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Concept
Harahan, Louisiana
Summary
Harahan is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana and suburb of New Orleans. The city of Harahan is located in Jefferson Parish; its population was 9,116 at the 2020 census.
Harahan was named in honor of James Theodore Harahan, president of the Illinois Central Railroad from 1906 to 1911. The Illinois Central track runs parallel to Airline Highway.
Harahan occupies land which was once part of the Soniat Plantation. The area was historically known for ideal conditions to use as farming and raising cattle. In the late 1800s, part of the former plantation was used as an experimental farm operated by Southern University and A&M College.
Non-agricultural development began in 1894, when the Illinois Central Railroad (now Canadian National) built a repair yard and roundhouse adjacent to the current city hall. In 1914, the Harahan Land Company, composed of ICRR officials, bought the Southern University tract of land and subdivided it. Residents included railroad workers, river workers and truck farmers. The village of Harahan was incorporated in 1920–named after James Harahan, the ICRR President.
Prior to the Huey P. Long Bridge being built, Harahan was one of few points on the entire Mississippi River where railcars could cross. The Illinois Central and Southern Pacific Railroads maintained a ferry crossing between Harahan and Avondale to carry their railroad cars across the Mississippi River. To reach this ferry, the rail cars traveled up an incline that brought them over the river levee. The three largest barges in the world, the Mastodon, the Mammoth and El Grande once called Harahan home.
In 1908, the Colonial Country Club was built and occupied the old Soniat Plantation home. By 1910, Wedell-Williams on the eastern edge of Harahan, had become the de facto New Orleans airport, and aviation pioneer John Moisant died there in a plane accident while preparing for a competition. Shortly thereafter, Harahan dedicated Moisant Park on Hickory Avenue in his honor. This park was later renamed Zeringue Park shortly after World War II.
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