<GNOCDC> U.S. Naval Support Area Neighborhood Snapshot

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This information is pre-Katrina.
Although the information on this page is out-of-date, we are continuing to make it available, as it provides insight about this neighborhood pre-Katrina.

Post-Katrina, we will not be making any changes or updates to this page. As a result, you may find outdated information and broken links.

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U.S. Naval Support Area Neighborhood Snapshot

Census 2000 Data Tables: People & Household Characteristics, Housing & Housing Costs, Income & Poverty, Transportation, Employment, Educational Attainment, Immigration & Language, Disabilities, Neighborhood Characteristics

The Naval Support Area neighborhood is named after the largest military installation in the New Orleans area, the Naval Support Activity. This Activity facility comprises about half of the neighborhood, with civilian residential areas on either side. Many houses have the beauty of greenspace before them as they align the levee, which attracts "walkers, strollers, joggers, and bikers," according to the 1999 Land Use Plan.

People who live in military housing (both singles in group quarters and families) are included in Census data about this neighborhood – something to keep in mind as you analyze the data.

Neighborhood beginnings

Jean Baptise Le Moyne, Sieur de Bienville, held the land as part of a large West bank concession by the Company of the Indies in 1719. During this period, the land was used as plantations. Many owners held the land over the years, and some scattered settlement occurred in the late 1800s after the building of the Southern Pacific Railroad yard. Concentrated development transpired between 1927 and 1949 around the Naval Station.

	© GNO Community Data Center
	The levee along the residential district

Naval Support Activity New Orleans

In February 1849 the United States purchased the land that is now the Naval Support Activity with plans to build a Navy yard. Instead, the land was leased for farming. In May of that same year, the Navy purchased additional grounds to enlarge its original site. When the Naval Dry Dock (YFD#2) arrived in November 1901, the U.S. Naval Station was formally established. In 1903, after purchasing more property, the Navy held three-fourths of a mile of valuable river frontage.

Some of the original buildings, completed in 1903, are still standing. The LeBeuf-Ott country retreat, built in the late 1840s, is home to the area's senior Naval flag officer. The country retreat was constructed as a plantation home for the Verret family's daughter, Elmire, and her new husband, Martial Lebeuf, Jr., a physician. The estate was sold to Anna Marie Ott, who left it to her nephew, riverboat captain Luther Dock Ott, upon her death. The U.S. government bought the land and in 1901, at the dedication of the dry dock, President Theodore Roosevelt suggested the beautiful home be used for admiral's quarters instead of being torn down. The home is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.


	Image courtesy New Orleans Public Library (nutrias.org). Permission for reuse required.
	Naval Base around the early 1900s [Municipal Government Photograph Collection,Martin Behrman Series]

Starting in September 1911, the Naval Station remained inactive for four years and reopened as an industrial Navy yard for the repair of watercrafts in 1915. From June 1933 to December 1939 the facility was placed in a maintenance status then reactivated to become a base for transient Naval personnel. In 1947, the station was named the U.S. Naval Station, a name it held until 1962 when it was designated the Headquarters, Support Activity, New Orleans.

The New Orleans Army Base was transferred to the Headquarters in 1966, and for the first time both the Navy and Army occupied the facility. Under this new station mission, the name was once again changed to Naval Support Activity.

Today, the Naval Support Activity New Orleans, which includes facilities on the East bank as well as the West bank in the Bywater neighborhood, houses approximately 40 tenant commands with personnel from all branches of the military service. NSA New Orleans (to include both East and West Bank facilities) is the national headquarters for both the Navy Reserve Force (NAVRESFOR) and the Marine
Forces Reserve (MARFORRES).

Marine Forces Reserve
www.marforres.usmc.mil

Naval Reserve Force
reserves.navy.mil

Naval Support Activity NOLA
nsa.nola.navy.mil/

	Image courtesy of USMC
	Cpl. Carlos Rodriguez gives archery instructions to Jordan Burns, of New Orleans, at a Cub Scout Encampment.

A wide variety of facilities are available to active duty military, civilian employees and military reservists, such as family housing areas, military barracks and dining facility, commissary, health and dental clinics, a chapel, recreational facilities, and child development and youth centers.

Military and civilian personnel are involved in the local communities of New Orleans. They have provided assistance to nonprofit organizations, such as American Red Cross, Salvation Army, Habitat for Humanity, and the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts of America. Sailors from local military commands participate in several "Adopt-A-School" programs assisting teachers. The Naval Support Activity also provides logistical support and assists area law enforcement agencies during the Mardi Gras season.

For more information:

1999 Land Use Plan New Orleans City Planning Commission
www.new-orleans.la.us/cnoweb/cpc/1999_dist_twelve_b.htm

History of Quarters A (LeBeuf-Ott Country House), Naval Support Activity, New Orleans, Louisiana.

Naval Support Activity New Orleans brochure.

Home Pre Katrina Home Orleans Parish Algiers District U.S. Naval Support Area Snapshot

Last modified: October 4, 2002