Audubon Park (historically ) is a municipal park located in the Uptown neighborhood of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the United States. It is approximately 350 acres. The park is approximately six miles to the west of the city center of New Orleans and sits on land that was purchased by the city in 1871. It is bordered on one side by the Mississippi River and on the other by St. Charles Avenue, directly across from Loyola University and Tulane University. The park is named in honor of artist and naturalist John James Audubon, who began living in New Orleans in 1821.

History

Early history

thumb|250px|left|One of the fountains at Audubon Park with [[Tulane University in the background.]]

The land now housing the park was part of a pair of plantations during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries: the downstream Étienne de Boré Plantation and the upstream Pierre Foucher Plantation. By 1825, the Foucher family had expanded their holdings to include all the land now part of Audubon Park. In 1832 the land passed to Louis Frederic Foucher, who abandoned the property and moved to France. This riverside portion of Audubon Park is known colloquially as "The Fly", an almost-forgotten reference to the modernist, butterfly-shaped river viewing shelter constructed in the 1960s and demolished in the 1980s in the aftermath of its severe damage one foggy morning at the hands of blundering river traffic.thumb|215px|right|[[Golf Club at Audubon Park|Golf Club at Audubon Park clubhouse]]

The Golf Club at Audubon Park, originally the Audubon golf course, opened within the park in 1898. In 2002, the golf course was renovated and converted to a mostly Par 3 executive course, to complaints from many non-golfing users of the park, who alleged that the original Olmsted Brothers design was being desecrated. The Heymann Memorial Conservatory, closed for many years prior, was demolished to accommodate the golf course renovation and new golf clubhouse.

Also in 2002, the New Orleans city council renamed the park's "Avenger Field" to "David Berger - Avenger Field" in memory of David Mark Berger, an athlete and graduate of Tulane University who was captured and killed in the 1972 Olympic Games hostage crisis. The field was officially dedicated to Berger's memory on June 10, 2013.thumb|upright|Trio of [[great egrets at Ochsner Island Rookery in Audubon Park.]]

Ochsner Island on the east side of the park features a rookery that is one of the prime birding spots in Greater New Orleans. The island attracts hundreds of wading birds, including great egrets, cattle egrets, snowy egrets, ibis, little blue herons, green herons, night herons and others. The park is also home to diving double-crested cormorants and anhingas, as well as to many species of ducks. Recently, black-bellied whistling ducks have begun using the park's lagoons as a stopover on their migrations during the winter.

The Tree of Life in the park is a popular landmark.

References

  • Audubon Park
  • Fodor's Online Travel Guide
  • Vintage Audubon Park post cards
  • Images of the Live Oaks in Audubon Park