The Cabildo was the seat of Spanish colonial city hall of
, and is now the Louisiana State Museum Cabildo. It is located along
Jackson Square, adjacent to
St. Louis Cathedral.
History
The original Cabildo was destroyed in the
Great New Orleans Fire (1788)
The Great New Orleans Fire (1788) ( es, 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 s ...
. The Cabildo was rebuilt between 1795–99 as the home of the
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
municipal government in New Orleans, in 1821 Spanish coat of arms removed from the façade pediment and replaced with the extant American eagle with cannonballs by the Italian sculptor Pietro Cardelli and the third floor with
mansard roof was later added in 1847, in French style. The building took its name from the governing body who met there—the "Illustrious
Cabildo," or city council. The Cabildo was the site of the
Louisiana Purchase
The Louisiana Purchase (french: Vente de la Louisiane, translation=Sale of Louisiana) was the acquisition of the territory of Louisiana by the United States from the French First Republic in 1803. In return for fifteen million dollars, or app ...
transfer ceremonies late in 1803, and continued to be used by the New Orleans city council until the mid-1850s.
The building's main hall, the Sala Capitular ("Meeting Room"), was originally utilized as a
courtroom.
The Spanish used the courtroom from 1799 to 1803, and from 1803 to 1812 it was used by the
Louisiana territorial superior court. During the years between 1868 and 1910, the Cabildo was the seat of the
Louisiana Supreme Court.
History of the Louisiana Supreme Court
retrieved on 16 April 2017. The Sala Capitular was the site of several landmark court cases, including ''Plessy v. Ferguson
''Plessy v. Ferguson'', 163 U.S. 537 (1896), was a landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision in which the Court ruled that racial segregation laws did not violate the U.S. Constitution as long as the facilities for each race were equal in qualit ...
''.
In 1895 the building was in a state of decay and proposed for demolition; artist William Woodward led a successful campaign to have the historic building preserved and restored. In 1911 (the state's highest court having vacated), the Cabildo became the home of the Louisiana State Museum
The Louisiana State Museum (LSM), founded in New Orleans in 1906, is a statewide system of National Historic Landmarks and modern structures across Louisiana, housing thousands of artifacts and works of art reflecting Louisiana's legacy of historic ...
. The museum displays exhibits about the history of Louisiana from its settlement up through the Reconstruction Era, and about the heritage of the ethnic groups who have lived in the state.
It 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 1960.[Patricia Heintzelman (June 30, 1975) , National Park Service and ]
The Cabildo was extensively damaged by a fire on May 11, 1988, which destroyed the cupola and the entire third floor,["Louisiana State Museum" (history), Joseph F. Meany Jr., Karen W. Engelke, ''The Journal of American History'', Vol. 83, No. 3 (Dec. 1996), pages 946–952, webpage]
JSTOR-Cabildo
but it was restored and reopened to the public in 1994.
In 2005, the Cabildo survived Hurricane Katrina, the eye of which passed 30 miles (48 km) east of downtown, with relatively minor damage. Days after the storm struck, the Louisiana State Police
The Louisiana State Police (French: Police d’Etat de Louisiane) is the state police agency of Louisiana, which has jurisdiction anywhere in the state, headquartered in Baton Rouge. It falls under the authority of the Louisiana Department of P ...
used the business offices of the Cabildo to set up what was called Troop N. From the Cabildo, state troopers patrolled the city's streets along with police agencies from New Mexico
)
, population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano)
, seat = Santa Fe
, LargestCity = Albuquerque
, LargestMetro = Tiguex
, OfficialLang = None
, Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ke ...
and New York.
See also
* Vieux Carré – the surrounding area
* Louisiana Purchase
The Louisiana Purchase (french: Vente de la Louisiane, translation=Sale of Louisiana) was the acquisition of the territory of Louisiana by the United States from the French First Republic in 1803. In return for fifteen million dollars, or app ...
* Louisiana State Museum
The Louisiana State Museum (LSM), founded in New Orleans in 1906, is a statewide system of National Historic Landmarks and modern structures across Louisiana, housing thousands of artifacts and works of art reflecting Louisiana's legacy of historic ...
* The Presbytere, the twin of the Cabildo
* List of National Historic Landmarks in Louisiana
This is a complete list of National Historic Landmarks in Louisiana,.
The United States National Historic Landmark program is a program of the National Park Service, and recognizes structures, districts, objects, and similar resources according to ...
*
Notes
External links
The Cabildo on the Louisiana State Museum website
''The Cabildo: Two Centuries of Louisiana History''
at the Louisiana Dept. of Culture, Recreation & Tourism
Friends of the Cabildo website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cabildo
Cabildos
Pre-statehood history of Louisiana
Museums in New Orleans
History museums in Louisiana
French Quarter
Buildings and structures in New Orleans
Government buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Louisiana
National Historic Landmarks in Louisiana
Government buildings completed in 1795
New Spain
Colonial United States (Spanish)
Spanish Colonial architecture in the United States
Louisiana State Museum
National Register of Historic Places in New Orleans
Individually listed contributing properties to historic districts on the National Register in Louisiana