Visited a couple of the old tobacco factories in New Orleans

[ZachS]

My wife and I went to New Orleans this weekend to run the Saints Kickoff 5K. We decided to stay in a hotel Friday night because the run was early Saturday morning. It just so happened that the hotel she picked was right next to two of the old tobacco factories.



W. R. Irby branch of Liggett & Myers (Red Sun, Coupon, Victory, etc). The building dates to 1882 when it was the La Belle Creole Cigar and Tobacco Company. It was later bought by William Ratcliffe Irby. Here's what it used to look like and what it looks like now. The building currently houses a law office and the Austrian consulate.









People's Tobacco (Mino, Kotton, Virginia Extra). This building is a warehouse or something now. All the windows are blacked out. I couldn't find a picture of what it looked like back in the day.



In this one you can see the close proximity of the two buildings. The brown building to the right is People's Tobacco and the old W.R. Irby building is all the way to the left.

[bobbvc]

Great photos! Thanks.

[batsballsbases]

Thanks for the pics Zach!

[Luke]

Very cool Zach! Thanks for sharing.

[ZachS]

We always end up in New Orleans on the weekend so some stuff is closed. Part of the old People's Tobacco building has a Tchoupitoulas Public Parking sign on it and I'm hoping that if I go down there during the week at some point that it might be open. I'd like to be able to walk around inside to check it out.

This is the Sanborn map showing the layout of the old People's Tobacco building(s).



Current Google Maps view (blue outline shows the 2 long buildings that are now Tchoupitoulas Public Parking).



View of the building from Tchoupitoulas Street (around the corner from the brown warehouse part)

[packs]

Very cool. I had a great time when I visited NO but was only in the French Quarter.

[ZachS]

It's really a great city (to visit... but I don't think I'd want to live there). We live about 45 minutes away and go there for one reason or another at least once a month. I have a membership to the WWII Museum and my wife has one for her and the kids to the Audubon Zoo and the aquarium. We like to stay a night at different hotels every few weekends and bring the kids.

The only time I go into the Quarter is when my buddy comes home from the Army and we go to a Saints game. We usually bar hop before the game.