New Orleans was founded on May 7, 1718
It was to serve as a trading post and shipping center.
MONROE, La. (KNOE) - On May 7, 1718, French explorer Jean-Baptsite Le Moyne founded a settlement near the Mississippi River and Bayou St. John - he called it La Nouvelle-Orleans as a tribute to Philippe II, the Duke of Orleans.
The community was built on high ground and was designed to be a trading post and shipping center for the Mississippi River Valley. It became the capital of the French Louisiana colony in 1722.
From the start New Orleans was a planned city. In 1721 French military engineer Le Blond de la Tour designed a community of French colonial houses with gardens in between.
The grid he planned can still be seen in the layout of the French Quarter.
Today about half of New Orleans sits below sea level. As the city grew in the early 1800s settlements grew beyond the French Quarter.
When pumps were introduced in 1915 swampy areas were drained to develop more land in areas like Broadmoor, Mid City, Gentilly and the Lakefront. These are the areas that continue to sink.
Many predict these communities will be threatened in years to come as Louisiana loses its coastline.
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