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Buck Town
Born and raised in Buck Town, a small fishing village situated next to West End Park, a former entertainment complex dating to the 1870s, it is little wonder that Dan Ellis loves a parade and at every opportunity, eagerly seeks a sumptuous joie de vivre.
Construction began on the West End Summer Resort (first known as New Lake End) in 1871, at the site where the New Basin Canal met Lake Pontchartrain. In the early 1900's, an amusement park was added. It was a popular and fashionable resort, where New Orleanians retreated from the city in the summer to catch lake breezes and enjoy dining at the hotel's fine restaurant or to be entertained by band concerts at the open pavilions. Boating was a popular pastime, as well, and the Southern Yacht Club, formed in 1849, was located across the canal from West End Resort. West End Resort and Park closed in the 1920's, after a land reclamation project destroyed many of its structures.
The New Basin Canal was dug as a shipping channel, from Lake Pontchartrain to the center of New Orleans, in the 1830's, mainly by Irish immigrants. They paid dearly for the privilege of earning one dollar a day in this dangerous, back-breaking work. No official count was kept, but estimates range to over 20,000 Irish laborers losing their lives in the construction of the New Basin Canal. Many were simply buried in the levee or roadway fill next to the canal. Several years ago, the Irish Cultural Society placed a large Celtic cross nearby to memorialize the workers who lost their lives.