A project of the Ancient Order of Hibernians & the Louisiana Hibernian Charity.

Currently in development is an expansion of the Celtic Cross Monument, erected in 1990 on the site of the New Basin Canal, into a 4-acre park devoted to the rich history of the Irish in New Orleans.

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The Hibernian Memorial Park will be a tribute to the Irish laborers who built the New Basin Canal, a six-mile waterway that linked uptown New Orleans and Lake Pontchartrain. Park features, including historical markers and stone engravings, will commemorate the meaningful contribution of the Irish to the City of New Orleans.

About

The Hibernian Memorial Park will be a lasting gift to the community that honors all the sons and daughters of Ireland who came to New Orleans seeking a better life.

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You can help create a park in the memory of the Irish laborers who dug the New Basin Canal and helped build prosperity in New Orleans.

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New Basin Canal Gallery

Maunsel White

Maunsel White, an Irish merchant-planter from Tipperary who arrived in New Orleans around 1800, was the chief founder of the improvement bank established to build the canal.

Simon Cameron

Simon Cameron of Pennsylvania was the first contractor hired to construct the New Basin Canal, employing twelve hundred "Yankee Irish" in Philadelphia and sending them by sea to New Orleans in 1831.

1863 map showing the New Basin Canal in the area of the Metairie Race Course and Canal Street’s “Grave Yard” cemeteries.

Streetcars crossing the New Basin Canal bridge on Carrollton Avenue, 1901.

Shell Road Toll Gate c. 1906.

New Basin Canal c. 1907.

Charcoal Landing, New Basin Canal.

The New Basin Canal reached Lake Pontchartrain at West End, photo c. 1907.

1940’s photo showing restaurants and businesses that lined the New Basin Canal.

The New Basin Canal at West End, c. 1948

Filling and paving of the canal began in 1937 and was completed in the 1950’s, resulting in the Pontchartrain Expressway.

The Celtic Cross Monument

The Celtic Cross Monument was dedicated in 1990 to honor the Irish laborers who built the New Basin Canal.

Located on the neutral ground between West End and Pontchartrain boulevards near the Civil Defense Shelter.