In 1869 the State Legislature granted to the New Orleans & Metairie Railroad Company the right to extend its Canal Street track from the then terminus at the cemeteries to West End. As a feeder for this extension the New Orleans City & Lake Railroad, which had succeeded to the New Orleans & Metairie Company, leased from the city in 1880 for a period of thirty years the embankment above described.19 A platform •approximately 400 feet square was erected on the north side of the embankment, and thereon rose a large hotel, built of wood; a restaurant building, and various structures intended to house amusements of one kind or another. The rest of the embankment was laid out as a garden, and along one side ran a shell road which was much patronized by carriages. This was known as the West End Lake Shore Park. For a long time it was very popular with pleasure seekers in the city. The lease provided that at the expiration of the contract all the improvements at West End should become the property of the city. As the time drew near, the New Orleans Railway & Light Company, which had acquired the various properties of the New Orleans City & Lake Railroad Company, sought an extension of the franchise. But the city officers would consent only under condition contemplating very extensive improvements at West end. These the company was not willing to accept. For three years the railroad was permitted to operate the resort on an annual agreement, in consideration for which the place was maintained in good order and condition. In May, 1909, the company acquired Spanish Fort and began to improve it with a view to make it a lakeside resort which would be completely under its control. In connection therewith transportation facilities had to be provided which could be most conveniently supplied by extending the West End Road along the lake shore on Adams Street. An application was made to the city council for a franchise to cover this •two-mile extension of the railroad. But it was evident that the development of Spanish Fort would operate injuriously upon West End, and Mayor Behrman, realizing that the city was without funds with which to improve the latter point, took advantage of the opportunity to stipulate, as a condition of the desired concession, that the company should loan the city the sum of $175,000 over and above the percentages fixed by the city charter as compensation for the franchise. This arrangement was agreed to, and an act was passed by the State Legislature to authorize p755the loan and fix the rate of interest thereon and method of liquidation.20 The liquidation of the loan was to be effected out of the revenues from the West End Lake Shore Park.

Shortly after this act went into effect the city undertook the development of West End in accordance with a plan prepared by City Engineer W. J. Hardee in 1902. The first work was the construction of a sea wall. This was located •500 feet out in the lake, north of the old embankment, and parallel thereto. The area thus inclosed was subsequently filled in, and in this way •about thirty acres was added to the park. This wall was completed in July, 1912, at a cost of $68,255.34. The fill was accomplished at an outlay of $45,152. In view of the limited area of the park, it was decided to exclude from it all amusement features, but a part of the old lagoon, or reservoir, in the rear of the original embankment, was filled in with a view to accommodate these enterprises. In this way a further area about 500 feet square has been created at the western extremity. Among the features installed within the last few years is a great "prismatic fountain," which cost $24,000. The total expenditures have been $352,000 — the amount over the sum loaned by the railroad company having been appropriated by the city out of its reserve funds dedicated to public improvements.

Kendall's History
http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Places/America/United_States/Louisiana/New_Orleans/_Texts/KENHNO/46*.html

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The Spanish Fort property has been operated by the New Orleans Railway and Light Company since 1909. They have spent a great deal of money in making a new and magnificent resort, embellishing the place, erecting new structures, filling up the waste lands and making it a place for the people to have all the benefits of the seashore and breathe the ozone without leaving the city at a very reasonable rate of transportation, the company now offering a service unequalled to reach this point.

http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Places/America/United_States/Louisiana/_Texts/LHQ/2/3/Spanish_Fort*.html 

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In 1874, a railroad was constructed between the Spanish Fort resort and downtown New Orleans. Spanish Fort was sold four years later to Moses Schwartz who built a casino with a restaurant and theatre in 1881. In 1903, the popularity of Spanish Fort declined as a result of the suspension of steam railroad services. The buildings burned shortly after that time. In 1909, New Orleans Railway and Light Company acquired and revived the Spanish Fort area.

Around 1932, the resort closed to facilitate the implementation of the Orleans Parish Levee Board’s plans for development of the lakefront from West End to the Industrial Canal.

http://www.lakevistapropertyowners.com/history.html