Campaign of the Month: October 2017
Blood & Bourbon
Beyond the City
“Why in sweet Jesus’ green earth would you want to leave New Orleans? Have you seen what’s out there?”
“I mean beyond white-washed suburbia, beyond the parish line. It’s thousands of square miles of sweltering, gator-infested bayous; malarial canals; treacherous sand-spits; willow-islands with Loup-Garoux; huge inland bays poisoned by oil spills, and flooded woods where mosquito swarms hover around your head like a helmet and you slap your arms until they’re slick with a black-red paste.”
“Travel an hour north, west, or south from the Quarter, and one wrong turn off the interstate, and it’s like you punched through a dimensional hole and dropped back down into the redneck, coon-ass, inbred peckerwood south that you thought had been eaten up by the developers of sunbelt suburbs and forever banished by the moral sanity of the modern century. It’s a shrinkin’ place, sure, but the locals cling to every inch with a spittin’ mad tenacity.”
“Yep, the rural parishes of Louisiana are the place to go if you don’t fit anywhere else—provided you’re white, speak English with a Dixie dialect, and love guns, football, and the ignorant bigotry of the Lost Cause. Otherwise, you best stay in the City.”
Buford T. Boggs, itinerant blues musician and former inhabitant of St. Tammany parish
Although a larger domain puts a greater strain on the ability of any one Kindred to administrate efficiently, Augusto Vidal has never been one to shy away from a challenge, especially when the payoff is increased power and authority. The entirety of the Greater New Orleans area is nominally under his sway, and he aggressively pursues any substantive threats to his hegemony in the outlying areas. Given the area’s demographic and political concentration, such threats have been few and far between in the past, but whenever and wherever they’ve reared their ugly heads, he and his agents have handled the matter without delay or mercy.
As a rule, Prince Vidal’s domain is generally accepted to include all the territory east to Lake Borgne, north to Lake Pontchartrain, west to the suburb of Kenner (where the airport is), and south nearly as far as Lafitte. For all practical purposes, however, Vidal concentrates his efforts on New Orleans’ immediate surrounds, including the important suburbs of Algiers, Metairie, Gentilly, Westwego, Gretna, Harvey and Marrero. This is not to say that he doesn’t claim praxis over the rest, but merely that he can and does assign feeding and domain rights to the aforementioned territories on a fairly regular basis, and thus watches them closely.
Greater New Orleans (Vidal’s Praxis)
Orleans Parish
(pop. 391,495)
Much of this area falls within the Eastern New Orleans region. Its overall character is decidedly suburban, resembling the archetypal postwar American suburb much more than the compactly-built environment found in the city’s historic core.
Lakefront Airport
(8 miles NW from NOLA)
The former major commercial airport in New Orleans until 1946, when it was eclipsed by the newly-constructed Louis Armstrong Airport. It is now primarily used for chartered flights and serves a variety of aircraft, including general aviation aircraft, corporate aircraft, and military aircraft. The airport is also home to a number of aviation businesses, including flight schools, charter companies, and maintenance facilities.
Lakefront Airport remains a popular destination for pilots and aviation enthusiasts alike. The airport offers a variety of amenities, including a restaurant, a lounge, and a gift shop. The airport also hosts a number of events throughout the year, including air shows and fly-ins.
The airport was built in 1929 and was originally known as Shushan Airport, after Abraham Shushan, the president of the Orleans Parish Levee Board. The name was changed to Lakefront Airport in 1939 after Shushan was convicted of mail fraud.
Little Woods
(10 miles NE from NOLA, pop. 32,000)
Unincorporated community on the shoreline of Lake Pontchartrain. Little Woods is a working-class, predominately African-American neighborhood with a high poverty rate. The neighborhood is home to a number of public housing projects and is also a popular destination for immigrants and refugees. The community is vibrant and diverse, but also faces a high crime rate and is disproportionately affected by environmental hazards such as flooding.
The neighborhood was originally settled by French colonists in the early 18th century and was named for the small forests that once covered the area. The neighborhood was heavily industrialized in the early 20th century and became a major center for shipbuilding and oil refining. Little Woods was devastated by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, but has since rebuilt.
Michoud
(16 miles NE from NOLA, pop. uncounted)
Unincorporated community within Eastern New Orleans. It is home to the Michoud Assembly Facility, a NASA facility that manufactures and assembles spacecraft and launch vehicles. The facility is currently being used to manufacture and assemble the Space Launch System (SLS), the most powerful rocket ever built.
The Michoud Assembly Facility was built in the early 1960s to support the Apollo program. The facility was used to manufacture and assemble the Saturn V rocket, which carried astronauts to the moon. The facility was also used to manufacture and assemble the Space Shuttle’s external fuel tank.
In addition to its role in the space program, the Michoud Assembly Facility has also been used to manufacture commercial aircraft and other products. The facility is a major economic driver for the New Orleans region and employs over 4,200 people, as well as a vital part of the NASA space program. The facility plays a critical role in the manufacturing and assembly of spacecraft and launch vehicles.
Michoud was originally developed in the 1940s as a manufacturing facility for Higgins Industries, which built landing craft and other vessels for the United States military during World War II. After the war, Michoud was acquired by the Douglas Aircraft Company, which used the facility to build commercial aircraft. In 1961, NASA acquired Michoud and began using the facility to support the Apollo program.
Bayou Savage National Refuge
(19 miles NE from NOLA)
Bayou Savage National Wildlife Refuge is a 23,000-acre region of fresh and brackish marshes located within the city limits of New Orleans. It is the largest urban wildlife refuge in the United States and was established in 1986 to protect the New Orleans’ area’s remaining wetlands. The refuge contains a variety of habitats, including freshwater and brackish marshes, bottomland hardwood forests, lagoons, canals, borrow pits, chenieres (former beach fronts) and natural bayous. Bayou Savage is home to a variety of bird species, including waterfowl, wading birds, and songbirds. The refuge is also home to a variety of other wildlife, including alligators, turtles, snakes, and mammals. It is a popular destination for birdwatching, fishing, hiking, and canoeing. The refuge also offers a variety of educational programs and events throughout the year.
Village de L’Est
(27 miles E from NOLA, pop. 8,008)
New Orleans’ “Little Vietnam,” settled by refugees arriving 1975. The community has established itself as a dining and commercial hub.
Jefferson Parish
(W from NOLA, pop. 436,275)
The following locales are found on a straight drive west of New Orleans:
Metairie
(6 miles W from NOLA, pop. 138,000)
Unincorporated suburb that would be Louisiana’s fourth largest city, behind Shreveport, if incorporated. Next to New Orleans it’s cleaner (in most areas), less noisy, and better maintained. The average household income is higher, at around $60,000, and it’s much whiter than New Orleans at 60% Caucasian and 10% African-American. Residents admit they’re sacrificing some culture to live there, in that second lines and porch concerts don’t happen in their immediate neighborhoods. Metairie is identical to most other bedroom communities nationwide. On the other hand, locals are considerably safer and they don’t have to deal with as much local government idiocy. It’s considered a better environment for raising a family, with all that entails—there’s nothing really good about living in Metairie, but nothing really bad either.
Harahan
(10 miles W from NOLA, pop. 9,277)
Small town originally settled as a sugar cane plantation in 1741. It remained in the hands of the Passat family until 1924. Today it primarily serves as a bedroom community for New Orleans.
Kenner
(13 miles W from NOLA, pop. 66,000)
Largest incorporated city and second-largest community (behind Metairie) in Jefferson Parish. Kenner was founded in 1855 by Minor Kenner on land that consisted of three plantation properties that had been purchased by the Kenner family. A portion of north Kenner is called “Little Honduras” due to the number of Hispanic residents in the area (who compose some 30% of the city). Several of its sites of interest include the Ochsner Medical Center, Treasure Chest Casino, its Honduran, Indian, and Arabic food, and the Louis Armstrong Airport. Many New Orleans residents like to dunk on Kenner for its lack of culture as a soulless suburb, and say that it’s “like Metairie without the charm.” (Those residents also consider Metairie entirely lacking in charm.) It’s also notable for being the home of New Orleans real estate mogul and mega-slumlord Rishu “Rich” Pavaghi, who’s entirely bought the local politicos. As one resident remarked about Kenner, “We got the lake, a casino, and crooked politicians. If you squint a little, you’ll think it’s the Quarter.”
Louis Armstrong International Airport
(14 miles W from NOLA)
Louis Armstrong Airport is the primary commercial airport for the New Orleans metropolitan area and southeast Louisiana. The airport has two runways and two FBOs serving visiting business and GA aircraft as well as a new passenger terminal on the north side of the airport. The terminal was completed in 2019 and features a variety of amenities, including a food court, shops, and a children’s play area. The airport offers direct flights to major cities throughout the United States, as well as some international destinations. It is also a major gateway for tourism in New Orleans and a vital part of the city’s economy.
The following locales are south of the Mississippi and connected to New Orleans by two bridges.
Gretna
(5 miles S from NOLA, pop. 17,000)
Parish seat of Jefferson Parish, located just south of Algiers. Its history can be traced to a plantation established by Jean-Charles de Pradel by 1750. Gretna was settled in 1836, originally as Mechanikham, growing with a station on the Mississippi River for the railroads, with a ferry across the River to New Orleans. The food and spice company Zatarain’s, founded in 1889 in New Orleans, has been located in Gretna since 1963. The city received considerable press coverage when, in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina on August 29, 2005, people who attempted to escape from New Orleans by walking over the Crescent City Connection bridge were turned back at gunpoint by police.
Terrytown
(5 miles SE from NOLA, pop. 25,278)
Suburb south of Algiers, founded after a series of home constructions in 1960. It is a predominantly residential community, but it also has a number of businesses and industries. The community is home to Oakwood Center, the largest shopping mall in Jefferson Parish, and has a high Hispanic population around 30,000. Crime rates are lower than in New Orleans, but gang activity and trafficking remain recurrent problems.
Westwego
(10 miles SW from NOLA, pop. 8,534)
Former fishing village so named because it was a major crossing point on the Mississippi River during the great westward movement of the late 19th century. When travelers were asked their destination, they would often reply “west we go”. The town was originally a sugar plantation known as Seven Oaks in the 18th century.
Mosca’s
(16 miles SW from NOLA)
Creole-Italian restaurant established in 1946 and widely considered one of New Orleans’ best dining spots. The first chef was said to be Al Capone’s personal cook and the Mafia is thought to still maintain ties to the restaurant. The restaurant is located in a modest building off of Highway 90. The interior is simple and unassuming, with whitewashed walls, red-tiled floors, and communal tables. The food is anything but. The Mosca family has a secret recipe for their Italian seasoning, which is used on many of the dishes, including the Oysters Mosca.
Grand Isle
(107 miles S from NOLA, pop. 1,361)
Barrier island along the Gulf Coast known for its beaches, trails, and campsites. It’s a popular vacation spot from New Orleans and a number of residents own beach houses on the island. Made semi-famous in Kate Chopin’s 1899 novel The Awakening.
Greater New Orleans (Beyond Vidal’s Praxis)
Plaquemines Parish
(SE from NOLA, pop. 23,042)
Plaquemines Parish is a rural parish home to a variety of industries, including fishing, shrimping, oil and gas production, and tourism. The Mississippi River Delta is located in the area, and the parish is home to a variety of unique ecosystems, including wetlands, marshes, and barrier islands. Native wildlife includes alligators, dolphins, and turtles, making the parish a popular destination for tourists who enjoy fishing, hunting, and birdwatching. The parish is also home to a number of historical sites, including Fort Jackson and Fort St. Philip.
Barataria Bay
(39 miles S of NOLA, pop. 0)
Barataria Bay was used in the early 19th century as the base of the pirates, privateers, and smugglers led by Jean Lafitte. They were referred to as the Baratarians. Hurricane Betsy and the 2010 Gulf Oil Spill have cleared the area of inhabitants, but local rumors continue to persist of buried treasure left by the legendary pirate.
Venice
(76 miles SE from NOLA, pop. 160)
Venice is the last community down the Mississippi accessible by car, and it is the southern terminus of the Great River Road. This has earned the town the nickname “The end of the world.” It’s also a popular destination for fishing, hunting, and birdwatching. The town was founded in the early 1700s and is home to a number of historical sites, including the Venice Lighthouse and the Venice Mardi Gras Museum. Venice’s future is grim and uncertain, though: the already hurricane-endangered town is sinking at a rate of about one inch per year due to land subsidence.
St. Bernard Parish
(SE from NOLA, pop. 35,897)
St. Bernard Parish is a predominantly residential parish home to a variety of industries, including fishing, shrimping, oil and gas production, and tourism. The parish is also home to a number of historical sites, including the Chalmette Battlefield, the site of the Battle of New Orleans in 1815, and the Fort St. Philip State Historic Site. The parish was devastated by Hurricane Katrina in 2005 but has since rebuilt.
Chalmette
(9 miles E from NOLA, pop. 17,119, previously 32,069)
Chalmette is best known for being the site of the Battle of New Orleans, which took place on January 8, 1815. The battle was the last major land engagement of the War of 1812, and it resulted in a decisive victory for the United States. Chalmette was originally settled by French colonists in the early 1700s and devastated by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The CDP was flooded for several weeks, and many homes and businesses were destroyed. The CDP has since been rebuilt, but it still faces many challenges.
Saint Malo
(29 miles E from NOLA, pop. 0)
Saint Malo was the first Filipino settlement in the United States, founded in 1763 by deserters from Spanish ships during the Manila Galleon trade. It was destroyed by the New Orleans Hurricane of 1915.
Fort Proctor
(33 miles SE from NOLA)
Fort Proctor is a ruined 19th century fort also known as Fort Beauregard or Beauregard’s Castle, so nicknamed for its castle-like appearance. Fort Proctor was designed to be part of the fortifications protecting water routes towards New Orleans. However, the fort was never completed and was never used in battle. It was abandoned after the Civil War and fell into ruin. Today, Fort Proctor is a popular destination for kayakers and canoeists. The fort is also a popular spot for birdwatching and fishing.
St. Charles Parish
(W from NOLA, pop. 52,780)
St. Charles Parish is a predominantly residential parish home to a variety of industries, including manufacturing, oil and gas production, and tourism. The parish is known for its beautiful scenery, its historic plantations, and its delicious seafood. It is also home to a number of festivals and events throughout the year, including the St. Charles Parish Oyster Festival and the St. Charles Parish Seafood Festival.
Destrehan
(24 miles W from NOLA, pop. 11,535)
Destrehan is an unincorporated community named after Jean Baptiste Destrehan, a French Creole planter who owned land in the area in the late 18th century. Once home to opulent plantations, Destrehan is now a shadow of its former glory, its grand mansions reduced to crumbling ruins.
St. Tammany Parish
(N from NOLA, pop. 233,740)
Full article: St. Tammany Parish
Abita Springs
(43 miles N from NOLA, pop. 2,365)
Tangipahoa Parish
(NW from NOLA, pop. 121,097)
Tangipahoa Parish is a predominantly rural parish home to a variety of industries, including agriculture, manufacturing, and oil and gas production. The parish also holds a number of historic sites, including the Tangipahoa Parish Museum and the Tangipahoa Parish Jail.
Ponchatoula
(51 miles NW from NOLA, pop. 5,180)
Ponchatoula derives its name as the “Strawberry Capital of the World” from its large strawberry production industry. The town is a popular destination for tourists who enjoy visiting the city’s many strawberry farms and u-pick fields. Fewer visitors like to stick around for the soil and water contaminated by decades of pesticides and herbicides, or the landfills filled with mountains of burned and rotting strawberries.
Hammond
(57 miles NW from NOLA, pop. 20,019)
Amite City
(74 miles NW from NOLA, pop. 4,110)
Washington Parish
(NE from NOLA, pop. 47,168)
Full article: Washington Parish
Plantation Country
In Plantation Country, where the Mississippi River winds its way to the Gulf and football enthusiasm registers on the Ritcher scale, visitors can travel back to the 19th century with a simple car drive. Along the locally famous River Road and in the Felicianas, antebellum mansions recall an age when wealthy planters ruled, and legions of slaves toiled along the river’s fertile grounds to deliver enormous wealth into their masters’ hands. Today many of the plantations, featuring Greek Revival, Italianate and Victorian homes, remain open to the public as museums. Beyond mint juleps and live oaks of River Road, Plantation Country also offers a view of modern Louisiana. Performing arts venues, golf courses and casinos, outdoor sports and shoppers’ getaways all cater to the same tourists who patronize the plantations.
East Baton Rouge Parish
(NW from NOLA, pop. 440,171)
East Baton Rouge Parish is the second most populous parish in Louisiana. It is home to the state capital, Baton Rouge, and a number of educational institutions, including Louisiana State University, Southern University, and Baton Rouge Community College. The parish is a major economic center for the state, with a number of industries, including petrochemicals, manufacturing, and tourism. East Baton Rouge Parish is also home to a number of cultural attractions, such as the LSU Museum of Art, the Old State Capitol, and the USS Kidd Veterans Memorial.
Baton Rouge
(80 miles NW from NOLA, pop. 229,000, urban pop. 594,309, Kindred pop. 26)
Capitol of Louisiana and the state’s second-largest city. Ruled by Marcel Guilbeau from the 1930s until Hurricane Katrina and his coup at the hands of his Nosferatu seneschal, Lawrence Meeks. The city remains unfriendly towards Ventrue, but has proven a magnet for Nosferatu. It’s all-too rare that a sewer rat winds up as prince.
St. James Parish
(W from NOLA, pop. 22,102)
St. James Parish is a rural parish, with a mix of farmland, forests, and residential areas. The parish is known for its sugar cane production and its historic plantations. St. James Parish is also home to a number of wildlife refuges, including the St. James Parish Wildlife Management Area and the Lac des Allemands Wildlife Refuge.
St. James Parish has been in the news recently due to a proposed new plastics plant that would be one of the largest in the world. The plant has been met with opposition from environmental groups and residents who are concerned about the potential impact on the environment and their health.
Lutcher
(46 miles W from NOLA, pop. 3,735)
St. John the Baptist Parish
(W from NOLA, pop. 45,924)
St. John the Baptist Parish is a rural parish, with a mix of farmland, forests, and residential areas. The parish is known for its sugar cane production, its historic plantations, and its proximity to the Gulf of Mexico. St. John the Baptist Parish is also home to a number of wildlife refuges, including the Bonnet Carre Spillway and the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Maritime Refuge.
LaPlace
(29 miles miles W from NOLA, pop. 32,134)
Whitney Plantation
(35 miles W from NOLA)
Historic 1752 plantation acquired by the Whitney family in 1867. In the World of Darkness, the plantation was never opened to the public as slavery museum. It is still privately owned by the Whitneys and used by them as a vacation house. They have occasionally allowed it to be used as a film location.
Evergreen Plantation
(45 miles W from NOLA)
Historic 1790 plantation that actually continues to produce sugarcane today. The workers are now Hispanic rather than African-American, but little has otherwise changed. It is not the same Evergreen Planation that Antoine Savoy owns in the French Quarter.
Plantation of Raoul-Baptiste Ghiberti
West Feliciana Parish
(NW from NOLA, pop. 15,625)
Louisiana State Penitentiary
(136 miles NW from NOLA, pop. 8,100)
Largest maximum-security prison in the United States of America and one of the largest prisons in the world. It’s nicknamed the Farm due to its history as a cotton plantation and the fact that its inmates, many of whom are serving life sentences, continue to work on its fields under the supervision of horse-riding corrections officers. At 18,000 acres, the prison is larger than Manhattan Island. Its resident 6,300 prisoners and 1,800 staff include corrections officers, janitors, maintenance, and wardens, who themselves make up 200-some families with more than 250 children, all of whom live on the grounds. The prison includes recreational centers, swimming pools, parks, a fire station, an elementary school, an airstrip, and even a golf course (built and maintained by inmate labor and unavailable for inmate use).
Cajun Country
Calcasieu Parish
(W from NOLA, pop. 192,768)
Chateau de Bon Reve
(217 miles W from NOLA)
Chateau de Bon Reve (“House of Good Dreams” in French) is a 10,000-square-foot castle located in Sulphur, Louisiana. It was built in 2007 by a local businessman who was a self-taught builder and artist. The castle is made of concrete and stucco, and it is decorated in a French Gothic style.
The castle has five bedrooms, six bathrooms, and a ballroom. It also has a number of other features, including a library, a wine cellar, and a movie theater. The castle is located on 10 acres of land, and it includes a swimming pool, a tennis court, and a pond.
Lake Charles
(205 miles W from NOLA, pop. 74,000, urban pop. 143,440)
Iberia Parish
(W from NOLA, pop. 73,878)
New Iberia
(133 miles W from NOLA, pop. 30,000)
New Iberia is the parish seat and the second-largest city in Acadiana, after Lafayette. New Iberia is a major economic center for the region, with a diverse economy that includes industries such as agriculture, oil and gas, manufacturing, and tourism. The city is also a regional hub for education and culture, with a number of colleges and universities, as well as museums, galleries, and theaters.
New Iberia is known for its rich history and culture. The city was founded in 1765 by Spanish settlers, and it played an important role in the development of Louisiana. New Iberia is also home to a large Cajun population, and the city’s culture is heavily influenced by Cajun music, food, and traditions.
One of the most popular tourist attractions in New Iberia is Avery Island, which is home to the Tabasco Pepper Sauce factory and Jungle Gardens. Other popular attractions include the Shadows-on-the-Teche historic plantation house, the Bayou Teche Museum, and the New Iberia Performing Arts Center.
Lafourche Parish
(SW from NOLA, pop. 96,318)
Thibodaux
(56 miles SW from NOLA, pop. 14,567)
Lafayette Parish
(W from NOLA, pop. 221,578)
Lafayette
(135 miles from NOLA, pop. 126,066, urban pop. 252,720, Kindred pop. 9)
The third-largest city in Louisiana, behind NOLA and Baton Rouge, Lafayette is the heartland of Cajun culture and home to a thriving arts scene. The city’s Invictus prince, Avoyelles Desormeaux, is a grandchilde of Pearl Chastain and maintains cordial relations with her kin in the Big Easy. Lafayette is very much a “small town” for the Damned and thought to contain no more than a dozen Kindred, at least half of whom are childer and grandchilder of Prince Desormeaux. No primogen holds court, for clans besides the Toreador are simply too few. Gangrel are the city’s next-most common Kindred. The Giovannini are also thought to have an interest in muscling in on the local petroleum industry.
Terrebonne Parish
(SW from NOLA, pop. 111,860)
Houma
(54 miles SW from NOLA, pop. 33,393, urban pop. 144,875)
Bayou Cane
(59 miles SW from NOLA, pop. 17,046)
Uriah Travers’ Shack
Crossroads
The Crossroads is where the cultures of north and south Louisiana collide. The result is a region known for pork-filled tamales, impressive Creole architecture and annual powwows. Musical icons and political heavyweights alike have called the Crossroads home. Civil War battles were fought in the region and, before that, Spanish traders travelled through on their route to Mexico along El Camino Real de los Tejas, noe park of a National Historic Trail.
Avoyelles Parish
(NW from NOLA, pop. 42,073)
Tunica-Biloxi Indian Reservation
(163 miles NW from NOLA, pop. 1,223)
The Tunica-Biloxi Indian Reservation is a federally recognized Indian reservation located south of the city of Marksville. It is the homeland of the Tunica-Biloxi Tribe of Louisiana, a sovereign Native American nation.
The Tunica-Biloxi people have a long history in Louisiana. They are descendants of the Tunica and Biloxi tribes, who were once two of the most powerful tribes in the region. The Tunica-Biloxi people were forced to relocate to the reservation in the 19th century after their land was taken by the United States government.
Today, the Tunica-Biloxi Indian Reservation is a thriving community. The reservation has its own government, schools, and businesses. The tribe also operates a casino, which is a major source of revenue for the reservation.
Even among Native Americans, the Tunica-Biloxi Indian Reservation is one of the poorest reservations in the United States. Over 20% of the population lives below the poverty line. Unemployment, crime, and substance addiction are rife.
Concordia Parish
(NW from NOLA, pop. 20,142)
Concordia Parish is a rural parish, with a mix of farmland, forests, and residential areas. The parish is known for its cotton production, its historic plantations, and its proximity to the Mississippi River. Concordia Parish is also home to a number of wildlife refuges, including the Concordia Parish Wildlife Management Area and the Lac des Allemands Wildlife Refuge.
Ferriday
(181 miles NW from NOLA, pop. 3,511)
Ferriday was founded in 1842 by David Ferriday, a planter who wanted to create a river port for his cotton plantation. The town quickly grew, and by the late 19th century, it was a thriving commercial center. Ferriday was home to a number of sawmills, cotton gins, and other businesses. The town was also a major transportation hub, with a railroad line and a ferry service connecting it to Natchez. Ferriday’s economy declined in the early 20th century, as the cotton industry began to decline. The community’s population has continued its slump in recent decades, leaving it little more than a ghost town vainly recalling better times.
Matheson Plantation
Natchitoches Parish
(NW from NOLA, pop. 39,566)
Cane River Creole National Historical Park
(250 miles NW from NOLA)
Cane River Creole National Historical Park is a unit of the United States National Park Service that preserves two historic Creole plantations, Oakland Plantation and Magnolia Plantation. The park was established in 1994 to protect and interpret the Creole culture and history of the Cane River region.
Oakland and Magnolia plantations are two of the best-preserved Creole plantations in the United States. Both plantations were founded in the late 18th century and were successful cotton plantations, as well as important social and cultural centers for the Creole community.
Oakland Plantation is a 1,000-acre plantation with a number of historic buildings, including the main house, the slave quarters, and the plantation store. Magnolia Plantation is a 900-acre plantation with a number of historic buildings, including the main house, the carriage house, and the blacksmith shop.
Cane River National Heritage Area
(258 miles NW from NOLA)
Natchitoches
(258 miles NW from NOLA, pop. 18,323)
Rapides Parish
(NW from NOLA, pop. 132,723)
Alexandria
(202 miles NW from NOLA, pop. 48,000)
Winn Parish
(NW from NOLA, pop. 15,313)
Winnfield
(250 miles NW from NOLA, pop. 4,840)
Sportsman’s Paradise
Bossier Parish
(NW from NOLA, pop. 116,979)
Bossier City
(309 miles NW from NOLA, pop. 66,333)
Caddo Parish
(NW from NOLA, pop. 254,969)
Shreveport
(326 miles NW from NOLA, pop. 200,327, urban pop. 298,317, Kindrd pop. unknown)
Ouachita Parish
(NW from NOLA, pop. 156,220)
Monroe
(282 miles NW from NOLA, pop. 49,000)
Beyond Louisiana
Alabama
Mobile
(145 miles E from NOLA, pop. 194,899, urban pop. 326,183, Kindred pop. 13)
Montgomery
(309 miles NE from NOLA, pop. 201,332, urban pop. 263,907, Kindred pop. 12)
Birmingham
(343 miles NE from NOLA, pop. 212,113, urban pop. 749,495, Kindred pop. 18)
Huntsville
(442 miles NE from NOLA, pop. 186,254, urban pop. 286,692, Kindred pop. 12)
Florida
Jacksonville
(548 miles from NOLA, pop. 842,583, urban pop. 1,065,219, Kindred pop. 52)
Orlando
(640 miles from NOLA, pop. 255,483, urban pop. 1,510,516, Kindred pop. 28)
Miami
(866 miles from NOLA, pop. 417,650, urban pop. 5,502,379, Kindred pop. 76)
Georgia
Atlanta
(469 miles NE from NOLA, pop. 447,841, urban pop. 4,515,419, Kindred pop. 97)
Augusta
(612 miles NE from NOLA, pop. 195,844, urban pop. 386,787, Kindred pop. 13)
Savannah
(642 miles NE from NOLA, pop. 142,772, urban pop. 260,677, Kindred pop. 10)
Mississippi
Gulfport
(78 miles E from NOLA, pop. 71,012, urban pop. 208,948, Kindred pop. 6)
Jackson
(186 miles N from NOLA, pop. 172,638, urban pop. 351,478, Kindred pop. 12)
Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians
(229 miles N from NOLA)
Nanih Waiya
(249 miles N from NOLA)
Texas
It’s a 5-hour drive from Houston to New Orleans, but in terms of culture, it’s a million miles away. Once the invisible border between Louisiana and Texas is crossed, the accent isn’t the only thing that changes: gumbo becomes steak and zydeco becomes country music. While both cities may belong to the Camarilla, the local Kindred have traditionally had few dealings with one another. The physical distance, cultural differences, and perils of travel were too great. A notable exception to this rule came during Hurricane Katrina, when many of the Big Easy’s Kindred fled the city like drowning rats.
Coushatta Indian Reservation
(203 miles west from NOLA, pop. 400)
Houston
(347 miles west from NOLA, pop. 2,196,000, urban pop. 4,944,332, Kindred pop. 108)
Louisiana Cities by Population
• Baton Rouge (80 miles from NOLA, pop. 229,000, Kindred pop. 26)
• Shreveport (326 miles NW from NOLA, pop. 200,000, Kindred pop. unknown)
• Metairie (6 miles from NOLA, pop. 138,000)
• Lafayette (135 miles from NOLA, pop. 124,000, Kindred pop. 9)
• Lake Charles (205 miles from NOLA, pop. 74,000)
• Bossier City (309 miles NW from NOLA, pop. 66,000)
• Kenner (13 miles W from NOLA, pop. 66,000)
• Monroe (282 miles NW from NOLA, pop. 49,000)
• Alexandria (202 miles NW from NOLA, pop. 48,000)
• Houma (54 miles from NOLA, pop. 34,000)
• Slidell (32 miles NE from NOLA, pop 27,000, Kindred pop. 3)
• Hammond (57 miles from NOLA, pop. 20,000)
• Natchitoches (258 miles from NOLA, pop. 18,323)
• Gretna (5 miles S from NOLA, pop. 17,000)
• Winnfield (250 miles from NOLA, pop. 5,749)
• Lutcher (46 miles W from NOLA, pop. 3,735)
Algiers • The Arts District • Bayou Saint John • Bywater • The Central Business District • Esplanade Ridge • Faubourg Marigny • The French Quarter • The Garden District • The Lower Garden District • Lakeview • Mid-City • The Ninth Ward • Riverbend • The Tremé District • Uptown • Beyond the City |