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French Quarter

Busking venuesDowntown New OrleansFrench QuarterFrench colonial architectureHistoric districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Louisiana
Louisiana populated places on the Mississippi RiverNRHP infobox with nocatNational Historic Landmarks in LouisianaNational Register of Historic Places in New OrleansNeighborhoods in New OrleansTourist attractions in New OrleansUse American English from November 2019Use mdy dates from November 2019Villages in Louisiana
French Quarter, looking north with Mississippi River to the right 2011
French Quarter, looking north with Mississippi River to the right 2011

The French Quarter, also known as the Vieux Carré, is the oldest neighborhood in the city of New Orleans. After New Orleans (French: Nouvelle-Orléans) was founded in 1718 by Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville, the city developed around the Vieux Carré ("Old Square" in English), a central square. The district is more commonly called the French Quarter today, or simply "The Quarter", related to changes in the city with American immigration after the 1803 Louisiana Purchase. Most of the extant historic buildings were constructed either in the late 18th century, during the city's period of Spanish rule, or were built during the first half of the 19th century, after U.S. purchase and statehood. The district as a whole has been designated as a National Historic Landmark, with numerous contributing buildings that are separately deemed significant. It is a prime tourist destination in the city, as well as attracting local residents. Because of its distance from areas where the levee was breached during Hurricane Katrina in 2005 as well as the strength and height of the nearest Mississippi River Levees in contrast to other levees along the canals and lakefront, it suffered relatively light damage from floodwater as compared to other areas of the city and the greater region.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article French Quarter (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

French Quarter
Orleans Avenue, New Orleans Storyville

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Wikipedia: French QuarterContinue reading on Wikipedia

Geographical coordinates (GPS)

Latitude Longitude
N 29.958611111111 ° E -90.065 °
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Address

Orleans Avenue 718
70112 New Orleans, Storyville
Louisiana, United States
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French Quarter, looking north with Mississippi River to the right 2011
French Quarter, looking north with Mississippi River to the right 2011
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Le Petit Theatre du Vieux Carre
Le Petit Theatre du Vieux Carre

Le Petit Théâtre Du Vieux Carré is a small professional theatre in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana. Le Petit was founded in 1916, when a group of amateur theatre-lovers began putting on plays in the drawing room of one of the members. The audiences of the Drawing Room Players grew, and the founders rented space on the second floor of 503 St. Ann in the lower Pontalba Buildings, for $17.50 per month. Irish playwright Lord Dunsany, visiting the city, formally launched the new playhouse. In 1922, the theatre bought the property for its present location at the corner of St. Peter and Chartres Streets. Three small shed-like buildings facing St. Peter Street were removed and the present theatre building was constructed in 1922. The structure incorporated a 1790s colonial building on the corner, which was renovated and helped inspire the style of the rest of the structure. Architect Richard Koch designed the theatre in authentic Spanish Colonial style. The building complex holds a professionally equipped theater. The corner building, reconstructed in 1963, originally held reception rooms, offices, dressing rooms, and a smaller theater. Le Petit is run by a Board of Governors, with productions staged by professional staff. Le Petit Theatre offers Equity and non-union contracts, and pays all performers and technicians. Many visiting artists are professionals in music, dance, TV, or other performing arts. During its 95 years of operation, Le Petit has been recognized as one of the leading "little" or community theaters in the nation. In March 2009, facing severe financial difficulties, Le Petit's board of governors voted to lay off the theatre's artistic director and staff, and appointed The Solomon Group, a New Orleans entertainment company, as interim manager. The board terminated the Solomon Group's management in October 2010, and in December 2010 announced that the rest of its 2010–11 season would be cancelled. The theatre has continued to provide a venue for fundraising efforts and outside productions. In May 2011 it was reported that the Dickie Brennan family of restaurants was negotiating to take space for a restaurant in the building, allowing the theatre to maintain its operations.

Killing of Fernando Rios

On September 28, 1958, Fernando Rios, a 26-year-old tour guide from Mexico City who was working in New Orleans, died due to injuries sustained during an assault he experienced the previous night. That night, Rios had been at the Cafe Lafitte in Exile, a gay bar in the city's French Quarter neighborhood, when he began talking to John Farrell, a 20-year-old student at Tulane University. Earlier in the night, Farrell, who had been enjoying the nightlife of the French Quarter with two fellow Tulane students–Alberto Calvo and David Drennan–had recommended that the three "roll a queer", a slang term for robbing a gay man. Farrell and Rios left the bar together at around 2 a.m., with Farrell offering to give Rios a ride back to the Roosevelt Hotel, where he was staying. However, Farrell instead led Rios into the alley between the St. Louis Cathedral and the Presbytere and assaulted him, with Calvo and Drennan both present. Farrell then stole Rios's wallet and left him in the alley, where he was discovered unconscious the next morning. Rios never regained consciousness and died at Charity Hospital. Following Rios's death, the three individuals turned themselves into the police and a murder trial commenced, with the three pleading not guilty. Their defense team employed a gay panic defense, arguing that Farrell's actions were justified because Rios had committed unwanted sexual advances on him. In January 1959, an all-white jury returned a verdict of not guilty for all three men, eliciting cheers from the crowd gathered at the courthouse. The district attorney for New Orleans later initiated another case against the three for robbery, but the litigation dragged on for several years, during which time Calvo returned to his home country of Panama and the other two moved to other states. In 1964, Drennan and Farrell agreed to a plea bargain where they pled guilty, but served no jail time, and in 1966, the district attorney's office filed a nolle prosequi regarding Calvo, ending their litigation. A wrongful death claim initiated by Rios's mother was dismissed due to violating the statue of limitations, as the attorney representing her completed the prerequisite paperwork over a year after Rios's death. After the murder trial, which attracted a significant amount of local news coverage–much of which expressing a bias in support of the accused–the event largely faded from local memory. However, the 2017 publication of a book on the killing written by local LGBTQ historian Clayton Delery revived interest in the incident, leading to increased contemporary coverage of the event. Multiple sources have referred to the killing of Rios, a gay man, as an incident of gay bashing and a hate crime.