2000 Franklin - Historic St. Roch

The house at 2000-02 Franklin Avenue, built by Victor Mallu in 1906-07, goes to Sheriff Sale on September 6th due to a code enforcement lien.  Our House Stories continues its commitment to highlight vacant and blighted historic properties going through the city auction processes to save them from further neglect.

Like nearly every property in New Orleans, we can trace the history of the lot back much farther than the house itself.  The square of ground was among the first laid off into lots during the initial subdivision of Faubourg Franklin in 1836.  The oversize map of eleven lots in the new faubourg, drawn by the engineer Schreiber, is now at the Notarial Archives.  The size, condition, and age of that map made it difficult to photograph.  The image at left, however, taken from an act recording the sale of the lot from Theodore Seghers to Thomas Kavanaugh contains a copy of the relevant section of the older map [Lisbony, J. Vol. 12, Act 392, Dec. 29, 1853].  Kavanaugh paid a grand total of $61.25 for the entire square, including a paltry $9.50 for the lot where 2000-02 Franklin stands today, labeled #24 on the map, forming the corner of Promenade Franklin and Rue Celestine (now Franklin Avenue and North Johnson).

Times-Picayune October 3, 1906, p. 10.

Between that 1853 sale and Victor Mallu's purchase of the property in 1906, the property changed hands eight times.  Mallu paid $300 for two lots, now labeled lots 10 & 11 on square 1017, in October, 1906.  Whether or not any of the previous owners intended to build on the corner, they had failed to do so.  Mallu, however, had the building permit in hand before he even signed the papers to purchase the land.  According to the report of the City Engineer, the construction cost $1200.

Times-Picayune, July 12, 1917

Mallu doubled his initial investment when he sold the new building to Louis Artigue on March 3, 1911, for $3200.  Artigue, it seems, had a string of rotten luck during his ownership of the corner lot.  He operated a grocery out of the left side for many years, apparently choosing to lease the space once he purchased the building.  The City Directories list him living elsewhere while a succession of grocers and other merchants occupied the building at 2000 Franklin Avenue.  An article reporting the death of Louis Artigues son, George, on November 15, 1912, states, "Mr.[Louis] Artigue until recently kept a grocery store at Franklin and Johnson streets...The family is well known and respected in the city, especially in the lower district, where Mr. Artigue, the senior, has spent a great portion of his life" [Times Picayune, November 15, 1912, p. 6].  A fire in the rear warehouse that served the grocery store at 2000 Franklin undoubtedly caused Louis Artigues a great deal of grief, as well.  Luckily, the warehouse at the time sat at the very rear of the property, a safe distance away from the house itself.  Finally, in April 1918, the property went to Sheriff Sale for the first time, a process that ended with the auction of the building and its contents in 1920.  [Blueprint at right by Gilbert & Kelly, Surveyors, rev'd 1950, from act before John H. hammel, Jr,, 2/10/1950, New Orleans Notarial Archives].

Times-Picayune, December 19, 1920.

The house saw brighter days in the 1920s and 1930s, when its owners and tenants played host to the polling stations for its precinct of the Eighth Ward.  Ward politics in those days involved many of the same issues we face today, while the politicians themselves seem to have altered their approach to campaigning.  John Fahey, an Eighth Ward leader during the 1920s, discussed the politics of housing issues in the Times-Picayune column, dated August 17, 1922, shown at right.  Then, as now, accusations flew between candidates, though Fahey's frank statement, "I admit I have sold some whisky since Prohibition went into effect, but I am not the only one who has done this," surprises modern ears for its bluntness.  Politicians, like Fahey, and droves of people from the community would have surrounded the house at 2000 Franklin on Election Day.


For a time in the 1950s, the home was owned by Michelina Brocato, widow of Angelo Brocato, they of ice cream fame.  Mrs. Brocato's purchase of the property caused another survey to be drawn, showing that the rear addition shown on earlier maps had been removed entirely by 1954.  Today, a new shed stands, attached to the house.

Considering the local political history that took place at 2000 Franklin, it is altogether fitting that even today campaign signs hang on the front of the house.  We can certainly attest to the liveliness of the neighborhood.  Two separate groups of neighbors approached us as we took our photographs, expressing hope that someone would restore the property soon.  Some remnant of the civic spirit of the 1920s must survive in the area today.  From its origins in the 1830s subdivision of Faubourg Franklin to its present position in the middle of St. Roch, 2000 Franklin has contributed positively and repeatedly to the history of New Orleans.  We hope it survives to preserve its legacy.