American Chicle Company Building

The American Chicle Company Building, built in 1911, is located in the Gert Town neighborhood of New Orleans, Louisiana.

American Chicle Company Building
Seen from Fig Street, 2010
American Chicle Company Building is located in East New Orleans
American Chicle Company Building
Location in East New Orleans
American Chicle Company Building is located in Louisiana
American Chicle Company Building
Location in Louisiana
American Chicle Company Building is located in the United States
American Chicle Company Building
Location in United States
Location8311 Fig St., New Orleans, Louisiana
Coordinates29°57′43″N 90°7′3″W / 29.96194°N 90.11750°W / 29.96194; -90.11750
Arealess than one acre
Built1911 (1911)
Architectural styleItalian Renaissance
NRHP reference No.98001176[1]
Added to NRHPSeptember 18, 1998

The New Orleans Chamber of Commerce started campaigning for a chewing gum factory in the city in 1900. Points in favor of New Orleans as a good location for such a factory included being USA's leading port of commerce with Latin America, so much chicle was already shipped through there, and large quantities of sugar are grown and refined in Louisiana.[2]

The American Chicle Company built the building as a branch factory, which opened production in 1911.

After the gum factory closed, the building housed a box factory and an automotive parts warehouse.

It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1998.[1][3]

The area flooded in the 2005 levee failure disaster during Hurricane Katrina. After remaining vacant for years, the building was refurbished as an office building in 2008–2009, and now houses the headquarters of Landis Construction Company.

References

edit
  1. ^ a b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
  2. ^ The New York Times, 19 Oct 1900
  3. ^ National Register Staff, Louisiana Division of Historic Preservation (May 1988). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: American Chicle Co. Building / Marine Paint & Varnish". National Park Service. Retrieved April 2, 2019. With accompanying 11 photos from 1998