Legendary New Orleans jazz site destroyed by Hurricane Ida
as it made landfall in Louisiana, according to reports.
The Karnofsky Shop was located at 427 South Rampart Street and was run by the Karnofsky family.
The store is often referred to as Louis Armstrong’s “second home” because the iconic musician spent much of his childhood in the family home above. Aged seven, he was hired by the Karnofskys to work on their junk wagon, blowing a toy horn to get locals’ attention, while in the evenings he would help deliver coal.
The family is said to have encouraged him to explore his love of music and loaned him the money to buy his first cornet. The store is considered so integral to Armstrong’s career that it was listed on the National Register of Historic Impact. Despite that, not much had been done in the years since it was sold to preserve it.
The Karnofsky Tailor Shop, a site of historic importance to the birth of jazz, collapsed during Hurricane Ida last night. The PRC holds a preservation easement on the circa-1910 brick structure in the 400 block of South Rampart Street, and we were… https://t.co/lLxaMiCVJ8 pic.twitter.com/NFT9wHmHgH
— PRC New Orleans (@PRCNO) August 30, 2021
Morris Karnofsky, the son of the family who ran the store, went on to open New Orleans’ first jazz record store, Morris Music.
The damage caused by Hurricane Ida – one of the most powerful storms to ever hit the US – has now caused the building to collapse completely [via Consequence Of Sound].
It is just one example of the destruction the hurricane has wreaked on New Orleans, 16 years after the catastrophic Hurricane Katrina. So far, at least five deaths have been attributed to the storm at the time of writing, while many homes, buildings and roads have been destroyed and millions of people have been left without power.
To help those left in need by Hurricane Ida, you can donate money, food and other necessities to the American Red Cross, United Way of Southeast Louisiana and The Greater New Orleans Foundation.
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