West End (New Orleans, Louisiana)

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West End was originally a nationally renowned resort built between 1835 and 1876 and named New Lake End. In 1880, the name was changed to West End with the additions of a hotel, restaurant and an amusement park built on piers over Lake Pontchartrain.

The City of New Orleans followed and constructed a harbor and railroad and streetcar facilities along the New Basin Canal and the 17th Street Canal and by 1921 had constructed a seawall 500 feet out into the lake and filled in this space to create the large and oak lined West End Park.

West End was a popular music venue in the early days of jazz. Joe "King" Oliver wrote the tune West End Blues in commemoration of the area; a recording of the number by Louis Armstrong is one of the most famous jazz recordings of the 1920s.