Fazendeville

Fazendeville, Louisiana, was a historic Black community founded in the 1860s by freedman Jean Pierre Fazende, not long after the Civil War. The land near Chalmette, just outside of New Orleans was subdivided to sell to formerly enslaved people. For nearly a century, Fazendeville thrived as a tight-knit settlement, with many homes, a school, a church, and cemetery. Generations of Black families lived there, carving out stability and independence in the shadow of systemic racial discrimination.

However, in the 1960s, the community was erased in the name of historic preservation. The land it occupied was incorporated into the Chalmette Battlefield, part of Jean Lafitte National Historical Park, the site of the Battle of New Orleans during the War of 1812. Residents were displaced through eminent domain, their homes demolished to create an “authentic” battlefield landscape. Fazendeville’s removal highlights the contradictions of U.S. historic preservation, where Black communities were wiped out of existence.

The Joy Trip Project celebrates American History. The Unhidden Minute is part of the Unhidden Podcast Project supported through a National Geographic Explorer Grant from the National Geographic Society, with the cooperation of the National Park Service. This series aims to elevate the untold stories of Black Americans who are too often left out of the stories share about our common national heritage.

#unhiddenblackhistory #NationalParkService #yourparkstory #NationalGeographic #unhiddenminute