jasonepowell:
>Sign says Dauphin and St. Joseph's, but not much remains.
>I wonder if there was a fire or something?

I don't know... It looks to me like that's the same building on the left, only now "boxed in."

View Larger Map

Sign says Dauphin and St. Joseph's, but not much remains. I wonder if there was a fire or something?

I'm guessing that the roll down shade that is shielding the storefront windows of "Schwartz The Hatter" (also a guess) is keeping the fierce Alabama sun from baking or discoloring the merchandise.

I don't see a contact wire running above the track, so I surmise that this is for either a horse car or a railroad.

[The contact wire is there. -tterrace]

Royal Street is the next cross-street away and you can also see the building with the rounded steeple here, here, and here.

The "New Orleans style wrought iron balconies" are actually found all along what was once the French Gulf coast; many cities along this coast are older than New Orleans, including Mobile, the first capital of French Louisiana.

Here's Dauphin Street, circa 1940, probably around Christmas time, from two blocks behind today's photo, then further around the left corner in the 1930s:

I rather miss the Main Streets and endless assortments of specialty shops from my youth, as pictured in this photo. I miss the sidewalks and greeting familiar people, crossing small streets and stopping for a soda or cone at the sweet shop. The town in which I was raised was still like this in the early 1950's but is now a restored Disney-like collection of antique boutiques and curiosity shops. The newer stores are "big box" emporiums surrounded by huge parking lots where one can buy everything from dogfood to diamonds, tires to tofu. I find them overwhelming and much prefer the "one thing at a time" simple life as I am incapable of multitasking.

Also can't help but notice the New Orleans style wrought iron balconies and living quarters upstairs over the businesses, which add a soft touch of hominess and humanity.