Interesting article in this weeks New Orleans "Gambit:
http://www.bestofneworleans.com/dispatch/current/blake.html
BLAKE PONTCHARTRAIN™ 12 09 03
Ask Blake
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
New Orleans Know-It-All
Camp Nicholls, a home for Confederate soldiers, occupied 1700 Moss St. for more than 60 years.
Photo by Eileen Loh Harrist
Hey Blake,
Do you know anything about the old Confederate soldiers' home on Moss Street by Bayou St. John? The Third District Police Station is there now, but there is a place that says it was the site of a Confederate soldiers' home. I can't find out anything about it on the Web, so I thought I'd ask the expert.
Janessa Dawn
Dear Janessa,
Yes, ma'am, there was a home for Confederate soldiers at this site, and it was named to honor a hero of the Civil War, Gov. Francis T. Nicholls.
The new Confederate Soldiers' Home -- named Camp Nicholls -- was dedicated on May 16, 1884. But way back in March of 1866, the Louisiana Legislature had established the first Confederate Soldiers' Home for our state. For two years, it was in operation in Mandeville, but in 1868, the Reconstruction government stopped the appropriation.
It wasn't until many years later, in 1882, that the 1866 Act was amended and a reorganized Board of Commissioners was able to buy the tract of land on Bayou St. John with the explicit purpose of building the new home for the old soldiers.
The day the new home was dedicated was a very special occasion. The widow of General T.J. "Stonewall" Jackson had herself made a Louisiana flag for the home, and her daughter Miss Julia Jackson raised the flag to the top of a 70-foot flagpole while the big brass Washington Artillery howitzer "Redemption" fired a 13-round salute. Also in attendance and helping Miss Jackson were Mildred and Mary, the daughters of General Robert E. Lee; Nanny, the daughter of General D. H. Hill; and Mary, daughter of Col. A. H. May, veteran officer of the Washington Artillery.
For years, many Confederate veterans called the camp at 1700 Moss St. home. But in 1949, the 39th Infantry Division of the National Guard moved in and made it the state headquarters. Then in April 1951, a new armory was built for $120,000, and the 135th Air Control and Warning Squadron of the Louisiana Air National Guard became the new occupant of the site.
When this group moved, there was a period of vacancy until 1983 when the building was renovated and the Police Department took up residence.