Irish Channel architectural survey, 1974-1976 | Louisiana Research Collection

The collection is a survey of the New Orleans, Louisiana, neighborhood known as the Irish Channel, an area which is bounded by Philip, Delachaise and Constance Streets, and the Mississippi River. For each of the approximately 3,600 housing units, there is a 5 x 8 inch printed form with handwritten notes regarding: street, number, original use, present use, style/type, materials, architectural/historical rating, physical condition, number and kind of trees, general comments and negative factors. Each structure is featured in a black and white contact print, many of which include parked cars. Included also are handwritten and photocopied typed sheets, journals of projects, flyers, and photographic negatives, summary statistics for the area, Trinity Episcopal Church survey, and class notes of some of the students who produced the survey as part of an Architecture Seminar in Historic Preservation given by Dr. Bernard Lemann at Tulane University, fall 1975.

The general boundaries of the Irish Channel neighborhood are defined variously but refer to the area of New Orleans developed and inhabited largely by Irish and other immigrants during the nineteenth century, close to the curve of the Mississippi River, characterized by relatively small houses and high-density population. The identity of the neighborhood continues through the twentieth century, into the twenty-first century, and post-Katrina.