Jean Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop - Night (New Orleans)

Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop is a historic structure at the corner of

Bourbon Street Bourbon Street (french: Rue Bourbon, es, Calle de Borbón) is a historic street in the heart of the French Quarter of New Orleans. Extending thirteen blocks from Canal Street to Esplanade Avenue, Bourbon Street is famous for its many bars an ...

and St. Philip Street in the

French Quarter The French Quarter, also known as the , is the oldest neighborhood in the city of New Orleans. After New Orleans (french: La Nouvelle-Orléans) was founded in 1718 by Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville, the city developed around the ("Old Squ ...

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

. Most likely built as a house in the 1770s during the Spanish colonial period, it is one of the oldest surviving structures in New Orleans. According to legend, the

privateer A privateer is a private person or ship that engages in maritime warfare under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign or deleg ...

Jean Lafitte Jean Lafitte ( – ) was a French pirate and privateer who operated in the Gulf of Mexico in the early 19th century. He and his older brother Pierre spelled their last name Laffite, but English language documents of the time used "Lafitte". Thi ...

, aka John Lafitte, owned a business here in the early 19th century. As with many things involving the Lafittes, including the possibility that they used the structure to plot illegal seizures and the sale of

contraband Contraband (from Medieval French ''contrebande'' "smuggling") refers to any item that, relating to its nature, is illegal to be possessed or sold. It is used for goods that by their nature are considered too dangerous or offensive in the eyes o ...

, no documentation exists. (It was only after the Lafitte brothers were long gone that Jean's signature was found on a document, finally ascertaining how their

family name In some cultures, a surname, family name, or last name is the portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family, tribe or community. Practices vary by culture. The family name may be placed at either the start of a person's full name ...

was spelled: ''LAFFITE''.) It is purported to be one of the more haunted venues in the French Quarter. The name ''Blacksmith Shop'' may not be coincidental. Lafitte's associates may have operated a smithy here during the days of reliance upon horses, who had to be shod. Jean's older brother

Pierre Lafitte Pierre Lafitte (1770–1821) was a pirate in the Gulf of Mexico and smuggler in the early 19th century. He also ran a blacksmith shop in New Orleans, his legitimate business. Pierre was historically less well known than his younger brother, Jea ...

was a

blacksmith A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from #Other metals, other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such ...

, and their associate

Renato Beluche Renato Beluche (15 December 1780 – 4 October 1860) was an American-born Venezuelan merchant, pirate and privateer active in the early nineteenth century Gulf Coast. Born in New Orleans, Spanish Louisiana to a French smuggler, Beluche went to s ...

may have once owned this building. Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop Bar
Official website, citing 1722–32 construction and possible ownership by

; accessed 21 March 2015. The current business traces its roots to Roger 'Tom' Caplinger, who in the mid-1940s turned the old abandoned shop into Café Lafitte. The cafe became a popular night spot that attracted a

bohemian Bohemian or Bohemians may refer to: *Anything of or relating to Bohemia Beer * National Bohemian, a brand brewed by Pabst * Bohemian, a brand of beer brewed by Molson Coors Culture and arts * Bohemianism, an unconventional lifestyle, origin ...

clientele, including the

gay community The LGBT community (also known as the LGBTQ+ community, GLBT community, gay community, or queer community) is a loosely defined grouping of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and other queer individuals united by a common culture and social ...

and celebrities like

Noël Coward Sir Noël Peirce Coward (16 December 189926 March 1973) was an English playwright, composer, director, actor, and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what ''Time'' magazine called "a sense of personal style, a combination of cheek and ...

and

Tennessee Williams Thomas Lanier Williams III (March 26, 1911 – February 25, 1983), known by his pen name Tennessee Williams, was an American playwright and screenwriter. Along with contemporaries Eugene O'Neill and Arthur Miller, he is considered among the thre ...

. However, Caplinger never held clear

title A title is one or more words used before or after a person's name, in certain contexts. It may signify either generation, an official position, or a professional or academic qualification. In some languages, titles may be inserted between the f ...

to the property and the building was sold in 1953.John Kelly
1950's: Tom Caplinger at Cafe Lafitte in French Quarter
''The Times-Picayune'', March 27, 2011, accessed March 10, 2015. He soon opened a second cafe at the other end of the same block named Café Lafitte in Exile, which maintains that it is the oldest

gay bar A gay bar is a drinking establishment that caters to an exclusively or predominantly lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) clientele; the term ''gay'' is used as a broadly inclusive concept for LGBT communities. Gay bars once served as ...

in the U.S. The building was declared a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...

in 1970. and It is a rare extant example of '' briquette-entre-poteaux'' construction.

In fiction

Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop is featured in the historical novel ''Anthony Adverse'' by

Hervey Allen William Hervey Allen Jr. (December 8, 1889 – December 28, 1949) was an American educator, poet, and writer. He is best known for his work ''Anthony Adverse (novel), Anthony Adverse'' (made into a Anthony Adverse, 1936 movie of the same name), r ...

. As depicted in the novel, the "blacksmith shop" was mainly a cover for maintaining a gang of exceptionally tall and strong black slaves – who were ostensibly engaged in shoeing horses while being used by the Lafitte brothers for intimidation, extortion and other criminal activities in and around New Orleans.

References

{{Pirates Blacksmith shops National Historic Landmarks in Louisiana French Quarter Commercial buildings completed in 1761 Buildings and structures in New Orleans Drinking establishments in New Orleans Tourist attractions in New Orleans National Register of Historic Places in New Orleans 1761 establishments in the French colonial empire Individually listed contributing properties to historic districts on the National Register in Louisiana Drinking establishments on the National Register of Historic Places in Louisiana Cultural depictions of Jean Lafitte 18th century in New Orleans

In fiction

See also

References