Bouligny (1781-1862), a soldier, planter and statesman. His son Bernard divided the land and the lots sold very quickly, becoming a home for Creoles of color and German immigrants. The “Marigny” was home to Jazz musicians Ferdinand “Jelly Roll Morton” LaMothe, Sidney Bechet, Manny Perez, Danny Barker, and Paul Barbarin. Wiki

The St. Charles line was listed by the National Park Service as a National Historic Landmark in 2014.

I would be so happy to have this as my walking route. I imagine you can walk it every day and still be discovering new details year after year.

Academy Of The Sacred Heart

The world-wide Academies of the Sacred Heart were founded in 1799 France, after the Revolution. In 1818 founder Mother Barat sent 5 women to America, where they arrived in New Orleans and established the first Academy. The Academy on on St. Charles Ave was founded in 1867. Today the premiere school enrolls over 750 girl students from ages 1 through grade 12. High school tuition is $22,105 per year.

Uptown Beauty

This house is beyond charming. Not too large or ostentatious, but will you just look at that porch. I like it so much that I got curious, and found this out: 4,480 square feet and 4 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms and a pool, of course. The lot is small, just .25 acre. Zillow estimates the market value at $1,580,700 and Realtor.com at $1,970,000. But the property taxes – holy smokes! In 2022 it was assessed at only $145,440 and the taxes were $20,348. Those are some crazy numbers!

A House of Infamy

This is quite a story: on December 7, 1941, the neighbors of 4631 St. Charles Ave had more to deal with than the news of the bombing of Pearl Harbor. The home served as the Japanese consulate from the 30’s until…that day. Neighbors were startled to find the staff throwing papers out of a window into a bonfire in the driveway in an attempt to destroy confidential state documents. A mob of 2,000 people turned out at 4631 St. Charles Ave. Three days later a dozen pieces of new luggage were anonymously delivered to the Japanese Consul Kenzo Ito. He took the hint.
Great article about it all at NOLA.com

A softer view of one of my favorite Colonial homes on St. Charles Avenue. It’s also known as “ANTHEMIOM”

Villere Mansion

One of the largest mansions on St. Charles Ave, Villere Mansion has nine bedrooms and four levels. Also known as the Brown Mansion, it was built in 1904 for cotton king and Hibernia bank founder W. P. Brown. Brown, one of the wealthiest men in the south, promised his bride that he would build the most palatial home New Orleans had ever seen. The banker installed a walk-in bank vault in the dining room. NOLA.com

A Walker’s Paradise

The ride continues through the end of the Uptown District, passing the most beautiful homes and yards. How I wish I’d had the time to really walk these streets like I do my Manhattan!

Crescent City

New Orleans is called the “Crescent City”, and looking at the map below it’s easy to see why. It was formed along the Mississippi River, which turns a lazy crescent here. This whole area we’re riding through was once plantations, with swampland to the north below Lake Pontchartrain.

Grand Mansion

Grand Mansion was built in 1848 (the year below the flood mentioned above) and has been in the same family since 1947. It has early 20th century crystal chandeliers and exquisite plaster work on the ceilings…a winding staircase with stained glass…you just have to click the realtor’s page and look inside.

Orleans Club

This sumptuous mansion was built in 1868 as a wedding gift from Colonel William Lewis Wynn to his daughter. The side building, on the Uptown side of the main building, is an auditorium added in the 1950s. The house is closed to the public, but serves as headquarters to a ladies’ social club and hosts many debutante teas and wedding receptions. From Fodor’s Travel.

A little bit different

With 6 bedrooms and 9 bathrooms, you could move in the whole family. The roof is wonderful. $2,868,300 Zestimate

Benjamin-Monroe House

This Emile Weil mansion boasts a curves staircase a la Versailles, a ballroom with $80,000 worth of gold on the ceiling, changing rooms, two full kitchens/2 half kitchens…the list goes on.
Look inside this incredible 1900 home in this interesting article, “The Mansion – A Subprime Parable”, about moving into a house you can’t afford: EleanorFarnsworth.com More history and photos may be found at Aleena.

Tara

A plaque on the fence reads: TARA, erected in 1941 for businessman George J. Palmer (1897-1977) and his wife Juliette Wehrmann Palmer (1907-1980), who modeled their family home after the fictitious O’Hara residence in the 1939 film “Gone with the Wind”. There’s more on the plaque about the development of the property. A good photo of the plaque may be seen at flickr.

Tara is on the market right now for $3.2 million. Take a look inside at Realtor.com

Afternoon glow

We’re approaching the Audubon neighborhood, and the late afternoon sun makes this gorgeous home glow. Doesn’t that porch look divine?

Rosa Park

Rosa Park was New Orleans first residential park, established in 1891 and named after native Victorian-era socialist and actress Rosa Solomon da Ponte. Her obituary called her life “filled with adventure.” She was said to have been abducted for a sultan’s harem while visiting Cairo. Sounds like an adventure to me!

Residential parks were popular in the late 19th and early 20th century, before the zoning laws changed in 1929. The grand homes centered around Rosa Park is a sight to see.

New Orleans Wedding Cake House

I feel like many of the photos I’ve been able to take of the sumptuous homes on St. Charles Ave capture only a tiny slice of them. The lush live oaks and palm trees provide the residents with privacy on this busy avenue…and prevent admiring adventurers like myself from getting good photos. Fortunately, many of these historical homes have been photographed and written about so you may see their full beauty, and even see their interiors.

The Wedding Cake house is one of those you’ll want to look for more photos of. Described as “unquestionably the most impressive and photographed house on the avenue”, it was built in 1896 for an Irish immigrant who stopped here in 1850 for a six-week layover and never left. Best photos here: MelanconOrtegaDesigns.com

Between the Corinthian columns, frosting white paint, and elegant carvings, it’s easy to see how it got it’s name. Check out the photos on the decorator’s website, it’s really to die for: TrapolinPeer

Edward Schleider House

The architectural diversity of St. Charles Avenue is a pleasure. As a newcomer, I had no idea what I’d see around the next bend of the road. This Mediterranean villa beauty was build in 1926 by the Edward Schleider, President of the American Brewing Company. Source

Audubon

Once the site of two plantations, and the 1884 Cotton Centennial Exposition, Audubon has long been one of the most sought-after neighborhoods in New Orleans. Audubon is home to many important landmarks, including two prestigious universities (Loyola and Tulane), historical sites, and what many have called the finest park in New Orleans.

Loyola University

Loyola University started as a college in 1912, named after the Jesuit founder St. Ignatius of Loyola. A young Jesuit, Fr. Albert Biever, was given a nickel for street car fare and told by his Jesuit superiors to travel Uptown on the St. Charles Streetcar and found a university. Looks like he did pretty well. At one time it had a College of Pharmacy and a School of Dentistry, both of which have closed. Harry Connick Jr. is among many notable alumni.

Audubon Place

The gated community of Audubon Place was developed in the 1890s as an exclusive luxury locale, where only homes above a certain size and price could be constructed. During Hurricane Katrina in 2005, Blackwater security personnel were helicoptered to Audubon Place to protect the property of the city’s elites.

Tulane University President’s House

Built in 1907 for William Jay, a cotton broker and vice president of the Union Lumbar Company. He sold the home in 1917 to Russian immigrant Samuel Zemurray of the United Fruit Company, whose family donated the house to Tulane University in 1965.

Audubon Park

The land that is now Audubon Park was the Boré and Foucher Plantations, “sister” plantations that were related by family ties. They produced indigo, then sugar. According to New Orleans Historical: Popular histories often credit Étienne de Boré, an enslaver and the first mayor of New Orleans, with establishing the sugar industry in Southern Louisiana. This historical narrative ignores the grueling and deadly work that the sugar industry required of enslaved people. The website offers an online tour that focuses on the work of enslaved and free people of color who made the industry’s growth possible. Pierre Foucher abandoned his plantation before the Civil War and fled to France, never to return.

New Orleans Historical website has a really good article on the park.

St. Charles Avenue to the Mississippi

St. Charles Avenue continues a few blocks more, all the way to the Mississippi River.

Built of stone in 1917, the home below has 5 bedrooms and 4.5 baths. Big Easy Estate Sales has a neat little slideshow on Instagram of the beautiful interior.

Carrollton District

A few blocks before the Mississippi River the streetcar turns north onto Carrollton Avenue.

The ride continues just over a mile on South Carrollton Avenue and ends at Marsalis Harmony Park.

Thanks for riding the St. Charles Avenue streetcar with me! Congratulations if you’ve made it to the end. It’s a not-to-be missed experience in New Orleans. I’d love to hear your comments, and if you’d like to see more of my New Orleans photos.

Additional Sources

https://neworleanshistorical.org/items/show/1654How to ride – RTA Routes and Schedules
NOLA The Story of the Wedding Cake House
Gambit – Rosa Park
Loyola University New Orleans
Audubon Place – wiki
Archipedia – Tulane University President’s House
New Orleans Historical.org

Photos property of debbieinthecity.com unless otherwise noted. May not be duplicated without written permission. Any links or mention of products or services are for information purposes only and not an endorsement.