Walking (or driving) to the Ninth Ward
Following 2005’s Hurricane Katrina, the Ninth Ward was overrun from dawn to dusk with buses filled with tourists who’d come to gawk at the neighborhood’s destruction. The community finally said “Enough!” in 2014. Today, you can only reach the area by foot, private car, cab, bike—or, if you must, the once-a-day Gray Line tour.
After the Brad Pitt-funded Make it Right homes and the few remaining signs of the hurricane’s utter devastation, the most visited site in the Lower Ninth is the bright yellow house with black trim on Caffin Avenue. The large letters “FD” on the façade confirm it’s the former home of music legend Fats Domino.
Info
Address 1208 Caffin Avenue, New Orleans, LA 70117 | Hours Not open to the public; viewable from the outside only| Tip Fats’ piano, removed from his home after the 2005 flood, was restored and is now on permanent display inside the Presbytère museum (51 Chartres St) as part of the exhibit “Living with Hurricanes: Katrina and Beyond.”
Fats is considered the father of R & B and a favored uncle of rock ’n’ roll. Over a nearly 60-year career, he sold more than 65 million records and had 37 Top 40 hits. Only Elvis Presley sold more rock albums during the same era. Fats’ Billboard chart toppers include “Blueberry Hill,” “I’m Ready,” and “Walking to New Orleans,” among many others.
The house was both his residence and recording studio. It was also nearly the site of his death when Fats decided to ride out Hurricane Katrina and got stuck in the rising floodwaters. No one heard from him for days after the building was submerged, and many feared the worst. It was later discovered that rescue workers had airlifted him out and taken him to Dallas.
Always a shy man, Fats hasn’t been onstage since performing a short set at Tipitina’s in 2007. He neither tours nor travels anymore. When he was awarded the National Medal of Arts, he even turned down President Clinton’s invitation to the White House, commenting, “I traveled so much, I don’t have anywhere left to go.”
Fats no longer lives in the Ninth-Ward dwelling, but still calls New Orleans home (he now resides in Harvey, on the West Bank). The iconic yellow house is not open for tours, but you can still drive by and rubberneck.
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