Jazz Fest Tour: Heritage Sites Near the Fair Grounds
The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival evokes the city’s musical past by naming stages for historic sites like Congo Square and Economy Hall, and presenting images of deceased artists across the Fair Grounds. This tour points out some of the real places associated with the cultural heritage showcased inside the gates.
Festival-goers passing through Mid-City and the Seventh Ward can pull out their phones and discover storied venues like Dorothy’s Medallion Lounge and landmarks like the Autocrat Club. If you travel along Esplanade Avenue, you’ll pass Alex Chilton’s old apartment and St. Louis Cemetery No. 3. If you take a shuttle from City Park, you can check out the stadium there.
Sadly, the sites of Danny Barker’s house and Leroy Jones’ garage (and the Fairview Baptist Church that connected them) are now empty lots, and Seafood City gave way to a drug store.