Jackson Jambalaya

Look up Wacaster Street on google street view. This street is ghetto.

Again, KF, misleading title. Clearly there is not a war on Wacaster St. Only if there are tanks, B-17 Bombers, flamethrowers, and Bob Hope's USO concert, then you may call it a war. Bad, Kingfish! Bad!

Does anyone know what West Capitol St. was like in its heyday? I hear people all the time talk about how "Capitol St." used to be, but are they only remembering the stretch east of the Mayflower? I can't imagine the whole street was always nice.

You guys make wacaster st. Sound like east Belfast N. Ireland. There aren't snipers or car bombs soldiers in streets tanks rolling in public etc...

11:05 The entire street was nice.


Also there is no war on Waycaster. Stop starting stuff, Kingfish.

It's just a skirmish.

Looks like you stepped on a mound of piss ants KF.

West Capitol was very nice. The whole area was accessed by north and south Jackson. Several great restaurants were in the area. Sunday’s saw ladies of every race in their Sunday hats. The Walk for Mankind had several thousand kids safely walking through the area throughout the 70s. You could go to the zoo without a worry and then walk over and have lunch or ice cream at several places. You might encounter old school hobos near the train station or the King Edward but with very few problems. When the City of New Orleans arrived you would see families dressed in their finest. Grecos restaurant often had families parking a mile away and safely waiting on the sidewalks. It was just different.

12:49 PM, thank you. I was born in 1988 and your depiction of this area seems like some sort of fantasy at this point.

@1:37
Things were a lot different when antisocial behavior had real consequence for both black and white residence. Everyone dressed up to go downtown. When country came to town, they wore their Sunday best and showed their best manners. I wasn't born until the 1980s but my dad was born in the 1950s and he describes a very different Jackson up until the mid-70s. Of course things didn't become truly savage until the 1990s when criminal activity and murder rates peaked.

Numerous churches were in the area. Greek Orthodox, Methodist and Baptist. Peoples cars started getting pilfered in the late 80’s. Some of the buildings still exist. Others were torn down. When murders started occurring in the area, the first drive through viewing funeral home opened. I played in several blues bands and would often be the sole white person in the clubs. Never had a problem at ALL until the 90’s. At that time other band members had to escort me to my car and violence and racial epithets became the norm. There were a few bands like Freedom and Larry Raspberry and the Highsteppers attracted a white crowd too. Red Fox. Would play Mays Caberet and the audience was decidedly mixed. Later Subway lounge gained fame. There was some violence but it often revolves around drug deals. Dr John was shot somewhere in the area if I recall right. The guys from Led Zeppelin, the Stones, ZZ Top and elvis’s Band would slip in to watch blues acts on occasion. Many of those signed with Malaco and sessions players would play into the late morning. Violence was not a worry.

They be keeping it real in Big Swoll's neighborhood.