“Swinging Over Danger” (in N.O.)

swinging over danger, originally uploaded by anthonyturducken.

Earlier images of this spot, here.

More N.O.

martin luther king blvd at claiborne, originally uploaded by anthonyturducken.

be wiser, originally uploaded by anthonyturducken.

Then, and years later (New Orleans): 3

Lakeside of Claiborne, originally uploaded by R. Walker.

Above: 2003. Below, several images from 2007. Not sure what’s up now — or if this structure still stands.

3108 MLK, originally uploaded by Karen Apricot New Orleans.

3108 MLK, originally uploaded by Karen Apricot New Orleans.

3108 MLK, originally uploaded by Karen Apricot New Orleans.

3108 MLK, originally uploaded by Karen Apricot New Orleans.

3108 MLK, originally uploaded by Karen Apricot New Orleans.

Same spot, years later (New Orleans): 2

Near Robertson, originally uploaded by R. Walker.

Above: Taken 2003. Below, taken May 2009, and part of the set the art of lester carey.

accessory shop, originally uploaded by anthonyturducken.

Same spot, years later (New Orleans)

La Salle2, originally uploaded by R. Walker.

Above: MLK Blvd, New Orleans, taken 2003. Below, taken 2008 (and part of the set MLK in central city).

corner store, originally uploaded by anthonyturducken.

New Orleans follow-up

The prior post, about Lester Carey, mentioned his hand-lettering that has been painted over on a particular defunct store on New Orleans’ MLK.

This was store was a going concern pre-Katrina. Here it is as it looked approximately two years after the flood.

Safe Way Supermarket, originally uploaded by skeletonkrewe.

The caption: “I think the proper name of this store is Six Brothers Safe Way Supermarket. It flooded during the storm, about 4 feet of water, it has since been stripped of it’s copper wire and anything else that might have value. It’s slowing returning to the earth waiting to be torn down…..”

Below a more recent image.

3400 Martin Luther King, originally uploaded by Karen Apricot New Orleans.

Apparently the building remains vacant.

These images were linked to earlier, but not shown.

Karen Apricot New Orleans also added a number of other interesting images to the pool, and those will be highlighted here soon.

Discovering the art of Lester Carey on MLK (and elsewhere)

artist lester carey, originally uploaded by anthonyturducken.

“On a neighborhood tour with lester and chris,” says the caption. Lester, pictured, is Lester Carey, a sign painter and artist whose work turns out to be all over New Orleans (including the city’s MLK).  If you’ve spent any time there with your eyes open, you’ve probably seen his work.

Here he is in front of the Project Food Store. Here is how the Project Food Store looked in 2003. Here it is in October 2005. And here it is in April 2009.

Below are a couple of other shots anthonyturducken added to the MLK BLVD pool, some lettering on the Safe Way Store (seen here in October 2005; here it is more recently — unfortunately, Carey’s work has been painted over). But there many examples of more fully realized works as well as hand-lettering, from all around town, in this pool: The Society To Preserve The Art of Lester Carey. (Can’t resist saying: This is a great one.) Highly recommended.

Also, anthonyturducken’s set MLK  in central city has a number of other nice and interesting images that are worth checking out.

Very pleased to have this addition to the pool, and to learn about Lester Carey. Hoping, in fact, to learn more…

safeway supermarket, originally uploaded by anthonyturducken.

safeway supermarket, originally uploaded by anthonyturducken.

New Orleans

ML King 3923 Palms Motel-3,

originally uploaded by Preservation Resource Center, Advocacy Department.

This image of the previously mentioned Palms Motel, in New Orleans, comes from the Central City set of the Preservation Resource Center, Advocacy Department’s photostream, which is well worth exploration if you are interested in New Orleans.

A surprising development in New Orleans

Charles brings the news that the motel at the far (lakeside) end of New Orleans’ MLK has been rehabbed, and is now evidently a working business: The Crescent Palms. The surprisingly interesting back story of the building can be found on the motel’s site, here.

According to this history, the original version of the motel was opened in 1962 by Louis Mason, Jr. “a successful businessman and entrepreneur.”

This dreamer had a vision for a site of land where the Ole N’Awlins Potato Chip Factory stood. (That potato chip factory was a successful minority-owned business and a great story in its own right.) Mr. Mason imagined a first class motel where African-Americans would be welcomed. He envisioned a showplace that would bring even more jobs into a strong community.

They were “dancing in the streets” on August 19, 1962, when over 6,000 people, some of the out-of-town business leaders, gathered to cheer the opening of the Mason’s Motel. Newspaper accounts marvel at how vibrant and attractive the building was. The architecture was 1960’s modern and is now considered classic. The Floridian Patio drew particular praise. The banquet room could accommodate seventy people and remains an important part of the facility. Each of the twenty-five rooms, including two Bridal Suites, featured wall-to-wall carpeting, air conditioning and a spacious bathroom. The rooms were tastefully decorated and included paintings of French Quarter scenes on their walls. A television, a music system and a coffeemaker came in each room.

The site says that guests in the motel’s heyday — when segregation was almost certainly a major factor in New Orleans life — included Mary Wells, The Drifters, and Martha and the Vandellas.

Mason and his wife sold the place some time in the 1980s. The site says it was still open under a different owner as late as 2005.

Not sure how the surrounding area looks at the moment, but you can get a sense of how it used to look by way of this picture of the motel in 2003 — remember, that’s before Katrina. Was it really still open when this picture was taken?

Motel, originally uploaded by R. Walker.

New Orleans

Some time back, tempey had some very interesting Flickr images of the MLK in New Orleans. Though later removed from his Flickr stream, they appear here thanks to Tempey’s generosity. Check more of his New Orleans photography here.

Above, a shot of the Safeway market. Below, images of BW Cooper, the housing project more commonly known by its old name, Calliope. It’s one of the many projects in New Orleans that have been torn down of late.

More Cooper pictures after the jump.