Ladies and gentlemen (or however you identify—I don't mean to be gender assumptive), welcome to the Big Easy! It turns out that New Orleans is a combined city/parish government, just like Denver, so the center of power would be City Hall. To be honest, I spent a lot of time trying to figure out where … Continue reading 583. New Orleans, Orleans Parish (LA62) →

I like it! I totally dig that solidly constructed post WPA slightly art deco-ish type thing. Times like this I wish I had a better grounding in architecture to be able to give you a better description of it, but that hardly matters. What matters is that its solidity is a proud symbol that gives … Continue reading 582. Chalmette, St. Bernard Parish (LA61) →

There was some question as to whether I should go to the governmental center or the courthouse in the parish, so I covered my bases by going to both since the center was on my way down. Oddly enough, the address for the center led to a defunct animal shelter. There was a nearby governmental … Continue reading 581. Pointe à la Hache, Plaquemines Parish (LA60) →

Ugh…  Gretna doesn’t seem to have a central courthouse.  The Parish Clerk and Parish President (yes, this parish has a President instead of a Police Jury [and, for those of you who didn’t know this, most parishes have Police Juries instead of judges or commissioners]) work out of this building, utterly uninspired, indistinguishable from any … Continue reading 580. Gretna, Jefferson Parish (LA59) →

The courthouse reminded me quite a bit of Cameron County back in Texas.  White, relatively non-descript, possibly from the 80’s…  It’s a perfectly cromulent building for a perfectly cromulent town.  It’s not really impressive, but it does the job.  Well, at least I wasn’t impressed.  The cache was a large jar in a planter at … Continue reading 579. Hahnville, St. Charles Parish (LA58) →

As you can imagine, my separation of church and state hackles went through the roof the second I saw the statue carrying a cross out front.  Of course, since the place is named for a pretty well known biblical figure, what could I expect?  That said, I was also struck by the theological incongruity of … Continue reading 578. Edgard, Saint John the Baptist Parish (LA57) →

Now look at that courthouse! That is a stunningly gorgeous hunk of stone! I thought I'd make it there during the day, but I'm almost glad I didn't arrive until evening. The illuminated stone made quite the impression on me. How could it not? This is the courthouse of an once more important city that … Continue reading 577. Houma, Terrebonne Parish (LA56) →

Now this is a courthouse!  It never stops amazing me how so many small county (or parish) seats seem to have such grand courthouses.  To be fair, calling it small may not be quite fair, but at a population of 15,000-ish, for me it qualifies.  As I wrote this, I found myself playing a little … Continue reading 576. Thibodaux, Lafourche Parish (LA55) →

I ended up spending a few minutes trying to decide if this was the courthouse or not, finding a memorial and signs about events from Napoleonic times along with the cornerstone dated 1896.  Eventually, I turned around and saw the big sign that read “Assumption Parish Courthouse” and that kind of sealed the deal in … Continue reading 575. Napoleonville, Assumption Parish (LA54) →

What a lovely beast in red brick!  The clock tower is quite nice and I like how the arches over the doors and windows make for a simple but effective touch that gives a lot of personality (at least in my eyes).  Add in the fact that the connected extensions are done in a similar … Continue reading 574. Donaldsonville, Ascension Parish (LA53) →