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Cityscapes: A 1941 Pop-Up Factory On Polymnia Street

Courtesy World War II Museum
Higgins Industries

Every month, we hear from Richard Campanella about his Cityscapes column for Nola.com and The Times-Picayune.

This month Campanella explores Andrew Higgins' makeshift, pop-up factory to make a new kind of vessel for the Navy in 1941, in the 1600 block of Polymnia Street — then (as now) a residential area. In just two weeks, hundreds of workers produced and delivered 50 vessels, based on a prototype tested in Lake Pontchartrain.