History

Archive for the ‘cabildo’ Category

New Orleans, LA – As one of the most historically significant buildings in America, the Cabildo was the site of the Louisiana Purchase transfer in 1803 and served as the seat of Spanish colonial government in New Orleans.  Now a museum, the building showcases the rich and colorful textures of Louisiana’s history with more than 1,000 artifacts and  original works of art.

Built between 1795 and 1799, the Cabildo took its name from the city council that met there—the “Illustrious Cabildo,” or city council.  When the Louisiana Purchase was signed here in 1803, America doubled its size and expanded its territory  by 820,000 square miles with just the strike of a pen.  The building continued to be used by the New Orleans city council until the 1850s.  It was also home to the Louisiana Supreme Court from 1868 to 1910 and was the site of the controversial “separate but equal” ruling by the state’s high court Plessy v. Ferguson decision in 1896. The Cabildo has also endured a couple of catastrophes—the original building was destroyed in the Great New Orleans Fire of 1788, and in 1988 it was  extensively damaged by a fire that destroyed the entire third floor.

Visitors can wander the 18th-century building and view interactive displays, artifacts and works of art including portraits of famous (and infamous) Louisiana figures and exquisite engravings of nature artist John James Audubon.  Exhibits trace the history of the state from the Native Americans that roamed the area during the French Settlement in the 1700s to the reconstruction in the early 1900s.

The exhibit on colonial Louisiana highlights some of the first European settlements in the area and the founding of New Orleans and chronicles the colony’s rule by both the French and the Spanish.  Another exhibit highlights the Battle of New Orleans where a diverse force of soldiers and militia, including Indians and African-Americans, defeated some of Britain’s finest troops.  Paintings, photographs and other interactive exhibits tell the stories and cultural and political histories of antebellum Louisiana.  Highlighted objects in the Cabildo’s collection include the Iberville Stone which marks the founding of the first French settlement in Louisiana in 1699.  There are also artifacts and weapons from the Battle of New Orleans, documentation from immigrants and the slave trade, the original plans for the building of New Orleans and paintings and photographs that show the city during its early times.