Saint Claude Arts Corridor and Press Street Railroad
Why is it significant?
Arrive at the bustling intersection of Saint Claude Avenue and Press Street, the vibrant creative nexus linking Faubourg Marigny with the Bywater neighborhood.
Key Facts
| Place | Saint Claude Arts Corridor and Press Street Railroad |
|---|---|
| Address | 2900 Saint Claude Ave, New Orleans, LA 70117, United States |
| Geo Coordinates | 29.96820, -90.04950 |
| Part of Walk | Faubourg Marigny and Bywater Bohemian Arts Corridor: The Creative Pulse of New Orleans |
| Generated | Generated |
Arrive at the bustling intersection of Saint Claude Avenue and Press Street, the vibrant creative nexus linking Faubourg Marigny with the Bywater neighborhood. Along this broad transit boulevard, where electric streetcars historically connected riverfront wharves with inland industries, an explosive grassroots arts renaissance took root following 2005, transforming shuttered retail storefronts, auto repair garages, and corner markets into artist-run cooperatives, DIY theater spaces, and radical bookstores.
Look at the railway tracks crossing Press Street: this active freight line marks the historic municipal boundary between the Faubourg Marigny and the Bywater, and holds a pivotal civil rights legacy.
On June 7, 1892, Homer Adolph Plessy, a thirty-year-old French-speaking Creole shoemaker of African descent, deliberately boarded an East Louisiana Railroad passenger car at this very rail crossing on Press Street. By sitting in the "Whites Only" car to challenge the state's newly enacted Separate Car Act of 1890, Plessy sparked the legal battle that led directly to the United States Supreme Court's infamous 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson decision, which institutionalized the doctrine of "separate but equal" across the nation. Today, the corner is marked by a commemorative historic plaque, while adjacent industrial warehouses house creative organizations such as the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts and the Press Street Gardens. Along this creative corridor, cooperative sculpture studios, experimental print shops, and community darkrooms provide accessible workspace for emerging Gulf Coast artists. The Saint Claude avenue corridor hosts the city's lively Second Saturday Art Openings, drawing hundreds of painters, sculptors, and musicians into warehouse galleries.
Standing by the rail tracks where Plessy took his historic stand, the intersection of momentous civil rights struggle and vibrant grassroots artistic expression is deeply inspiring. This neighborhood remains a furnace of social creativity and civic courage.
Walk southeast along Homer Plessy Way toward the monumental warehouse murals of Studio BE.