LINCOLN PARK ROLLER SKATING RINK
Ory used to catch Buddy Bolden playing at the skating rink at Lincoln Park. It opened for the summer of 1906, during Bolden's last year as an active musician. Bolden's regular gig was Sunday nights.
(John McCusker, Facebook)
As the city expanded up and down the Mississippi River from the French Quarter, outdoor music went with the people. By the beginning of the 20th Century, the two main gathering places for black New Orleanians living Uptown were Lincoln Park and Johnson Park. Located on S. Carrollton Avenue, near St. Charles Avenue, Lincoln Park was a major entertainment area, including a roller skating rink, outdoor music stages, and a dance hall.
One block off Carrollton was Johnson Park, which was configured for baseball and other sports. On weekends in the spring, summer, and fall, local bands would play Lincoln Park. In the early 1900s, a young cornet player named Charles “Buddy” Bolden would play his horn in Johnson Park, luring crowds away from the bands playing paid gigs in Lincoln.
A few years later, a trombone player named Edward Ory received his nickname, “Kid,” from the girls who regularly frequented Lincoln Park. As his popularity grew, he was billed as “Kid” Ory, because that’s how his fans had come to know him.
(New Orleans History: Outdoor Music Venues)
by EDWARD BRANLEY on OCTOBER 7, 2013
(http://www.gonola.com/2013/10/07/new-orleans-history-outdoor-music-venues.html)
