Fifty-five Miles of Azaleas

In 1935, the New Orleans City Administration, the New Orleans Parkway Commission and the Works Progress Adminstration collaborated to develop a New Orleans Floral Trail that was sponsored by the city's Young Men's Business Club. At a cost of $1 million, the 55-mile trail featured a continuous path of some 50,000 azaleas. Part of then Mayor Robert S. Maestri's city wide beautification program, the New Orleans Floral Trail inaugurated spring with its "dazzling array of varied colors."

The map above was part of a brochure produced by the Young Men's Business Club, highlighting the Marked Trail. Along this route, markers such as that reproduced in the lower right-hand corner of the map were placed. The marked route started and finished at Lee Circle and St. Charles Avenue, home to the Robert E. Lee monument.

Map from the "New Orleans Flower Trail" Brochure. undated. William S. Wiedorn Collection, Box 1. Southeastern Architectural Archive, Special Collections Division, Tulane University Libraries.