This industrial aerial photo on the left, from the New Orleans Public Library, captures the view on November 23, 1952.  On the right is a capture of the same intersection today.  Through the years this intersection has been many things for many people.  In 1903, C. Werbeck's blacksmith shop shop was here.  In 1905, Mr. Morto's horse and buggy were found abandoned here.  On August 16, 1906, Athletic Park Amusement Company's arcade, casino, band building, ice cream building, and Japanese building were up for auction where Pelican Stadium would later reside.  White City amusement park took its place in 1907.  The Pelicans began playing baseball here around 1913. In 1939, M. B. Hardy set up a "gaily beautiful sales yard" complete with camellias, azaleas, evergreens, rose bushes, and native shrubs where the Mid-City Shopping Center would later locate.  The Krewe of Endymion began their extravagant parades here.  This intersection was a busy hub of activity for many years.

The same photo as above, zoomed in for a tighter view shows the railroad underpass on Carrollton which had been opened to traffic about three months before the photo was taken on November 23, 1952. It was part of the extensive Union Passenger Terminal Grade Separation Program, designed ease auto traffic throughout the city. In the photograph is also Pelican Stadium (right) on the corner of Tulane Avenue and South Carrollton Avenue, Mid-City Shopping Center (catercorner to the stadium), Riecke Cabinet Works (left of the shopping center on Carrollton), and Dumas Chevrolet (across Carrollton Ave. from the Stadium).  The then newly-filled New Basin Canal runs along the bottom of the photo, parallel to the train tracks. Once a thriving navigational canal which had connected Lake Pontchartrain to the heart of the city, much of its path was replaced by the  Pontchartrain Expressway and the neutral ground between West End and Pontchartrain Boulevards. 

Riecke Cabinet Works, Inc. at 4102 Tulane manufactured furnishings for offices, banks, stores, and churches.  It was founded by Henry Sebastian Riecke in 1904 witha $1000 investment and a small building on Magazine Street at Girod.  Riecke's excellent work and satisfied customers allowed him to move to a larger facility at Tchoupitoulas at Girod.  Another expansion occurred when he move the business to Annunciation at Girod until 1924 when he built the large plant pictured. Riecke was among the first to produce and sell radio cabinets in the city.  He made the pews and fixtures for Grace Evangelical Church, which were moved to the congregation's new location at 5800 Canal Boulevard. One of his proudest accomplishments was the creation of the Archbishops throne for St. Louis Cathedral during the mid-1940s. In all, the company company furnished over 1200 churches around the world, employed as many as 120 persons during peak seasons, and was one of the largest company of its kind in the South. 

The company's work could be seen at Howard-Tilton Library, the LSU medical building, Gentilly Presbyterian Church, Katz & Besthoff on Canal Boulevard, St. Rita's Church, St. James Major Church, the Xaivier University Chapel, Notre Dame Seminary, First Baptist Church, Pontchartrain Motor Company, and the Supreme Court main court room.  

The fourth grader who was forced to drop out of McDonough grammar school on South Rampart and Girod Street to work odd jobs, Henry Riecke passed away on June 24, 1965 at the age of 84 a very successful businessman.  He was also president and owner of Tulane Hardware and Lumber Company, Inc.  His sons continued to run Riecke Cabinet works after his death.

Mid-City Shopping Center is pictured on the left during the early 1940s.  At the time it housed a Walgreen's, an A&P grocery store, and the Mid-City Bowling Lanes which would later become Rock 'n' Bowl (which has now relocated a few blocks away on Carrollton Avenue behind what was Ye Olde College Inn).  On the right is the former location of Mid-City Lanes/Rock 'n' Bowl, now Shamrock night club.

Robert Ernest "Dumas" Milner, who owned Dumas Chevrolet Company, was the Tom Benson of Jackson, Mississippi -- a self-made millionaire who made a fortune through turning small companies into large profitable ones, opening car dealerships, buying and selling real estate, and generally making everthing he touched turn to gold. "Dumas" was a nickname given his after he began following a hired hand by that name around his family's cotton farm. At age 7 he hawked Rosebud Salve elixir to his rural neighbors. As a young man he took over Magnolia Chemical Company who employed six peope to produce their patented Pine-Sol and other cleaning products, and turned it into a $10 million per year company with 86 warehouses, and sold it to American Cyanamid for $17 million.  He bought hotel and real estate, owned the tallest building in Jackson, began an exporting business, and acquired National Car Rental. He was Chief of Staff of Mississippi Governor John Bell Williams and owned Henderson Mansion in Pass Christian. With a somewhat quirky (but true to his times) business philosophy, he refused to hire a man to a key position until he met the man's wife.  

When the Dumas dealership formally opened at 4049 South Carrollton on August 30, 1952 at 8 a.m., gifts were given to the ladies and Val Barbara and his Orchestra played. The air-conditioned showroom was modern in every way.  The repair shop was stocked with $50,000 worth of parts and equipment.  Thirty-five employees were on duty, with 80 more expected to be brought on during the next six months. Ben Howard Nelson was the vice-president and general manager, W. N. Newt Godfree was the GM, Herbert P. Jackson served as service manager, S.K. Martin the business manager, J. Clyde Carter was in charge of parts, Alex Holliday was truck manager, and Henry Carter was the used car head man.  By the time the dealership celebrated its second anniversary, it had added a used car lot at 3925 South Carrollton.  By 1956, Dumas had four dealerships in New Orleans, including locations at 215 South Claiborne (between Tulane and Canal) and in Kenner at Airline Highway at Clay Street.

The beloved Pelican Stadium has a long history of its own (much too long to feature here) but for baseball fans, this sight (right) must have been heartbreaking.  On October 16, 1956, Dumas announced the opening of a new car lot at Pelican Stadium.  A want-ad published in the Times-Picayune that day sought new and used car salesmen to work it..."Apply in person to Bill Watson". 

From 1915 the New Orleans Pelicans (the first professional sports team in New Orleans) called it home, as did the Black Pelicans and the Creole Negro teams.  Pelican/Heinemann Stadium also allowed local fans to view major league exhibition and training games and to get a glimpse of stars such as Babe Ruth, Jackie Robinson, and Hank Aaron.  The stadium was demolished in 1957.  It was replaced by the Fontainebleau Hotel which was was later converted into a storage facility.