Mapping New Orleans’ Historic and Cultural Places

After Hurricane Katrina, the United States Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) undertook a historic resource survey of 40,000 of the buildings and structures that make up the City’s historic urban landscape. This survey produced over 160,000 geotagged photographic images, linked to data on building types, styles, details, ages, and other relevant information. In 2007, Tulane University funded a grant supporting a collaborative effort between the HDLC and the Tulane City Center to explore best practices and opportunities available through new technologies to manage this information for use by the HDLC and make it available to the public.

The City Center is currently working with city non-profit organizations, the HDLC, and other interested groups to make this information and other data and images relevant to the preservation and enhancement of the historic, architectural, and cultural landscape of New Orleans available to the public though Google Earth, and provide a forum to allow citizens, visitors, and groups to add their voices about what sites are important to them.