A Walking Tour of Historic New Orleans

My last article gave an introduction into the long history of the city of New Orleans. This time, I'm going to take you on a walking tour. A person can really start anywhere in the city, and find history within a short walking distance, especially starting from the French Quarter, but I decided to start my tour in Jackson Square due to the concentration of attractions in that area and the close proximity to additional transportation.

In a trip to Jackson Square, you can visit the "Cabildo", "St. Louis Cathedral", and the "Presbytere", all in a row. The Cabildo is where the signing of the Louisiana Purchase took place. It is now the home of the Louisiana State Museum and houses artifacts showing the history of the state from its Native American past, all the way to the present. Right next door to the Cabildo is St. Louis Cathedral, which is the old, beautiful building that always appears in pictures from New Orleans. If you're lucky, you might catch all the priests walking out after mass as we did. On the other side of the Cathedral is the "Presbytere", which used to house the nuns from the Cathedral and now houses the Mardi Gras Museum. You can find costumes, jewelry and "throws" dating back to the beginning of the event in New Orleans and chronicling the history of its growth. You will also appreciate the interesting design of the bathroom facilities.

Directly across from that row of buildings is the square that houses the Statue of Andrew Jackson. On either side of the square are the Pontalba Buildings. The Pontalba Buildings were the project of Baronesa Micaela Almonester de Pontalba to house shops below and people above. Referred to as the nation's first apartment buildings, the Pontalba buildings today are home to many shops. There is also a museum exhibit that displays what an 1850's era Arcadian house looked like. On the last side of the square is Decatur Street where you can hire a mule carriage to tour the city, or you can cross the street for French coffee and beignets at Caf du Monde.

Sitting at Caf du Monde, you can view a monument to the Washington Battery that protected the city from river assault in times gone by. It displays a Civil War era cannon, and is right up the stairs from the Caf. Up those stairs are also the dock and the Mississippi River. Many tons of cargo and many African slaves came to America through that dock. You can almost feel the history. Also

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