Treme
Encyclopedia
Tremé is a neighborhood
of the city of New Orleans
. A subdistrict of the Mid-City District Area, its boundaries as defined by the City Planning Commission are Esplanade Avenue
to the north, North Rampart Street
to the east, St. Louis Street to the south and North Broad Street
to the west. It is one of the oldest neighborhoods in the city, and early in the city's history was the main neighborhood of free people of color
. It remains an important center of the city's African-American and Créole
culture, especially the modern brass band
tradition.
, the district has a total area of 0.69 square miles (1.8 km²), all of which is land.
of 2000, there were 8,853 people, 3,429 households, and 2,064 families residing in the neighborhood. The population density
was 12,830 /mi² (4,918 /km²).
was built from the French Quarter to Bayou St. John
, splitting the land. Developers began building subdivisions throughout the area to house a diverse population that included Caucasians, Haitian Creoles, and free persons of color.
Tremé abuts the north, or lake, side of the French Quarter
, away from the Mississippi River
—"back of town" as earlier generations of New Orleanians used to say. Its traditional borders were Rampart Street
on the south, Canal Street on the west, Esplanade Avenue
on the east, and Broad Street on the north. Claiborne Avenue
is a primary thoroughfare through the neighborhood. At the end of the 19th century, the Storyville
red-light district
was carved out of the upper part of Tremé; in the 1940s this was torn down and made into a public housing
project. This area is no longer considered part of the neighborhood. The "town square" of Tremé was Congo Square
—originally known as "Place des Nègres"—where slave
s gathered on Sundays to dance. This tradition flourished until the United States
took control, and officials grew more anxious about unsupervised gatherings of slaves in the years before the Civil War.
The square was also an important place of business for slaves, enabling some to purchase their freedom from sales of crafts and goods there. For much of the rest of the 19th century, the square was an open-air market
. "Creoles
of Color" brass and symphonic bands gave concerts, providing the foundation for a more improvisational style that would come to be known as "Jazz
". At the end of the 19th century, the city officially renamed the square "Beauregard Square" after Confederate General P.G.T. Beauregard, but the neighborhood people seldom used that name. Late in the 20th century, the city restored the traditional name of "Congo Square".
In the early 1960s, in an urban renewal
project later considered a mistake by most analysts, a large portion of central Tremé was torn down. The land stood vacant for some time, then in the 1970s the city created Louis Armstrong Park
out of the area, named after the recently deceased Louis Armstrong
. (Contrary to the impression this gives to some, Armstrong, an uptowner, was not from Tremé nor often active here when he lived in town.) Congo Square is within Armstrong Park.
Musicians from Tremé include Alphonse Picou
, Kermit Ruffins
, Lucien Barbarin
, and "The King of Treme" Shannon Powell
. While predominantly African-American, the population has been mixed from the 19th century through to the 21st. Jazz musicians of Europe
an ancestry such as Henry Ragas
and Louis Prima
also lived in Tremé. Also, Joe's Cozy Corner in Tremé is often considered the birthplace of Rebirth Brass Band
, one of the most notable current New Orleans bands. Alex Chilton
, who led the rock groups Big Star
and The Box Tops
, lived in Tremé from the early 1990s until his death in 2010.
In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina
, the Tremé neighborhood received minor to moderate flooding. In the portion of the neighborhood in from I-10, the water was generally not high enough to damage many of the old raised homes.
, Lucien Barbarin
, and the Treme Brass Band
, are featured heavily in the 2011 non-fiction film by Darren Hoffman, Tradition is a Temple
.
In 2010 David Simon
, creator of The Wire
, teamed up with Eric Overmeyer to create the HBO drama Treme
. The series takes place in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina
and centers on the lives of residents of the area.
Faubourg Treme: The Untold Story of Black New Orleans
, a 2008 documentary film by Dawn Logsdon and Lolis Eric Elie, former Times Picayune columnist and now HBO Tremé
staff writer, bridges the pre- and post-Katrina stories of the Tremé neighborhood. Featuring a cast of local musicians, artists and writers, the documentary retraces the fascinating and unique history of America’s oldest surviving black community and neighborhood.
Located in Tremé, the New Orleans African American Museum
is dedicated to protecting, preserving, and promoting through education the history, art, and communities of African Americans in New Orleans and the African diaspora
.
Shake the Devil Off, a 2007 documentary co-written by Swiss-based director Peter Entell with Lydia Breen, explores the post-Katrina lives of parishioners at St. Augustine Church in the Treme, the oldest predominately-black Catholic parish in the nation. Father Jerome LeDoux (St. Augustine's priest 1990-2005) was a central character in the film. In 2006, he was recognized by the City of New Orleans for his work fostering greater appreciation of the Treme's black history and culture.
File:StClaudeDumainPoincy.jpg|Corner of St. Claude & Dumaine Streets, 1895
File:AugustineTreme14Jan2008AboveB.jpg|St. Augustine Church
File:ClubFabulousClaiborne16Sept08.jpg|"Club Fabulous" bar
File:TremeNOLASmoothJaz.JPG|Treme Brass band playing in the Candlelight Lounge
File:MeilleurGoldthwaiteHouseFrontB.jpg|New Orleans African American Museum
New Orleans neighborhoods
In 1980 the New Orleans City Planning Commission divided the city into 13 planning districts and 72 distinct neighborhoods.While most of these assigned boundaries match with traditional local designations, some others differ from common traditional use...
of the city of New Orleans
New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The New Orleans metropolitan area has a population of 1,235,650 as of 2009, the 46th largest in the USA. The New Orleans – Metairie – Bogalusa combined statistical area has a population...
. A subdistrict of the Mid-City District Area, its boundaries as defined by the City Planning Commission are Esplanade Avenue
Esplanade Avenue, New Orleans
-History:Esplanade runs from the Mississippi River front to the intersection with Carrollton Avenue just past Bayou St. John, and the entrance to City Park. In the 19th century it was important as a portage route of trade between the Bayou which linked to Lake Pontchartrain and the River...
to the north, North Rampart Street
Rampart Street
Rampart Street is a historic avenue located in New Orleans, Louisiana.The upper end of the street is in the New Orleans Central Business District...
to the east, St. Louis Street to the south and North Broad Street
Broad Street
Broad Street may refer to:In the United Kingdom:*Broad Street , in London*Broad Street, Birmingham*Broad Street, Bristol*Broad Street, Oxford*Broad Street, Reading*Broad Street, Suffolk, hamlet near Groton...
to the west. It is one of the oldest neighborhoods in the city, and early in the city's history was the main neighborhood of free people of color
Free people of color
A free person of color in the context of the history of slavery in the Americas, is a person of full or partial African descent who was not enslaved...
. It remains an important center of the city's African-American and Créole
Creoles of color
The Creoles of Color are a historic ethnic group of Louisiana, especially the city of New Orleans.-History:During Louisiana’s colonial period, Creole referred to people born in Louisiana with ancestors from elsewhere; i.e., all natives other than Native Americans. They used the term to separate...
culture, especially the modern brass band
Brass band
A brass band is a musical ensemble generally consisting entirely of brass instruments, most often with a percussion section. Ensembles that include brass and woodwind instruments can in certain traditions also be termed brass bands , but are usually more correctly termed military bands, concert...
tradition.
Geography
Tremé is located at 29°58′06"N 90°04′26"W and has an elevation of 0 foot (0 m). According to the United States Census BureauUnited States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...
, the district has a total area of 0.69 square miles (1.8 km²), all of which is land.
Adjacent neighborhoods
- Seventh WardSeventh Ward, New OrleansThe Seventh Ward is a neighborhood of the city of New Orleans. A subdistrict of the Mid-City District Area, its boundaries as defined by the City Planning Commission are: A.P. Tureaud Avenue, Agriculture, Allen, Industry, St. Anthony, Duels, Frenchmen and Hope Streets to the north, Elysian Fields...
(north) - French QuarterFrench QuarterThe French Quarter, also known as Vieux Carré, is the oldest neighborhood in the city of New Orleans. When New Orleans was founded in 1718 by Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville, the city was originally centered on the French Quarter, or the Vieux Carré as it was known then...
(east) - Iberville ProjectsIberville ProjectsIberville Projects is a neighborhood of the city of New Orleans and one of the Housing Projects of New Orleans. A subdistrict of the Mid-City District Area, its boundaries as defined by the City Planning Commission are: St. Louis Street to the north, Basin Street to the east, Iberville Street to...
(south) - Tulane/GravierTulane/Gravier, New OrleansTulane/Gravier is a neighborhood of the city of New Orleans. A subdistrict of the Mid-City District Area, its boundaries as defined by the City Planning Commission are: St...
(south) - Bayou St. JohnBayou St. John, New OrleansBayou St. John is a neighborhood of the city of New Orleans. A subdistrict of the Mid-City District Area, its boundaries as defined by the City Planning Commission are: Esplanade Avenue to the north, North Broad Street to the east, St. Louis Street to the south and Bayou St. John to the...
(west)
Boundaries
The City Planning Commission defines the boundaries of Tremé as these streets: Esplanade Avenue, North Rampart Street, St. Louis Street, North Broad Street.Demographics
As of the censusCensus
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
of 2000, there were 8,853 people, 3,429 households, and 2,064 families residing in the neighborhood. The population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...
was 12,830 /mi² (4,918 /km²).
History
The modern Tremé neighborhood began as the Morand Plantation and two forts—St. Ferdinand and St. John. Near the end of the 18th century, Claude Tremé purchased the land from the original plantation owner. Within a few decades, the Carondelet CanalCarondelet Canal
The Carondelet Canal, also known as the Old Basin Canal, was a canal in New Orleans, Louisiana from 1794 through 1938.Construction of the canal began in June of 1794 on the orders of Governor of Louisiana Francisco Luis Hector de Carondelet, for whom the canal was named. The 1.6‑mile long canal...
was built from the French Quarter to Bayou St. John
Bayou St. John
Bayou St. John is a bayou within the city of New Orleans, Louisiana.The Bayou as a natural feature drained the swampy land of a good portion of what was to become New Orleans into Lake Pontchartrain...
, splitting the land. Developers began building subdivisions throughout the area to house a diverse population that included Caucasians, Haitian Creoles, and free persons of color.
Tremé abuts the north, or lake, side of the French Quarter
French Quarter
The French Quarter, also known as Vieux Carré, is the oldest neighborhood in the city of New Orleans. When New Orleans was founded in 1718 by Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville, the city was originally centered on the French Quarter, or the Vieux Carré as it was known then...
, away from the Mississippi River
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
—"back of town" as earlier generations of New Orleanians used to say. Its traditional borders were Rampart Street
Rampart Street
Rampart Street is a historic avenue located in New Orleans, Louisiana.The upper end of the street is in the New Orleans Central Business District...
on the south, Canal Street on the west, Esplanade Avenue
Esplanade Avenue, New Orleans
-History:Esplanade runs from the Mississippi River front to the intersection with Carrollton Avenue just past Bayou St. John, and the entrance to City Park. In the 19th century it was important as a portage route of trade between the Bayou which linked to Lake Pontchartrain and the River...
on the east, and Broad Street on the north. Claiborne Avenue
Claiborne Avenue
Claiborne Avenue is a major thoroughfare in New Orleans, Louisiana. It runs the length of the city, about , beginning at the Jefferson Parish line and ending at the St. Bernard Parish line; the street continues in each of these locations under different names. It is called South Claiborne Avenue...
is a primary thoroughfare through the neighborhood. At the end of the 19th century, the Storyville
Storyville
Storyville was the red-light district of New Orleans, Louisiana, from 1897 through 1917. Locals usually simply referred to the area as The District.-History:...
red-light district
Red-light district
A red-light district is a part of an urban area where there is a concentration of prostitution and sex-oriented businesses, such as sex shops, strip clubs, adult theaters, etc...
was carved out of the upper part of Tremé; in the 1940s this was torn down and made into a public housing
Public housing
Public housing is a form of housing tenure in which the property is owned by a government authority, which may be central or local. Social housing is an umbrella term referring to rental housing which may be owned and managed by the state, by non-profit organizations, or by a combination of the...
project. This area is no longer considered part of the neighborhood. The "town square" of Tremé was Congo Square
Congo Square
Congo Square is an open space within Louis Armstrong Park, which is located in the Tremé neighborhood of New Orleans, Louisiana, just across Rampart Street north of the French Quarter. The Tremé neighborhood is famous for its history of African American music....
—originally known as "Place des Nègres"—where slave
Slavery
Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...
s gathered on Sundays to dance. This tradition flourished until the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
took control, and officials grew more anxious about unsupervised gatherings of slaves in the years before the Civil War.
The square was also an important place of business for slaves, enabling some to purchase their freedom from sales of crafts and goods there. For much of the rest of the 19th century, the square was an open-air market
Market
A market is one of many varieties of systems, institutions, procedures, social relations and infrastructures whereby parties engage in exchange. While parties may exchange goods and services by barter, most markets rely on sellers offering their goods or services in exchange for money from buyers...
. "Creoles
Louisiana Creole people
Louisiana Creole people refers to those who are descended from the colonial settlers in Louisiana, especially those of French and Spanish descent. The term was first used during colonial times by the settlers to refer to those who were born in the colony, as opposed to those born in the Old World...
of Color" brass and symphonic bands gave concerts, providing the foundation for a more improvisational style that would come to be known as "Jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
". At the end of the 19th century, the city officially renamed the square "Beauregard Square" after Confederate General P.G.T. Beauregard, but the neighborhood people seldom used that name. Late in the 20th century, the city restored the traditional name of "Congo Square".
In the early 1960s, in an urban renewal
Urban renewal
Urban renewal is a program of land redevelopment in areas of moderate to high density urban land use. Renewal has had both successes and failures. Its modern incarnation began in the late 19th century in developed nations and experienced an intense phase in the late 1940s – under the rubric of...
project later considered a mistake by most analysts, a large portion of central Tremé was torn down. The land stood vacant for some time, then in the 1970s the city created Louis Armstrong Park
Louis Armstrong Park
Louis Armstrong Park is a park located in the Treme neighborhood of New Orleans, Louisiana, just across Rampart Street from the French Quarter. It was designed by New Orleans architect Robin Riley. The park contains the New Orleans Municipal Auditorium, the Mahalia Jackson Theater of the...
out of the area, named after the recently deceased Louis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong , nicknamed Satchmo or Pops, was an American jazz trumpeter and singer from New Orleans, Louisiana....
. (Contrary to the impression this gives to some, Armstrong, an uptowner, was not from Tremé nor often active here when he lived in town.) Congo Square is within Armstrong Park.
Musicians from Tremé include Alphonse Picou
Alphonse Picou
Alphonse Floristan Picou was an important very early jazz clarinetist who also wrote and arranged music....
, Kermit Ruffins
Kermit Ruffins
Kermit Ruffins is a jazz trumpeter, singer and composer from New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. He has been heavily influenced by Louis Armstrong, Louis Jordan and Eddy Jefferson. Ruffins accompanies a large portion of his songs with his own vocals, and he says that the highest note he can hit...
, Lucien Barbarin
Lucien Barbarin
Lucien Barbarin is an American trombone player, born July 17, 1956, in New Orleans, Louisiana. Barbarin tours internationally with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band and with Harry Connick, Jr....
, and "The King of Treme" Shannon Powell
Shannon Powell
”The King of Treme” Shannon Powell is an American jazz and New Orleans jazz virtuoso drummer. He has toured internationally and played with Ellis Marsalis, Danny Barker, Willie Metcalf Jr., Branford Marsalis, Wynton Marsalis & the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, Diana Krall, Earl King, Dr...
. While predominantly African-American, the population has been mixed from the 19th century through to the 21st. Jazz musicians of Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an ancestry such as Henry Ragas
Henry Ragas
Henry Ragas was a jazz pianist who played with the Original Dixieland Jass Band on their earliest recording sessions. As such, he is the very first jazz pianist to be recorded , although his contributions are barely audible due to the primitive recording equipment available...
and Louis Prima
Louis Prima
Louis Prima was a Sicilian American singer, actor, songwriter, and trumpeter. Prima rode the musical trends of his time, starting with his seven-piece New Orleans style jazz band in the 1920s, then successively leading a swing combo in the 1930s, a big band in the 1940s, a Vegas lounge act in the...
also lived in Tremé. Also, Joe's Cozy Corner in Tremé is often considered the birthplace of Rebirth Brass Band
Rebirth Brass Band
The Rebirth Brass Band is a New Orleans brass band. The group was founded in 1982 by tuba/sousaphone player Philip Frazier, his brother, bass drummer, Keith Frazier and trumpeter Kermit Ruffins, and other school marching band members from Joseph S. Clark Senior High School in New Orleans’ Tremé...
, one of the most notable current New Orleans bands. Alex Chilton
Alex Chilton
William Alexander "Alex" Chilton was an American songwriter, guitarist, singer and producer, best known as the lead singer of the Box Tops and Big Star...
, who led the rock groups Big Star
Big Star
Big Star was an American rock band formed in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1971 by Alex Chilton, Chris Bell, Jody Stephens and Andy Hummel. The group broke up in 1974, but reorganized with a new line-up nearly 20 years later...
and The Box Tops
The Box Tops
The Box Tops were a Memphis rock group of the second half of the 1960s. They are best known for the hits "The Letter," "Neon Rainbow," "Soul Deep," "I Met Her in Church," and "Cry Like A Baby," and are considered a major blue-eyed soul group of the period...
, lived in Tremé from the early 1990s until his death in 2010.
In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...
, the Tremé neighborhood received minor to moderate flooding. In the portion of the neighborhood in from I-10, the water was generally not high enough to damage many of the old raised homes.
Film
Popular contemporary musicians from the Tremé like "The King of Tremé" Shannon PowellShannon Powell
”The King of Treme” Shannon Powell is an American jazz and New Orleans jazz virtuoso drummer. He has toured internationally and played with Ellis Marsalis, Danny Barker, Willie Metcalf Jr., Branford Marsalis, Wynton Marsalis & the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, Diana Krall, Earl King, Dr...
, Lucien Barbarin
Lucien Barbarin
Lucien Barbarin is an American trombone player, born July 17, 1956, in New Orleans, Louisiana. Barbarin tours internationally with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band and with Harry Connick, Jr....
, and the Treme Brass Band
Treme Brass Band
The Treme Brass Band is a marching brass band from New Orleans, Louisiana led by snare drummer Benny Jones, Sr. The band, which plays traditional New Orleans brass band music, features a shifting lineup that has included trumpeters Kermit Ruffins and James Andrews, tenor saxophonists Elliot Callier...
, are featured heavily in the 2011 non-fiction film by Darren Hoffman, Tradition is a Temple
Tradition Is a Temple
Tradition Is a Temple is an American documentary film about New Orleans jazz culture and modernization’s effect on American traditions.-Plot:...
.
In 2010 David Simon
David Simon
David Simon is an American author, journalist, and a writer/producer of television series. He worked for the Baltimore Sun City Desk for twelve years. He wrote Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets and co-wrote The Corner: A Year in the Life of an Inner-City Neighborhood with Ed Burns...
, creator of The Wire
The WIRE
the WIRE is the student-run College radio station at the University of Oklahoma, broadcasting in a freeform format. The WIRE serves the University of Oklahoma and surrounding communities, and is staffed by student DJs. The WIRE broadcasts at 1710 kHz AM in Norman, Oklahoma...
, teamed up with Eric Overmeyer to create the HBO drama Treme
Treme (TV series)
Treme is an American television drama series created by David Simon and Eric Overmyer that premiered on April 11, 2010 on HBO. It takes its name from Tremé, a neighborhood of New Orleans...
. The series takes place in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...
and centers on the lives of residents of the area.
Faubourg Treme: The Untold Story of Black New Orleans
Faubourg Treme: The Untold Story of Black New Orleans
Faubourg Tremé: The Untold Story of Black New Orleans, is a documentary film directed by Dawn Logsdon and co-directed and written by Lolis Eric Elie. Featuring a cast of local musicians, artists and writers, the film relates the history of New Orlean's Tremé neighborhood.The film debuted at the...
, a 2008 documentary film by Dawn Logsdon and Lolis Eric Elie, former Times Picayune columnist and now HBO Tremé
Treme (TV series)
Treme is an American television drama series created by David Simon and Eric Overmyer that premiered on April 11, 2010 on HBO. It takes its name from Tremé, a neighborhood of New Orleans...
staff writer, bridges the pre- and post-Katrina stories of the Tremé neighborhood. Featuring a cast of local musicians, artists and writers, the documentary retraces the fascinating and unique history of America’s oldest surviving black community and neighborhood.
Located in Tremé, the New Orleans African American Museum
New Orleans African American Museum
The New Orleans African American Museum in New Orleans, Louisiana, is located in the historic Tremé neighborhood, the oldest surviving black community in the United States...
is dedicated to protecting, preserving, and promoting through education the history, art, and communities of African Americans in New Orleans and the African diaspora
African diaspora
The African diaspora was the movement of Africans and their descendants to places throughout the world—predominantly to the Americas also to Europe, the Middle East and other places around the globe...
.
Shake the Devil Off, a 2007 documentary co-written by Swiss-based director Peter Entell with Lydia Breen, explores the post-Katrina lives of parishioners at St. Augustine Church in the Treme, the oldest predominately-black Catholic parish in the nation. Father Jerome LeDoux (St. Augustine's priest 1990-2005) was a central character in the film. In 2006, he was recognized by the City of New Orleans for his work fostering greater appreciation of the Treme's black history and culture.
Gallery
File:StClaudeDumainPoincy.jpg|Corner of St. Claude & Dumaine Streets, 1895
File:AugustineTreme14Jan2008AboveB.jpg|St. Augustine Church
File:ClubFabulousClaiborne16Sept08.jpg|"Club Fabulous" bar
File:TremeNOLASmoothJaz.JPG|Treme Brass band playing in the Candlelight Lounge
File:MeilleurGoldthwaiteHouseFrontB.jpg|New Orleans African American Museum
New Orleans African American Museum
The New Orleans African American Museum in New Orleans, Louisiana, is located in the historic Tremé neighborhood, the oldest surviving black community in the United States...
External links
- Wikitravel: New Orleans/Treme
- Documentary on Faubourg Treme by Dawn Logsdon & Lolis Eric Elie
- Neighborhood Associations Representing Treme: The Downtown Neighborhoods Improvement Association (www.dnianola.org)