New Orleans Ironwork

Iron work

One of the things that make New Orleans such a unique and romantic place is the ironwork. It was originally made from wrought iron fashioned by hand into beautiful shapes by German, Irish, and black artisans. Later, cast iron was poured into wooden molds and allowed to set. This created a solid, extraordinary feature. Both handmade wrought iron and cast iron can still be seen throughout the city in the Garden District and French Quarter (Wood 36).  

Ironwork 

Cast Iron can often be seen on homes in the Garden District. Although the cast iron is beautiful, it serves a specific function and purpose. The salt water air is often very humid. This can be an issue for homes because wood cannot withstand the humidity. However, using cast iron takes away this issue and withstands the humidity with no issues (Wood 37). It is often seen outlining beautiful galleries. One thing you might notice, some of the cast iron poles have cast iron spikes on them. This is to keep men from climbing them in the middle of the night to meet up with his lady friend. 

Wrought Iron was the first type of ironwork seen in New Orleans. This contains a purer iron, which makes is stronger than cast-iron. However, this also means that the details and design is handmade and takes longer to create. To some, this makes wrought iron more romantic and beautiful (Wood 37). Be sure to check out wrought iron design when you are walking around the French Quarter. Each piece brings a unique element to the building.

Iron fence in the Garden District

The ironwork in New Orleans is unique to this city. After seeing it in person, I will forever associate iron with New Orleans. It gave such unique character to the city, it was hard not to take a picture of every building. I also thought it was unique how the style flowed throughout the city. If you travel to a place like New York City, you might notice that building lose their style because they are trying to "one up" each other. They are constantly updating and I think it loses this unique style that New Orleans displays.






 
Reference
Wood, Marilyn. New Orleans. DK Pub., 2004.

Page created by Liz La Banca