History of Chalmette

Chalmette is located just east outside New Orleans in St. Bernard Parish, surrounded by the Mississippi on one side and marshland on the other. Named after plantation owner Martin de Lino de Chalmette, it was the site of the historic Battle of New Orleans, fought in 1815 during the war of 1812. In this battle Andrew Jackson led American troops in a defense against the British attacking from the sea. The Americans had geography in their favor as the British had to cross through the swamps in their attack. Jackson’s army defeated the British, which forever ended any attempts by the British to take control of America. Today, tourists can visit the Chalmette Battlefield, which serves as a monument to the battle. Also at the site is the Beauregard House, built in 1830 but never used as a plantation. It now is used as a visitor’s center and museum. Next to the Battlefield is the Chalmette National Cemetery, which honors soldiers on both sides who died in the Civil War, including the famous Buffalo Soldiers.
Hurricane Katrina in August 2005 had a major impact on Chalmette and all of St. Bernard Parish. The Parish is surrounded on all sides by water and is two thirds of its land consists of marshlands from the Mississippi River Delta. The elevation is either at sea level or below sea level, placing it in a very precarious situation during hurricane seasons. When Katrina hit the entire parish was submerged and water level rose to seventeen feet high and above in some places. Since many people take a lot of pride in their community, many did not evacuate for Katrina and were therefore trapped in their houses as the water levels rose. However, those that stayed behind and were able to help rose the occasion remarkably. One group that was instrumental in the relief effort was the St. Bernard Fire Department.

Janna's Field Notes

We first visited Chalmette on a Sunday afternoon. The town seemed pretty deserted and our first planned stop, the family restaurant Rocky’s, was closed; not a very good sign. We proceeded to a bar called RC’s Tavern, which was also fairly empty. The bartender told us that on Sundays the town sort of shuts down because most people go to church. When we asked her where people hung out around Chalmette she told us bars or nail salons. The impression that I got from the bartender was that she thought Chalmette was a decent, maybe a little boring, town with hardworking people and a very close community. Next we stopped at one of the three fire houses in Chalmette. The firefighters we met and talked to were very welcoming and friendly. We mostly discussed the effects of Hurricane Katrina on Chalmette. Apparently St Bernard Parish was one of the few parishes that was completely, 100% destroyed by Katrina. It’s not surprising when you look at a map of Chalmette and see that it’s boxed in by swamp land. The firefighters, like pretty much all of Louisiana, are pretty distrustful of the government and especially FEMA. When asked how Chalmette is different now than from pre-Katrina one of them answered that it was just the little things, like how some neighborhoods still have dozens of vacant lots where houses have been destroyed, how they still don’t have a Taco Bell or Walmart, or how not all of the firehouses have reopened. After the firehouse, we drove to the Chalmette Battlefield where the Battle of New Orleans was fought in 1815.
When we went back on Tuesday, this time with the whole group, we decided to hit up Rocky’s to observe the type of people that lived in Chalmette. From our observations it seems that Chalmette is comprised mostly of white working-class people. At the restaurant the close, family feel of the community that we were previously told about could be seen. A lot of people seemed to know each other and everyone was really friendly. Afterwards, we went back to RC’s Tavern. However, the bartender who was working on Sunday wasn’t there and the new one wouldn’t let anyone under twenty-one stay inside. So after awkwardly hanging around outside while our other group members were inside, we went to another bar. This bar was much friendlier than the other and we talked to the customers a bit. Like almost everyone we talked to, they discussed mostly Katrina, its effects on the parish, and their contempt for FEMA. After turning down their offers to do karaoke, we decided it was time to go home.

Pictures from our visits

-First coming into Chalmette

-Da Parish Coffee House

- A sign located next to the entrance to the local jail

- During Katrina, the water reached about a foot over the floor in the second level of the fire station

- Some of the group with the local firemen

-Exxon mobil refinery 

Field Notes - Rob

One of the first things I came to notice about Chalmette was its family-oriented style of living. In the restaurant we ate in, I noticed many families sitting together in the dining room, and many middle-aged men sitting at the bar laughing amongst themselves, presumably workers from the town's large ExxonMobile owned refinery, desiring an after work drink. In the dining room, many families occupied the tables, all seemingly comfortable eating in the presense of their loved ones. The ages in the restaurant ranged from toddler to elderly, with a few tables encompassing this whole range. Some of the tables had young parents with young children, some had elderly women and men sitting with their children and grandchildren, etc. A certain spirit existed in these families, despite the everyday challenges they face each day as low-income workers supporting families at a time of economic hardship, not to mention the devastation still left in their minds from Katrina. Chalmette suffered from the Hurricane as much as anyone, as many of their buildings were destroyed, waters were as high as 14-15 feet, and some lost their lives. One man, sitting at the restaurant with his family, was wearing a tee-shirt that expressed the resentment that many residents of Chalmette feel, it read: "FEMA - fix everything...my ass". The food was fattening but good, and the wide variety of choices made the restaurant a good place to bring one's children. But outside the restaurant, where one could see roads in three directions and the refinery in the other, there was quiet, deserted feeling. At RC's tavern, there were only a few customers, and none seemed particularly eager to speak with us. One laughed at the notion of an urban sociology project about Chalmette and seemed to express the idea that Chalmette had been too mistreated for anyone to fully understand or report its current situation, and the thinking of its people. We also went to another bar named Bruster's, with a larger group of customers. Men sat at the bar and played darts, and at the opposite, restaurant side, a group of elderly women took up the biggest table with a few other groups of customers nearby. Many at this bar seemed to know eachother, a testament to the close-knit feel of Chalmette.

Google Earth map of Chalmette, LA

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=chalmette+louisiana&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-a&ie=UTF8&split=0&gl=us&ei=3YCwSfzPM-ComQe_0vjLBQ&ll=29.94958,-89.957428&spn=0.033838,0.077248&z=14

Ben's Field Notes

When we first arrived, we noticed that most of the public areas seemed deserted. We stopped in at the RC tavern and began talking to people. The two locals, Buck and Ricky, made me wait until a commercial came up on the tv before talking with them. (A world pool championship was playing) When I did speak with them, I learned that the reason most of the town seemed dead was because most people were in church or the nail salon on Sunday. After they got over the shock that anyone would want to do a sociology project on Chalmette, they recommended some places to go. Ignoring their suggestion to try the nail salon, we made our way the Fire Station. The firefighters were all very friendly and willing to tell us about their experiences living in Chalmette. Mostly, this involved them discussing the events of hurricaine Katrina and the complete devastation that St. Bernard Parish experienced. It seemed that many of them were just barely holding on to their pre-Katrina lives. Most of their extended family had moved away, and their immediate family had relocated to somewhere outside Chalmette. Most of the firefighters have to commute at least thirty minutes to get to work now. After our talk, we left the firefighter station and drove around, looking at the local jailhouse, and the battlefield, famous from the war of 1812.