Fort St. John Aka old Spanish Fort
N 30° 01.330 W 090° 05.010
15R E 781288 N 3324825
The Colonial era fort protected the Lake Pontchartrain entrance of Bayou St. John. The first small fort here was erected by the French in 1701, before the founding of the city of New Orleans, to protect the important trade route along Bayou St. John. After Louisiana passed to Spanish control, a larger brick fort was constructed at the site of the neglected old French fortification; this was known as "San Juan del Bayou". Louisiana passed back to France and then to the hands of the United States.
Waymark Code: WM5N9Q
Location: Louisiana, United States
Date Posted: 01/25/2009
Views: 20
The land was bought by private developers, and became a popular amusement park, known as "Spanish Fort" or "Old Spanish Fort". It featured restaurants, a casino, a resort hotel, dancing pavilions, an alligator pond, and in its later decades amusement rides such as the "Scenic railway", a roller coaster. A steam railway, and later an electric streetcar system, connected the lakeside resort with the center of the city. It was especially popular during the summer for the cooling breezes of the Lake. It was billed as the "Coney Island of the South".
From about 1880 to 1908 the small iron submarine now in the collection of the Louisiana State Museum was on display here, identified as the Confederate war submarine "Pioneer". (Recent investigations have called the traditional identification in to question, making the curious early submarine even more of a mystery; see: Bayou St. John Confederate Submarine.)
A 1919 newspaper advertisement brags "14,880 people visited the Spanish Fort last Sunday – there was no congestion – and everybody wore a smile."
"Over the Rhine", a German restaurant and beer garden was a popular attraction, as were dances by Paoletti's Orchestra. Tranchina's Restaurant and Brown's Ice Cream Parlor often featured live bands. The park had two cabarets, "Tokyo Gardens" and "The Frolics".
In the park's later decades, a number of early jazz bands played here. Armand J. Piron's New Orleans Orchestra was a regular; Papa Celestin's band filled in while Piron was in New York. Pianist Steve Lewis performed not only with Piron's band, but also did solos and duets with singer New Orleans Willie Jackson. Johnny Bayersdorffer's Jazzola Novelty Orchestra and Johnny Miller's New Orleans Frolicers were also regulars.
Link to more information:: [Web Link]
Marker Name: Fort St. John
Marker Type: Roadside
What does marker relate to?: Battle (war)
Parish: Orleans
Year Erected or Date Dedicated: Not listed
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