Jackson Square (New Orleans)

The capture of New Orleans (April 25 – May 1, 1862) during the American Civil War was a turning point in the war, which precipitated the capture of the Mississippi River. Having fought past Forts Jackson and St. Philip, the Union was unopposed in its capture of the city itself. Many residents resented the controversial and confrontational administration of the city by its U.S. Army military governor, who caused lasting resentment. This capture of the largest Confederate city was a major turning point and an event of international importance. It also caught many Confederate generals by surprise who planned for an attack from the north instead of from the gulf of Mexico.

The Pontalba Buildings form two sides of Jackson Square in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana. They are matching red-brick, one-block-long, four‑story buildings built between 1849–1851 by the Baroness Micaela Almonester Pontalba. The ground floors house shops and restaurants; and the upper floors are apartments which, reputedly, are the oldest continuously-rented such apartments in the United States.

The Cathedral-Basilica of Saint Louis, King of France (French: Cathédrale-Basilique de Saint-Louis, Roi-de-France, Spanish: Catedral-Basílica de San Luis, Rey de Francia), also called St. Louis Cathedral, is the seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New Orleans and is the oldest cathedral in continuous use in the United States alongside the Royal Presidio Chapel in Monterey, California. It is dedicated to Saint Louis, also known as King Louis IX of France. The first church on the site was built in 1718; the third, under the Spanish rule, built in 1789, was raised to cathedral rank in 1793. The second St. Louis Cathedral was burned during the great fire of 1788 and was expanded and largely rebuilt and completed in the 1850s, with little of the 1789 structure remaining. Saint Louis Cathedral is in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana, United States, on the Place John Paul II (French: Place Jean-Paul II), a promenaded section of Chartres Street (rue de Chartres) that runs for one block between St. Peter Street (rue Saint-Pierre) on the upriver boundary and St. Ann Street (rue Sainte-Anne) on the downriver boundary. It is located next to Jackson Square and facing the Mississippi River in the heart of New Orleans, situated between the historic buildings of the Cabildo and the Presbytère.

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.

Vieux Carré Property Owners, Residents, and Associates (VCPORA), organized in the 1920s, is a pioneer organization in the historic preservation movement that grew out of several grass roots efforts to protect the 200-year-old Vieux Carré from decay and demolition. In 1936 the Louisiana state legislature passed a constitutional amendment authorizing the historic preservation of the Vieux Carré. Two years later on June 8, 1938 the neighborhood organization incorporated as a non-profit dedicated to the preservation, restoration, beautification and general betterment of the Vieux Carré. The Vieux Carré is commonly known as the New Orleans, Louisiana's French Quarter district and is the site of the French Colony established in 1718. VCPORA's affiliate memberships include the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the Louisiana Landmarks Society, and the Preservation Resource Center of New Orleans

The Presbytère is an architecturally important building in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana. It stands facing Jackson Square, adjacent to the St. Louis Cathedral. Built in 1813 as a matching structure for the Cabildo, which flanks the cathedral on the other side, it is one of the nation's best examples of formal colonial Spanish architecture (with many neo-Renaissance elements). It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1970, and is now a property of the Louisiana State Museum.

The Old Louisiana State Armory, commonly referred to as the Arsenal, faces St. Peter Street in the French Quarter only a few yards from historic Jackson Square in New Orleans, Louisiana. Since 1914 it has served as a Louisiana State Museum site; it is open to the public via the adjacent Cabildo museum.

The Haunting of the Octoroon Mistress is a ghost tale about the haunting of a house on 734 Royal Street in New Orleans, Louisiana.

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.

Café du Monde (French for "Café of the World" or "the People's Café") is a renowned open-air coffee shop located on Decatur Street in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. It is a New Orleans landmark and tourist destination, known for its café au lait and beignets. Its coffee with chicory is widely available in the continental United States.

The Great New Orleans Fire (1788) (Spanish: Gran Incendio de Nueva Orleans, French: Grand incendie de La Nouvelle-Orléans) was a fire that destroyed 856 of the 1,100 structures in New Orleans, Louisiana (New Spain), on March 21, 1788, spanning the south central Vieux Carré from Burgundy to Chartres Street, almost to the Mississippi River front buildings. An additional 212 buildings were destroyed in a later citywide fire, on December 8, 1794.

Madame John's Legacy is a historic house museum at 632 Dumaine Street in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana. Completed in 1788, it is one of the oldest houses in the French Quarter, and was built in the older French colonial style, rather than the more current Spanish colonial style of that time. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1970 for its architectural significance. The Louisiana State Museum owns the house and provides tours.