Alright, found a map with topo lines.-G- Also has the triangle as I imagined it drawn in.
(Hmm, I see that's a power plant, not a sewage treatment facility.-G-)
Actually it was pointed out by Blueswriter over on BBF in a similar discussion. It is in an excellent article on Boogie Woogie piano Here and is accompanied with the quote from the Leadbelly bio.
Looking closely, you can see a dark topo line which indicates slightly higher ground (200 ft.) all around this triangle, except at the western tip of the triangle and a small finger coming in from the northwest. Also, if you follow Fannin east from the intersection with Commons, you'll see that it crosses 4 topo lines in about two blocks (10 ft increments), so clearly moving in that direction one would be climbing out of a "bottom" area rather quickly, and, in fact, Fannin street seems to cross the crest of the hill at that point, about three blocks north of the Court House (on Stefan's map) which is also on the crest, so I think this would be too much a part of "downtown" to have been included in the "legal" red light district, which apparently was meant to keep the, uh, activity away from the downtown area. But Commons, for two blocks north of the intersection, and Fannin, for two blocks west, as well as parts of Caddo even to the east of Commons for a block, are all in the lowest piece of ground (below 180 ft.) and there is even a strip of slightly higher ground between the bottom and the open marsh area to the north, which to a large extent is at the same elevation as the bottom. Yeah, it musta been muddy.
Stefan, the designation you found is from the 1980s and seems to be more of a tourist area designation than an actual historical one. From the Google satellite map there doesn't appear to be much left for tourists to see in the triangle designated by the Leadbelly bio, altho' I did find this recent pic of some "shotgun shacks" still left on Fannin.
All for now.
John C.
(Hmm, I see that's a power plant, not a sewage treatment facility.-G-)
Actually it was pointed out by Blueswriter over on BBF in a similar discussion. It is in an excellent article on Boogie Woogie piano Here and is accompanied with the quote from the Leadbelly bio.
Looking closely, you can see a dark topo line which indicates slightly higher ground (200 ft.) all around this triangle, except at the western tip of the triangle and a small finger coming in from the northwest. Also, if you follow Fannin east from the intersection with Commons, you'll see that it crosses 4 topo lines in about two blocks (10 ft increments), so clearly moving in that direction one would be climbing out of a "bottom" area rather quickly, and, in fact, Fannin street seems to cross the crest of the hill at that point, about three blocks north of the Court House (on Stefan's map) which is also on the crest, so I think this would be too much a part of "downtown" to have been included in the "legal" red light district, which apparently was meant to keep the, uh, activity away from the downtown area. But Commons, for two blocks north of the intersection, and Fannin, for two blocks west, as well as parts of Caddo even to the east of Commons for a block, are all in the lowest piece of ground (below 180 ft.) and there is even a strip of slightly higher ground between the bottom and the open marsh area to the north, which to a large extent is at the same elevation as the bottom. Yeah, it musta been muddy.
Stefan, the designation you found is from the 1980s and seems to be more of a tourist area designation than an actual historical one. From the Google satellite map there doesn't appear to be much left for tourists to see in the triangle designated by the Leadbelly bio, altho' I did find this recent pic of some "shotgun shacks" still left on Fannin.
All for now.
John C.