For various reasons, the city of New Orleans has often been ignored in discussions of the New South movement. New Orleans politicians joined the movement during the Progressive Era, much later than other Southern municipal leaders. In becoming a New South city, the Crescent City was launched onto the international trade scene. By an examination of city leaders' efforts to gain federal rights to host an exposition in celebration of the Panama Canal, this study argues New Orleans not only became a New South city, but an international trade entrepôt. Though the exposition efforts failed, the efforts of the city to cultivate its business and hospitality potential served the city well.