New Orleans historic jazz landmark the Karnofsky shop destroyed by Hurricane Ida

New Orleans has been devastated by Hurricane Ida, which has been downgraded to a tropical storm, but is continuing to pummel the city — which is currently without power — and Louisiana. (Ida hit 16 years to the day Hurricane Katrina touched down in New Orleans.) Lost in the destruction was the Karnofsky shop, a historical landmark tied to the city’s rich jazz history and specifically has tied to Louis Armstrong.

From the National Parks Service: “The Karnofsky Store was, beginning in 1913, the shop, with residence above, of the Jewish family that provided a second home to the young Louis Armstrong. He worked for the Karnofskies on their coal and junk wagons, tooting “a small tin horn,” and ate meals with the family, either in their earlier home on Girod Street or here, or maybe both. The Karnofskys loaned Armstrong money for his first cornet. … Morris Karnofsky, the son of the family and Armstrong’s boyhood friend, opened the first jazz record store in town, Morris Music.”

The building was on the 400 block of Rampart Street that also was home to other New Orleans jazz landmarks like Little Gem Saloon, the Eagle Saloon, and the Iroquois Theater. It was vacant when it was destroyed by Ida.

You can see before and after pictures of the Karnofky shop below.