Algiers Point

Algiers Point is a location on the Lower Mississippi River in New Orleans, Louisiana. In river pilotage, Algiers Point is simply one of the many of land around which the river flows—albeit a significant one. Since the 1970s, the name Algiers Point has also referred to the neighborhood in the immediate vicinity of that point.

Navigational point

The course of the Mississippi River past and through New Orleans is in the shape of a crescent. As the river reaches the downriver end of that crescent, flowing by then in a northerly direction, it makes a sharp "right-hand" turn to the east. The French Quarter, Faubourg Marigny and Bywater lie on the outside of the bend on the river's left descending bank. The point of land on the river's right descending bank is, and has historically been, called Algiers Point.

Just off this point is where the Mississippi River is at its deepest, approximately 60 meters (200 ft) deep. [cite web
title=Mississippi River Facts
work=U.S. National Park Service
url=http://www.nps.gov/miss/features/factoids/
accessdate=2006-03-04] . This depth varies from year to year as the river alternately scours and deposits silt. A U.S. Coast Guard aid to navigation, Algiers Point Light "95," marks the point. [cite book
last=United States Coast Guard
title=USCG Light List - Vol. 5, Mississippi River System
url=http://www.navcen.uscg.gov/pubs/LightLists/V5COMPLETE.PDF
year=2004
publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office
location=Washington ] Its geographic coordinates are coord|29|57|19|N|90|03|19|W|

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' linear description of the location is mile 94.6 AHP (above Head of Passes) on the Lower Mississippi River.

In the 20th century, the Coast Guard began regulating marine traffic approaching and rounding Algiers Point. Licensed pilots were enlisted to man a tower atop the Gov. Nicholls Street Wharf across the river from the point, and to communicate with mariners via marine VHF radio and via a red and green traffic light, in order to restrict two-way traffic when high water makes such traffic hazardous. [cite book
title=Federal Register: Volume 65, Number 81
date=2000-04-26
publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office
location=Washington
chapter=Vessel Traffic Service Lower Mississippi River
chapterurl=http://frwebgate3.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/waisgate.cgi?WAISdocID=5232891583+3+0+0&WAISaction=retrieve ]

Neighborhood

:"This is a brief description of a neighborhood within the Algiers section of New Orleans. See Algiers, Louisiana."

The neighborhood near the point described above came to be called Algiers Point beginning in the 1970s. At that time a community movement began to emphasize the historic and aesthetic aspects of the neighborhood's houses and other assets, as contrasted to other sections of Algiers, especially newer, post-World War II residential areas. [cite web
title=The Algiers Point Association
url=http://www.algierspoint.org/join.htm
accessdate=2006-03-04]

The size and boundaries of the neighborhood depend on colloquial or legal context, but a conservative description is the approximately 50 city blocks bounded by Opelousas Avenue, Atlantic Avenue and the river. The Algiers Point National Historic District is bounded on the south by Slidell Avenue instead of Opelousas Avenue. [cite web
title=National Register of Historic Places
work=Louisiana - Orleans County
url=http://www.nationalregisterofhistoricplaces.com/LA/Orleans/state.html
accessdate=2006-03-04] The southern boundary of the city-regulated Algiers Point Historic District, as defined by the New Orleans Historic District Landmarks Commission, is Newton Street. [cite web
title=The Algiers Point Historic District
work=City of New Orleans
url=https://secure.cityofno.com/portal.aspx?portal=99&tabid=45
accessdate=2006-03-04]

Some of the houses and other structures in Algiers Point predate the American Civil War, but most were built in the period immediately after a catastrophic 1895 fire which destroyed hundreds of structures in the area. [cite web
title=Algiers Point Neighborhood Snapshot
work=Greater New Orleans Community Data Center
url=http://www.gnocdc.org/orleans/12/1/snapshot.html
accessdate=2006-03-04]

Numerous small businesses such as bars, restaurants, coffee shops, and professional services are located here, creating a mixed use neighborhood. [cite web
title=Algiers Point Information Page
work=westrom
url=http://algierspoint.us
accessdate=2006-04-19]

Notes

External links

* [http://www.algierspoint.org/ Algiers Point Association]
* [http://www.AlgiersAccent.com/ AlgiersAccent.com, The Accent of the Algiers Community]
* [http://algierspoint.org/AHS/ Algiers Historical Society]
* [http://www.algierspoint.us/ Algiers Point Information and Links page]
* [http://www.hubbelllibrary.org/ Cita Dennis Hubbell Library]
* [http://www.sphts.org/ Southern Pacific Historical & Technical Society]