Many of my family, both past and present, grew up in the New Orleans area. My earliest memories are of living on Wilson Drive and I can clearly remember the homes of my grandmothers, who both lived on Dumaine Street on opposite sides of Bayou St. John. Based on census information or family history, I knew that my parents and grandparents lived in a few different houses over time. Thought it would be interesting to find those addresses and visit the neighborhoods, including my old neighborhood in Mid-City, and where possible provide some "Then and Now" pictures. Click on the photos to read comments. Enjoy!
2462 Dauphine Street
In the 1900 Census, my paternal grandmother Ada Mayfield was living with her widowed mother, Margaret Nolan at this address.
724 Spain Street
By 1910, Ada and Margaret had moved to Spain Street along with Margaret's second husband, Charles Engler. This house is just around the block from the Dauphine Street address.
1231 N. Dorgenois Street
The 1920 Census has my paternal grandparents, Joseph and Ada Johnson, living here along with their six children and Ada's mother, Mrs. Charles Engler (now widowed).
927 Toulouse Street
In the 1910 and 1920 Census, my maternal great-grandparents Andrea and Antonina Cuccia are lving here with their daughters Victoria (my grandmother) and Pauline.  This is a multi-unit complex and the census does not tell us which unit Andrea and his family lived in.
8003 Green Street
 In the 1930 Census, my mother Vickie was living at this address with her parents, Manuel Molla and Victoria Cuccia Molla, her sister Sylvia and her cousin Henry Cruppi. During this time, her parents owned and operated a grocery store at the same location (corner of Green & Short Street). There's a wonderful photo of my mom when she was about 6 years old sitting on the stoop of a neighbor's house. It looks to be the house two doors down at 8009 Green Street, pictured below.
2923 St. Phillips Street
In the 1930 census, Antonina Cuccia is widowed and living with her daughter Pauline at this location, which coincidently has the same house number as the Dumaine Street address she would move to next and where she would live the rest of her life.  
2923 Dumaine Street
By the 1940 Census, my mother Vickie was living at this address with her mother Victoria (by now separated or divorced from Manual), her grandmother Antonina (Nona), sister Sylvia, and her cousin Angelina (Angie) Cruppi. This was a double shotgun house that I remember well. We spent many a Sunday at her house enjoying spaghetti and meatballs as only my grandmother could cook it.

By the 1960's, which were my earliest memories of the house, my grandmother was still living there with her widowed sister Rosa Cuccia Cruppi (Nanae) and her niece Angie Cruppi. Victoria would remain in this house until the late 70's/early 80's after which time she came to live at our Taft Place home.

The more recent photos of the exterior and interior of the house are from a listing found online.
Atlanta Homes - 208 Watson Circle and 2245 Skyland Trail
The mid-1950's saw my parents and older siblings Betty and David move to Atlanta where my father was co-founder of the Typography Shop of Atlanta.
Memphis Home - 2981 Bannockburn Road
 In the late 1950's, my parents and older siblings, which now included Joanne, moved to Memphis where my father worked at Kelley and Jamison as a typographer. This was my first home.
968 Wilson Drive
In the early 1960's, my parents rented the downstairs portion of this duplex. We were living here when the Beatles took the city by storm playing in City Park in 1964 and when a real storm named Betsy hit New Orleans in 1965. The more recent interior photos as well as the backyard with the pool were taken from an online listing that must pre-date the replacement of the door with solid panels.
3618 Dumaine Street
By the 1930 Census, my paternal grandparents Joseph Emmitt Johnson Sr. and Ada Nolan Johnson were living here with their children and Ada's mother, Margaret Engler. In this home sat a baby grand piano on which Ada taught many of her kids, grandkids and neighborhood children to play.

Prior to my birth, my family lived in the adjoining duplex at 3620 Dumaine for a period of time. We would also live temporarily with my grandmother on her side of the duplex in between our years at Wilson Drive and Morningside Drive (below).

Ada lived here until the late 1960's/early 1970's after which time she moved in with her son Bob Johnson and wife Alice in their home on DeSaix Blvd.

The house has undergone some major renovations with the addition of a second floor as shown in the recent photos below. The recent interior shots are from an online listing.
636 Morningside Drive
My family moved into a new construction in Gretna around 1966 when most of the Westbank was still under development. Our backyard literally backed up to woods, and much of what exists today in the surrounding area was still on someone's drawing board at the time.

It was a nice neighborhood and brought us the close friendship of the Cannon family who lived across the street. However, whatever attraction brought my parents here was short-lived as soon thereafter we found ourselves back on the Eastbank.

The house doesn't appear to have had any major renovations. The brick wall and pass-through counter seen in the photo of Joanne and I can still be seen in a photo from a more recent online listing.
3626B Dumaine Street
We moved back to the Eastbank in 1967 and rented the top section of this duplex from the Surgi's, who lived in the lower half.
946 Taft Place
In 1970, my parents bought their house on Taft Place. The downstairs area was mostly undeveloped, but soon thereafter became my dad's workshop and our playroom, complete with a pool table and Ping-Pong table. The entire house would eventually be renovated (I believe my first time living with central A/C and heat) with a beautiful, hand-crafted bar downstairs that my dad built with a carpenter friend (it would eventually fall victim to Katrina).