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HISTORY
nearly one third of Independence’s residents have Italian heritage.
There was other work to be had besides farming. Businesses placed
ads in the New Orleans L’ltalo Americano seeking southern Italian
immigrant labor for the South’s coal and steel industries, railroads
and plantations.
A burgeoning seafood industry along the Gulf Coast drew
immigrants east to cities like Biloxi where oyster and shrimp
canning factories and raw oyster dealerships operated. A live fish
market flourished between Main and Reynoir Street. Vestiges of
the area’s seafood businesses remain in Biloxi today. Desporte and
Sons Seafood Market & Deli on Division Street is the oldest family
run seafood market on the Gulf Coast.
But for most immigrants agriculture was the main attraction.
One entrepreneur who capitalized on that was Alessandro Mastro-
Valerio, who in 1988 established an agricultural colony on the
Eastern Shore of Baldwin County, Alabama. Mastro-Valerio
bought land in the area now known as Belfort. After subdividing it
he went in search for would-be landowners, running ads in northern
newspapers to lure immigrants who came mainly from central and
northern Italy via Ellis Island. Mastro-Valerio’s plan was a success.
His agricultural roots run deep in Baldwin County at farms like
A.A. Corte and Sons in Daphne.
Francesco “Frank” Manci also helped create Lower Alabama’s
agriculture industry. Manci opened the area’s first
cotton gin in 1900. In 1901, its first
sawmill. Manci shipped the first
potatoes out of Baldwin County.
Other Italian immigrants built
processing facilities in Loxley on the
rail line to make shipping produce
north and northeast more feasible.
The Italian French Market
Like farming, produce vending was a common livelihood for Italian
immigrants who settled around the Gulf Coast. In 1923, having
saved enough money working at the family truck farm in Marrero,
J.P. Rouse and his wife, the former Leola Pitre, moved toThibodaux
where he opened City Produce Company. He bought fruits and
vegetables from big farms in Chackbay and Chocktaw and trucked
them to the public markets including the French Market.
Many budding Italian entrepreneurs had stalls at the French Market
where business was almost all wholesale. Chisesi Brothers, now
famous for their hams, started in the French Market selling live
chickens from a basket. Other immigrants peddled food from horse
drawn carriages and later trucks. Each salesman traveled the same
route each day so people knew when and where to look for him.
The Dole Fruit Company traces its roots back to the early French
Quarter fruit carts. The Vaccaro brothers, who peddled fruit, joined
another immigrant family, the D’Antonis of Baton Rouge, to form
Standard Fruit & Steamship Company. They dominated the banana
business and helped make New Orleans the world’s largest fruit
importer in the early 19th century. Dole acquired 55% interest in the
Standard Fruit &Steamship Company in later acquired 100%.
Giuseppe Uddo, the founder of Progresso Foods, also started as a
peddler, selling olives, cheeses and tomato paste in New Orleans,
first from a horse-drawn carriage — his
horse was named Sal — later from a
truck. Eventually Uddo purchased a small
warehouse on Decatur Street. After World
War I, Uddo bought a tomato paste factory
owned by the Vaccaro brothers in Riverdale,
California. Business expanded from there.
[LEFT] Banana shipments arriving at New Orleans’ docks [RIGHT] Italian butchers in the historic French Market
Many budding Italian entrepreneurs had stalls at the French Market where business was almost
all wholesale. Chisesi Brothers, now famous for their hams, started in the French Market selling
live chickens from a basket.