Things to Do in Chalmette
Reviews and photos of Chalmette attractions posted by real travelers and locals. The best tips for Chalmette sightseeing.
Local Time 8:39 pm Friday, July 25, 2008
Chalmette Map
Chalmette Map
on August 26, 2006
There was a very good ranger talk twice a day at 11:15 a.m. and 2:45 p.m.
You can not at present come on the Creole Queen from New Orleans. You board at 1:30 and it will get you to the Battlefield in time for the 2:45 talk.
NEWS from the Park
Date: July 28, 2006
The two halves of a 56-foot-long temporary building have rolled into Chalmette Battlefield just downriver from New Orleans, marking the next step toward recovery from Hurricane Katrina.
“The building is basically the size of a doublewide trailer,” said Aly Baltrus, supervisory park ranger for Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve, which manages the south Louisiana site commemorating the Battle of New Orleans. “It will serve as a temporary visitor contact station with exhibits and a book sales area and provide interpretive and maintenance offices.”
“The set-up crew for the temporary building is scheduled for next week,” said Brian Strack, park facility manager. “They’ll put the two halves together and get it ready for power and water, which we hope to have by summer so we can open the battlefield to the public.”
Hurricane Katrina destroyed the visitor center in August 2005. The building was razed and this interim visitor center, purchased with emergency hurricane funding, will sit on the same site.
In the adjacent national cemetery, historic buildings housing maintenance and interpretive offices were flooded and await repairs, and the cemetery suffered severe damage. Chalmette Monument, located next to the visitor center, was being cleaned and re-pointed when Hurricane Katrina interrupted the job. Scaffolding around the monument was recently re-erected and work on the monument will be finished in May. Chalmette Battlefield and Chalmette National Cemetery are both currently closed due to damage from Hurricane Katrina.
