19 Transplants New Orleans Needed (and We're So Glad They Came)
- Elisa Cool Murphy
- Jul 8
- 6 min read
People ask me all the time why I moved to New Orleans.
Not in passing — they really want to know.“
Why here?”
“What brought you?”
“Are you staying?”
And I get it.
When you love a place deeply, when it feels fragile, or sacred, or tested it’s natural to wonder who’s coming in and why.
So here’s my answer:
Because I wanted to. Because something about this city made sense to me. Because it felt like a place I could put both feet down.
And like most people who come here, I brought my own mix of purpose and imperfection. The folks on this list did too. None of them were perfect. Their presence shaped something that still lasts. That’s worth paying attention to.
New Orleans has always been a port city. People have landed here for every reason under the sun. Some came by force. Some by accident. Some because something about it just felt right.
It’s part of what makes this place what it is. Not quite European. Not quite American. Something else entirely.
“America has only three cities: New York, San Francisco, and New Orleans. Everywhere else is Cleveland.”— Tennessee Williams
That quote gets repeated a lot. What matters more is that Tennessee meant it. He wasn’t born here. He didn’t have to stay. He did. And what he wrote changed how the world sees this place.
So let’s start with him.
19 Transplants New Orleans Needed (and We're So Glad They Came)
Note: This list clearly isn’t a hall of saints. Some of these people held harmful beliefs or participated in systems we now understand differently. They’re still part of the fabric of this city. Their impact, like this place itself, is layered.
Tennessee Williams
Born: Columbus, Mississippi
Arrived: 1938
Why he came: To write. To live freely.
What he left us: A canon of work that put New Orleans on the global stage — none more iconic than A Streetcar Named Desire. He walked these streets, felt their heat, and wrote them into history.
Leah Chase
Born: Madisonville, Louisiana
Arrived: As a teenager
Why, she came: For school and opportunity.
What she left us: A restaurant that became a gathering place. Dooky Chase’s fed activists, artists, presidents, and neighbors. She nourished the city’s soul.
Edgar Degas
Born: Paris, France
Arrived: 1872
Why he came: To stay with Creole relatives
What he left us: Some of the only major European Impressionist works created in America. He painted the city’s quiet post-war complexity with an insider’s access and an outsider’s eye.
Paul Prudhomme
Born: Opelousas, Louisiana
Arrived: 1970s
Why he came: To cook boldly
What he left us: Blackened redfish. Commander’s Palace. K-Paul’s. He changed what the world thought New Orleans food could be — big.
Francis Parkinson Keyes
Born: Annapolis, Maryland
Arrived: 1940s
Why she came: To write and restore
What she left us: Dozens of novels and a fully restored Beauregard-Keyes House. She helped turn preservation into a literary mission.
John James Audubon
Born: Saint-Domingue (Haiti)
Arrived: 1821
Why he came: To teach art and study birds
What he left us: A body of illustrations foundational to American naturalism. His name lives on in the park and institutions he helped inspire.
Henry Howard
Born: County Cork, Ireland
Arrived: 1837
Why he came: To design homes
What he left us: The visual language of Uptown. Madewood, Luling — all from his hand. He gave domestic New Orleans its elegance.
James Gallier Sr.
Born: Ravensworth, England
Arrived: 1830s
Why he came: To build civic New Orleans
What he left us: Gallier Hall. Quarter residences. He helped shape the formal face of the city.
Susan Spicer
Born: Key West, Florida
Arrived: 1980s
Why she came: To cook with curiosity
What she left us: A new chapter in New Orleans dining — refined, global, and frankly, in place. Her work opened doors for women in the kitchen while keeping the focus on flavor.
John Goodman
Born: Affton, Missouri
Arrived: 1990s
Why he came: Bought a house and stayed for decades
What he left us: Visibility, loyalty, and a public show of support when it mattered most. He eventually sold his home, but his love for the city never really left.
Edward Wisner
Born: Michigan
Arrived: Late 1800s
Why he came: To invest in land
What he left us: Thousands of acres donated to the public. Lakeview and Gentilly grew on land he protected in trust for the city.
Marie Couvent
Born: West Africa
Arrived: Enslaved, then freed
Why she stayed: To build a future
What she left us: The first school for Black children in New Orleans — funded by land she owned and gave away. Her legacy lives on in education and resilience.
Sylvanie Williams
Born: Mississippi
Arrived: Late 1800s
Why she came: To educate and organize
What she left us: A network of schools, clubs, and support for Black women and girls. Quiet leadership with lasting impact.
Frances Benjamin Johnston
Born: West Virginia
Arrived: 1930s
Why she came: To photograph the French Quarter
What she left us: A preservation movement in images. She helped people see the Quarter’s value — before it was trendy to care.
Jessica B. Harris
Born: New York
Arrived: 1970s
Why she came: To teach at Dillard
What she left us: A deeper understanding of Creole cuisine as part of a global Black food history. Her work connects the dots between kitchens and continents.
William H. Baldwin
Born: Boston
Arrived: Early 1900s
Why he came: To winter and invest
What he left us: City Park’s early infrastructure and funding. He helped turn wild green space into public treasure.
Elizebeth Werlein
Born: Bay City, Michigan
Arrived: 1920s
Why she came: To protect the Quarter
What she left us: The Vieux Carré Commission. She gave historic preservation teeth — and saved the Quarter from the wrecking ball.
Andrew Higgins
Born: Columbus, Nebraska
Arrived: 1910s
Why he came: To build boats
What he left us: The Higgins boat, which helped win WWII. At his peak, Higgins Industries employed tens of thousands across the city — one of the first major industrial employers to integrate Black and white workers in wartime production. His legacy lives on at the National WWII Museum, located here for a reason.
Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville
Born: Montreal, Canada
Arrived: 1701
Why he came: To claim land for France
What he left us: The city itself. He chose this place, dug in, and refused to give up on it. The first transplant — and the first believer.
This list stops at nineteen, but the story doesn’t.
We could name more: Drew Brees, who stayed long after the Superdome chants faded and invested in schools and startups. Dr. Norman Francis, who came from Lafayette and shaped generations of Black leadership through Xavier. Chef Serigne Mbaye is reconnecting Creole cuisine to its African roots in a way that feels both fresh and overdue.
This city is still being shaped by the people arriving now — the ones restoring homes, opening kitchens, organizing neighborhoods, and finding their own reasons to stay.
New Orleans has always been a port city. People have landed here for every reason under the sun. Some came by force. Some by accident. Some because something about it just felt right.
That’s part of what makes this place what it is. Not quite European. Not quite American. Something else entirely.
And when people ask, “Why’d you move here?” — maybe that’s the answer.
Because I could.
Because I wanted to.
And I’m not alone.
Love New Orleans? We do too.
We love what we do because we get to help people who feel a sense of belonging here find home.
Whether you just got here, are thinking about it, or come from generations of people who did — we believe you’re part of what makes this city great.
Make the move. We’ll help you find the place that already feels like yours.
Voted Neighborhood Favorite by Nextdoor three years in a row, Cool Murphy Real Estate is a top-producing, licensed real estate team based in New Orleans, brokered by Cool Murphy, LLC.
Celebrated for her next-level creative approach to real estate, Elisa Cool Murphy is an award-winning, top-performing real estate broker in New Orleans and the founder of Cool Murphy Real Estate.
Contact Her -
email: cool@coolmurphy.com
Facebook: @homeinneworleans
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phone: 504-321-3194
