328 NEW ORLEANS history. The board of control have taken steps for a permanent location of the college at Ohalmette, St. Bernard parish, on land be- longing to the state, to be added to by the purchase of adjacent property on which there are suitable buildings. They report in Janua- ry, 1875, actual assets to the amount of $240,- 300 77, and further contingent assets to the amount of $170,800, making a total of $411,- 100 77. The state university comprises only two departments, law and medicine, but both of these are of very high order, and are very largely patronized, especially the medical de- partment, which during the past several years has had an annual average of nearly 200 stu- dents and of about 65 graduates. The state constitution requires a literary department to be connected with the university, but the legis- lature has hitherto neglected to provide for it. Children are sent to Virginia, to the north, or to Europe for a higher education. A dental col- lege exists, but has not many students. There are four commercial colleges. There is an academy of sciences, founded in 1853, but it has suffered from lack of encouragement and support. To some of the educational establish- ments there "are libraries attached, as to the Straight university and the boys' high school ; but these are very limited in extent and char- acter. There is a library belonging to the city and another to the state, which are still respectable, but very far from what they have been. The state library was removed and greatly damaged by neglect and pilfering du- ring the war. Some of the clubs of the city have small libraries. There are a few good private libraries, but they have shared the common fate. There are about 20 clubs in the city, prominent among which are the Bos- ton, the Pickwick, the Shakespeare, and the Jockey clubs. The Jockey club has a beauti- ful house and highly decorated and cultivated grounds, on property purchased from the fair grounds. The Shakespeare club gives occa- sional dramatic performances which are al- ways largely and fashionably attended. The existing theatres properly so called are the St. Charles, the Varieties, the academy of music, the opera house, and the National or Globe. Of these, the St. Charles and the academy are th'e only two which have been able to con- tinue in operation with success during the late unprosperous times. Besides the theatres there are a score or more of halls in which en- tertainments of various kinds are given. The principal of these are the masonic hall in St. Charles street, odd fellows' hall and St. Pat- rick's hall in Camp street, opposite Lafayette square, exposition hall in St. Charles street, and Griinewald hall in Baronne street, be- tween Canal street and the university buildings. The lyceum hall in the city hall, which was built for such purposes, has been transformed into public offices. Among the societies which have been formed for the purpose of festival celebrations are that known as the " King of the Carnival" or "Rex," in which an effort was made to merge all others, the "Mistick Krewe of Comus," the " Twelfth Night Revel- lers," and the " Knights of Momus." From Christmas to Lent these various associations give entertainments and processions through the streets, with a gaiety and universal en- joyment unequalled elsewhere in the United States, and culminating in a display of profusion and abandon on Mardi gras or Shrove Tues- day which have made them widely famous. There are in New Orleans 7 daily (1 French and 1 German), 1 semi-weekly, and 12 week- ly newspapers, besides a monthly and a bi- monthly periodical. The number of churches is 142, viz. : Baptist, 22 ; Congregational, 8 ; Episcopal, 12 ; Evangelical Protestant, 5 ; Jew- ish, 6 ; Lutheran, 4 ; Methodist Episcopal, 22 ; Methodist Episcopal, South, 11 ; Presbyterian, 12 ; Roman Catholic, 38 ; Swedenborgian, 1 ; Unitarian, 1. The site of New Orleans was surveyed in 1717 by De la Tour ; it was settled on in 1718, but abandoned in consequence of overflows, storms, and sickness ; resettled in 1723, held by the French till 1769, then by the Spanish till 1801, and by the French again till 1803, when, with the state, it was ceded to the United States. It was incorporated in 1804, and in 1836 it was divided into three municipalities, each with a separate govern- ment; but in 1852 these municipalities were consolidated, and the limits of the corporation were extended to include the town of Lafay- ette, lying in the adjacent parish of Jefferson. In 1870 (before the census) Algiers was inclu- ded within the city limits, and by the same act the corporation was extended over the entire parish of Orleans on the left bank, except Les Petites Coquilles, which are said to have been omitted through a misapprehension in regard to the legal boundaries of the parish. The city of Jefferson, Jefferson parish, was also an- nexed by this act, and in 1874 Carrollton was added from the same parish. New Orleans was made the capital of the state by the con- stitution of 1868. The most memorable event in the history of New Orleans, from its trans- fer to the United States to the breaking out of the civil war, was the battle on Jan. 8, 1815, for an account of which see JACKSON, ANDREW. The battle was fought on the plains of Chal- mette in the parish of St. Bernard, 4 m. from the city, where stands an unfinished marble monument. New Orleans, being the largest city of the south, its principal shipping port, and the commercial entrepot of the valley of the Mississippi, was of great importance during the first two years of the civil war. Its popu- lation mainly sympathized with the movement for secession, and directly after the passage of the South Carolina ordinance the city came practically into the hands of the state authori- ties, who took possession of the forts below, which commanded the passage of the Missis- sippi, and on Feb. 1, 1861, seized the United States mint and custom house ; and soon after
