French Quarter History
By: Sally Reeves Every quarter-hour, the thin peal of bells at St. Louis Cathedral calls saints and sinners, mostly the latter. They clang out a slightly off-key sound, as if they well know the offbeat rhythms of the neighborhood below them. The pulse of a circus atmosphere around the church...
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By: Sally Reeves A keen eye and quick list can unveil the salient patterns of French Quarter building types. Most antebellum sorts come in "Creole," "American," and a mix of the two. Those built after the Civil War and later are generally "Eastlake," or sometimes "Craftsman" cottages. There are...
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By: Sally Reeves Secluded in the muddle of the French Quarter's raucous street life linger elements that still impart a kind of stately antiquity. They are Spanish and French-era pieces. Some are rightly celebrated for their survival of the epochs; others, dressed in garish costumes at the shop...
Read MoreBy: Sally Reeves Jackson Square, and the land around it, was always for the use of the public, or so it seemed. There was the church, and the priests' house, and the town hall with the prison. There was the square itself, with its parade ground, and the view of the river. The idea of flanking...
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By: Sally Reeves Founded as a military-style grid of seventy squares in 1718 by French Canadian naval officer Jean Baptiste Bienville, the French Quarter of New Orleans has charted a course of urbanism for parts of four centuries. Bienville served as governor for financier John Law's Company of...
Read MoreBy: Sally Reeves If "the seed must die to generate new life," it was the post Civil War demise of the old Creole society in the New Orleans French Quarter that gave rise to a world of romantic reminiscences about it. Those enigmatic Creoles-- be they private, penurious, prideful in their...
Read MoreBy: Sally Reeves Baroness Micaela Almonester Pontalba - Photo Courtesy of Louisiana State Museum Micaela Almonester Pontalba was the wealthiest woman in New Orleans, but her biographer called her a frump for her lamentable everyday wardrobe. Like most Creoles, she married a cousin,...
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By: Sally Reeves Top to bottom: Notable French Quarter Fire Survivors - Ursulines Convent, Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop, Madame Johns Legacy Of all the forces that conspire to destroy a city – time, storm, neglect, need – fire does the most harm. Without Prometheus, we might have more of our...
Read MoreBy: Sally Reeves Come see the open-hearth cooking demonstrations at the Hermann-Grima House Nineteenth century foodways are on the menu Thursdays in season at the open-hearth kitchen of the historic Hermann-Grima House on St. Louis Street. Where Samuel and Emerante Hermann's enslaved cooks...
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By: Sally Reeves Spanish Influences: Memorial Signage of Original Spanish Street Names, Arched Entresol Building Design, Mezzanine & Courtyard View, and a Covered Courtyard Entryway The age-old battle between the French and Spanish influence on New Orleans lives on. An...
Read MoreFrench Quarter History
French Quarter History consists of over 200 years of characters, chaos, and intrigue. From the Faubourg Marigny and Treme to the Mississippi River any history buff will be fulfulled here. Take a walking history tour or a Haunted New Orleans tour to find out much about the Historic French Quarter. Make sure to educate yourself on the Cabildo and the Spanish Quarter and of course, stop in St. Louis Cathedral in Jackson Square and see the original Louisiana Purchase. While you are here, take a moment to remember the devastation of Katrina. Take a Katrina Education Tour. And then round your trip out with some great jazz music and listen to the greats like Louis Armstrong or some of the new cats like The Marsalis family, Trombone Shorty and Kermit Ruffins to name a few.
