River Traffic

Hearn rhapsodizes Mississippi River traffic along New Orleans's miles and miles of levee, a spectacle "so picturesquely attractive and so varied in its attraction": Begrimed tugs "like ugly water goblins... brightly-painted luggers from the lower coasts... bearing fragrant freight of golden oranges, and pomegranates, and bananas richly ripe; some bringing fishy dainties from the sea. Ocean steamers... deep-sea [square-masted] ships... barks and brigs, schooners and brigantines, frigates and merchantmen...German, Dutch, Indian, French, Spanish, West Indian... Look either way along the river with a strong glass!- the fringe of masts and yards appears infinitely extended...farther and farther yet, the fringe seems but a fringe of needle points and fine cobweb lines..." November 19, 1877 Today (3 March, 2026)

The sternwheeler City of New Orleans, offering river cruises Looking upriver, just past the barges, the Algiers Ferry serving Algiers Point and Jackson Square (oldest regular ferry service in NO, est. 1827