Italian immigrants: The Times-Picayune covers 175 years of New Orleans history

Very interesting, I didn't realize Italian immigrants were such a big part of New Orleans history. - - Donna Poisl

By Laura Maggi, The Times-Picayune

The tourists waiting patiently for muffulettas in the aisles of Central Grocery likely have no idea they are surrounded by what was once a standard fixture of many New Orleans neighborhoods: the Italian-owned corner store.

These grocery stores once dotted the city’s landscape, built by immigrants who flocked to New Orleans and surrounding parishes beginning in the late 1800s. Unlike Italian immigrants to other major American cities — who hailed from all over the then recently unified country — New Orleans’ immigrants came almost entirely from the poverty-stricken island of Sicily.
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