of the Mississippi, in order to choose a spot for the chief
settlement, which had hitherto been at Biloxi. He selected the present
site, and left fifty men to clear the ground, and erect the necessary
buildings. Much opposition was made, both by the military and the
directors of the Western Company, to removing the seat of government
to this place. Another obstacle, for a while, threatened almost
insurmountable difficulties to his design. In 1719, the Mississippi
rose to an extraordinary height; and, as the company did not possess
sufficient force to protect the spot from inundation, by dykes and
levees, it was for a time abandoned. In the November of 1722, however,
in pursuance of orders, Delorme removed the principal establishment to
New Orleans. In the following year, agreeably to Charlevoix, it
consisted only of one hundred cabins, placed with little order, a
large wooden warehouse, two or three dwelling-houses, and a miserable
store-house, which had been used as a chapel, a mere shed being then
the only accommodation afforded for a house of prayer. The population
did not exceed two hundred. Thus commenced what is now called the
"Crescent City;" which, in a commercial point of view, and in
proportion to the number of its inhabitants, has not an equal upon the
face of the globe.
During the same year, a party of German emigrants, who had been
disappointed by the financier, Law, of settling on lands granted to
him in Arkansas, descended the river to New Orleans, in the hope of
obtaining passage to France; but the government being either unwilling
or unable to grant it, small allotments of land were apportioned them,
on what is now called the German Coast. These people supplied the city
with garden stuffs; and most of their descendants, with large
accessions from the old country, still cultivate the same land, upon a
much improved scale.
In September of this year, the capital was visited by a terrible
hurricane, which levelled to the ground the church, if such it might
be called, the hospital, and thirty houses; and three vessels that lay
in the river were driven ashore. So destructive was it to the crops
and gardens, that a scarcity of provisions was the consequence; and
such was the distress, that several of the inhabitants seriously
thought of abandoning the colony.
In the summer of 1727, the Jesuits and Ursuline nuns arrived. The
fathers were placed on a tract of land now forming the lowest part of
the fauxbourg St. Mary. The nuns were temporarily lodged in a house in
the corner of Chartres and Bienville streets--but, soon after, the
company laid the foundation of the edifice in Conde and Ursuline
streets, to which they were removed in 1730; this place was occupied
by them until the great value of the land induced them to divide the
larger portion of it into lots. Their new convent was erected about
two miles below the city, and there they removed in 1824. At this
period, the council house and jail were built, on the upper side of
the Cathedral.
In 1763, Clement XIII expelled the Jesuits from the dominions of the
kings of France, Spain and Naples. They were, consequently, obliged to
leave Louisiana. Their property in New Orleans was seized, and sold
for about one hundred and eighty thousand dollars. It is now estimated
to be worth upwards of fifteen millions. At the time of the expulsion
of this order, they owned the grounds which are now occupied by the
second municipality. The valuable buildings in which they dwelt, were
situated in Gravier and Magazine streets. Some of them were pulled
down to make room for the late banking house of the Canal bank, on the
corner of those streets. It is computed, that more than one half of
the real estate in this city, is derived from the confiscation of the
property of the Jesuits, under legal proceedings had by order of the
French government. The archives of the first municipality contain many
interesting and curious documents in relation to these proceedings,
that are well worth examination.
The first visitation of the yellow fever was in 1769. Since that time
it has continued to be almost an annual scourge. It was introduced
into this continent, in the above named year, _by a British vessel_,
from the coast of Africa, _with a cargo of slaves_. In addition to
this affliction, (the yellow fever above alluded to,) the colony was,
during the year 1769, transferred to Spain, and the capital was taken
possession of by O'Reilly, with a show of military power, and an
individual disposition to oppress, that brought equal disgrace upon
himself, and upon the government that commissioned him. The commerce
of this city suffered very much from the restrictive colonial system
of Spain. This, however, was removed in 1778, (a year memorable for a
fire that burnt nine hundred houses at one time) and, in 1782, the
mercantile interest of the place was benefited by still further
extended privileges of trade.
The census of 1785 gives to the city a population of 4,780, exclusive
of the settlements in the immediate vicinity.
In consequence of the commercial advantages above alluded to, a number
of merchants from France established themselves here, and British
trading vessels navigated the Mississippi. They were a species of
marine pedlars, stopping to trade at any house, by making fast to a
tree, and receiving in payment for merchandise, whatever the planter
had to spare, or giving him long credits. The Americans, at that time,
commenced the establishment of that trade from the west to New
Orleans, which has been steadily increasing ever since. The idea of
this traffic was first conceived by General Wilkinson. A lucrative
business was also conducted by the Philadelphians, which the colonial
authorities winked at for a while; but the Spanish minister, finding
that he did not participate in the profits of it, as the Americans
refused to comply with his hints to consign to his friends, put a stop
to it. He procured a list of the names of the vessels, severely
reprimanded the intendant, Navarro, and so worked upon his fears that
he began to prosecute all infringements of the revenue laws, seizing
the vessels, confiscating the goods and imprisoning the owners,
captains and crews. The venal minister, perceiving that he had
rendered himself extremely unpopular by his intermeddling with the
commerce between Philadelphia and New Orleans, finally released all
the individuals he had imprisoned, restoring the confiscated property,
and discontinuing any further interference. The trade immediately
received a new impulse and was greatly increased. General Wilkinson at
the same time obtained permission to send one or more launches loaded
with tobacco, from Kentucky.
Soon after, many Americans availed themselves of a privilege which
was granted, of settling in the country.
The first company of French comedians arrived here in 1791. They came
from Cape Francois, whence they made their escape from the revolted
slaves. Others from the same quarter opened academies--the education
of youth having hitherto been confined to the priests and nuns.
The baron Carondelet, in 1792, divided the city into four wards. He
recommended lighting it, and employing watchmen. The revenue did not
amount to seven thousand dollars, and to meet the charges for the
purchase of lamps and oil, and to to pay watchmen, a tax of one dollar
and an eighth was levied upon chimneys.
He also commenced new fortifications around the capital. A fort was
erected where the mint now stands, and another at the foot of Canal
street. A strong redoubt was built in Rampart street, and at each of
the angles of the now city proper. The Baron also paid some attention
to training the militia. In the city, there were four companies of
volunteers, one of artillery, and two of riflemen, consisting of one
hundred men each, making an aggregate force of 700 men.
A great extension was given to business in February of this year. The
inhabitants were now permitted to trade freely in Europe and America,
wherever Spain had formed treaties for the regulation of commerce.
The merchandise thus imported, was subject to a duty of fifteen per
cent; and exports to six per cent. With the Peninsula it was free.
In 1795 permission was granted by the king to citizens of the United
States, during a period of ten years, to deposit merchandise at New
Orleans. The succeeding year, the city was visited by another
conflagration, which destroyed many houses. This reduced the tax upon
chimneys so much, that recourse was had to assessing wheat, bread and
meat, to defray the expense of the city light and watch.
At the time of the transfer to the United States, the public property
consisted of two large brick stores, running from the levee on each
side of Main street, (which were burnt in 1822,)--a government house,
at the corner of Levee and Toulouse streets, (which also suffered a
similar fate in 1826,)--a military hospital, and a powder magazine, on
the opposite side of the river, which was abandoned a few years
since--an old frame custom house--extensive barracks below those now
remaining--five miserable redoubts, a town house, market house,
assembly room and prison, a cathedral and presbytery, and a charity
hospital. At this memorable era, the grounds which now constitute that
thriving portion of the city, known as the second municipality, were
mostly used as a plantation. It was the property of a wealthy citizen
named Gravier, after whom one of the principal streets that runs
through the property has been called. How has the scene changed? At
this moment it contains a population of nearly fifty thousand, and has
become the centre of the business, and enterprise, and beauty of the
city.
In 1804 New Orleans was made a port of entry and delivery, and Bayou
St. John a port of delivery. The first act of incorporation was
granted to the city, by the legislative council of the territory, in
1805, under the style of "the Mayor, Aldermen and inhabitants of the
city of New Orleans." The officers were a mayor, recorder, fourteen
aldermen, and a treasurer. This year, a branch of the United States
bank was established in this capital.
The population of the city and suburbs, in 1810, amounted to 24,552;
having been trebled in seven years, under the administration of its
new government. The prosperity of its trade increased in an equal
ratio.
At that time, the city extended no further down than Esplanade street,
with the exception of here and there a villa scattered along the
levee; nor above, further than Canal street, unless occasionally a
house occupying a square of ground. A few dwellings had been erected
on Canal and Magazine streets, but it was considered to be getting
quite into the country, to go beyond the _Polar Star Lodge_, which was
at the corner of Camp and Gravier streets. [The progress of this
municipality has been greatly increased by the act for the division of
the city, passed by the Legislature in 1836, by which the second
municipality acquired the exclusive control of its own affairs.]
There was not then a paved street in the city. The late Benjamin
Morgan, who, some time after, made the first attempt, was looked upon
as a visionary. The circumstance which gave an impulse to improvements
in the second municipality, was the erection of the American theatre,
on Camp street, by James H. Caldwell, Esq., the only access to which,
for long a time, was over flat-boat gunwales. This was in 1823-4. He
was ridiculed for his folly, and derided as a madman--but time proved
his foresight. He was soon followed by a crowd that gave life and
energy to that section; and, in a few years, through the enterprise of
others of a similar spirit, the suburb of St. Mary has reached to its
present advanced state of elegance and prosperity.
The block where the Merchants' Exchange has since been built, was then
occupied by a row of frail wooden shanties; and the corner of Royal
and Custom house streets, where the bank now stands, was tenanted by
Scot, who now furnishes food for his hundreds a day directly opposite,
and who laid the foundation of his fortune, in the tenement that was
removed to make room for the present beautiful edifice.
Some of the old Frenchmen in the city proper, who have rarely trusted
themselves three squares beyond their favorite cabaret, are very
incredulous of the reported progress and improvement in the fauxbourg
St. Mary. A few years since, a gentleman of the second municipality
asked the old cabaret keeper, who has made himself illustrious and
wealthy by vending, to the habitues of the lower market, a drink of
his own compounding, called _pig and whistle_--why he did not come up
into the fauxbourg St. Mary, and see the buildings?--at the same time
describing the St. Charles Exchange, the Theatre, the Verandah, Banks'
Arcade, the magnificent stores, &c. The old Frenchman, listened in
doubting wonder for some time; at last, however, his faith and his
gravity both gave way, and he burst into a laugh, exclaiming, "ah
Monsieur B. dat is too much! You von varry funny fellow--I no believe
vat you say--its only von grand--vot you call it--vere de mud, de
alligator, and de bull frog live?--von grand--grand--mud swamp, vere
you say is von grand city, I no believe it!"
The city proper is bounded by Canal, Rampart, and Esplanade streets,
and on the river by the levee, on which it extended about thirteen
hundred yards, and back about seven hundred--in the form of a
parallelogram.
This portion is traversed by twenty-two streets, forming eighty-four
principal and fourteen minor squares. The whole extent of the city,
including the incorporated fauxbourgs and Lafayette, is not less than
five miles on a line with the river, and running an average of half a
mile in width.
The houses are chiefly constructed with bricks, except a few ancient
and dilapidated dwellings in the heart of the city, and some new ones
in the outskirts. Wooden buildings are not permitted to be built,
under present regulations, within what are denominated the fire
limits. The modern structures, particularly in the second
municipality, are generally three and four stories high, and are
embellished with handsome and substantial granite or marble fronts.
The public buildings are numerous; and many of them will vie with any
of the kind in our sister cities. A particular description of these
will be found in the ensuing pages.
The view of New Orleans from the river, in ascending or descending, is
beautiful and imposing--seen from the dome of the St. Charles
Exchange, it presents a panorama at once magnificent and surprising.
In taking a lounge through the lower part of the city, the stranger
finds a difficulty in believing himself to be in an American city. The
older buildings are of ancient and foreign construction, and the
manners, customs and language are various--the population being
composed, in nearly equal proportions, of American, French, Creoles,
and Spaniards, together with a large portion of Germans, and a good
sprinkling from almost every other nation upon the globe.
The Water Works constantly supply the people with water forced from
the Mississippi, by the agency of steam, into a reservoir, whence by
pipes it is sent all over the city. This water is wholesome and
palatable.
Gas was introduced into New Orleans, through the enterprise of James
H. Caldwell, Esq., in 1834; he having lighted his theatre with it
several years previous. The dense part of the city is now lighted by
it; and the hotels, stores, shops, and many dwelling-houses within
reach, have availed themselves of the advantages it offers.
In the summer of 1844, a fire destroyed about seven blocks of
buildings between Common and Canal streets, near the charity Hospital.
The ground has since been occupied with much better buildings, and
presents a very improved appearance.
The population of New Orleans, after it was ceded to the United
States, increased very rapidly. At the time of the transfer, there
were not eight thousand inhabitants, and, at the present period,
there are probably one hundred and thirty thousand. During 1844 there
were more buildings erected than any previous year--notwithstanding
which, tenements are in great demand, and rents continue high. It will
not be a matter of surprise, if the number of inhabitants at the next
census, 1850, should be over one hundred and sixty thousand.
_Blacks._ _Whites._ _Total._
In 1810 8001 16,551 24,552
1815 ---- ---- 32,947
1820 19,737 21,614 41,350
1825 ---- ---- 45,336
1830 21,280 28,530 49,826
1840 ---- ---- 102,191
The first ordinance for the establishment of a board of health in this
city, (so far as known,) was passed by the general council in June, of
1841.[4] The board consisted of nine members--three aldermen, three
physicians, and three private citizens. It was invested with ample
powers to adopt and enforce such sanitary regulations as were thought
conducive to the health of the city. This board performed all its
functions well during the first year of its existence. The second year
there was a falling off; but a dissolution did not take place till
1843. In 1844, the board of health having ceased to officiate, the
general council invited the medico-chirurgical society to take charge
of this duty. This proposition was accepted, and a committee of nine
members appointed, with full power to act as a board of health. If
this body do their duty, as there is no reason to doubt they will,
much benefit may be expected to result. Their advice to citizens, and
strangers who were unaclimated, on the approach of the warm weather of
1844, was certainly marked with a great degree of good sense and
seasonable caution. They will now be looked up to as the great
conservators of the health of the city; and, it is to be hoped that
public expectation will not be disappointed.
The following abstract of a Meteorological Journal for 1844 was
obligingly furnished by D. T. Lillie, Esq., of New Orleans, a
gentleman, whose scientific acquirements are a sure guaranty for its
accuracy. The thermometer (a self registering one) used for these
observations, is not attached to the barometer, and is placed in a
fair exposure. Hours of observation, 8 A. M., 2 P. M., and 8 P. M. The
barometer is located at an elevation of 28 feet above the level of the
ocean; and is suspended clear of the wall of the building. The rain
gauge is graduated to the thousandth part of an inch, and the receiver
of it is elevated 40 feet from the ground.
METEOROLOGICAL TABLE.
Thermometer. Barometer.
-------------------------- ------------------------
1844. Max. Min. Range, Max. Min. Range,
0 tenths 0 tenths 0 tenths 0 hund. 0 hund. 0 hund.
Months. | | | | | |
| | | | | |
January, 79.5 36.5 43.0 30.38 29.73 0.65
February, 81.0 40.0 41.0 30.40 29.91 0.49
March, 83.0 38.0 45.0 30.40 29.83 0.57
April, 85.0 40.0 45.0 30.46 29.98 0.48
May, 88.5 66.0 22.5 30.31 29.83 0.48
June, 91.0 69.0 22.0 30.18 30.03 0.15
July, 92.5 73.0 19.5 30.22 30.01 0.21
August, 92.5 69.0 23.5 30.26 29.93 0.33
September, 91.5 61.0 30.5 30.23 29.95 0.28
October, 85.5 46.0 39.5 30.31 29.89 0.42
November, 74.0 40.0 34.0 30.34 29.94 0.40
December, 74.5 32.5 42.0 30.44 29.83 0.61
Ann'l Mean, 84.9 50.9 33.9 30.33 29.90 0.42
1844. Rainy days. Prevailing Force of Winds, Quan. of Rain.
| Winds. ratio 1 to 10. --------------
Months. | | | Inches. Thousands.
| | | | |
January, 11 S. E. 2.4 4 966
February, 5 S. E. 2.4 0 879
March, 9 N. W. 3.0 3 031
April, 3 S. E. 2.5 1 797
May, 9 S. W. 2.7 4 847
June, 12 S. 2.3 5 789
July, 16 S. W. 2.2 9 801
August, 14 S. W. 2.4 5 199
September, 8 E. 2.5 1 080
October, 4 N. E. 2.5 2 180
November, 9 N. 2.2 7 754
December, 4 N. 2.4 1 077
Ann'l Mean, 104 2.5 48 400
Annual range of the thermometer 60 degrees 0 minutes--of the
barometer 00. degrees 73 hundreths.
Society, as at present constituted in New Orleans, has very little
resemblance to that of any other city in the Union. It is made up of a
heterogeneous mixture of almost all nations. First, and foremost, is
the Creole population. All who are born here, come under this
designation, without reference to the birth place of their parents.
They form the foundation, on which the superstructure of what is
termed "society," is erected. They are remarkably exclusive in their
intercourse with others, and, with strangers, enter into business
arrangements with extreme caution. They were once, and very properly,
considered as the patricians of the land. But they are not more
distinguished for their exclusiveness, and pride of family, than for
their habits of punctuality, temperance, and good faith.
Till about the commencement of the present century, the period of the
transfer of Louisiana to the United States, the Creoles were almost
entirely of French and Spanish parentage. Now, the industrious
Germans, the shrewd and persevering Irishmen, are beginning to be
quite numerous, and many of them have advanced to a condition of
wealth and respectability.
Next come the emigrants from the sister States, from the mighty west,
from the older sections of the south, and (last not least) from the
colder regions of the north, the enterprising, calculating, hardy
Yankee. To the latter class this emporium is indebted, for many of
those vast improvements which, as if by magic, have risen to the
astonishment and confusion of those of the ancient regime, who live in
a kind of seclusion within the limits of the _city proper_--to whom
beautiful and extensive blocks of buildings have appeared in the
morning, as though they had sprung up by enchantment during the night.
Then come the nondescript watermen. Our river steam navigation,
averaging, during half the year, some three hundred arrivals per
month, furnishes a class of ten thousand men, who have few if any
parallels in the world. The numberless flat-boats that throng the
levees for an immense distance, are peopled and managed by an
amphibious race of human beings, whose mode of living is much like
that of the alligator, with whom they ironically claim relationship,
but who carry under their rough exterior and uncouth manners, a heart
as generous and noble, as beats in any human breast. They are the
children of the Mississippi, as the Arabs are of the great desert,
and, like them, accustomed to encounter danger in every shape.
Combining all the most striking peculiarities of the common sailor,
the whaleman, the backwoodsman, and the Yankee, without imitating, or
particularly resembling any one of them, they are a class entirely by
themselves, unique, eccentric, original, a distinct and unmistakeable
feature in the floating mass that swarms on the levees, and threads
the streets, of the Crescent City.
Among them may be found the representatives of nearly all the states.
Some are descendants of the Pilgrims, and have carried with them the
industrious habits, and the strict moral principles, of their Puritan
forefathers, into the wilds of the West. They are all active,
enterprising, fearless, shrewd, independent, and self-sufficient, and
often aspiring and ambitious, as our halls of legislation, and our
highest business circles can testify. They are just the stuff to lay
the broad foundations of freedom in a new country--able to clear the
forest, and till the soil, in time of peace, to defend it in war, and
to govern it at all times.
Of the one hundred and thirty thousand souls, who now occupy this
capital, about twenty thousand may be estimated as migratory. These
are principally males, engaged in the various departments of business.
Some of them have families at the North, where they pass the summer.
Many are bachelors, who have no home for one half the year, and, if
the poets are to be believed, less than half a home for the remainder.
As these two classes of migratory citizens, who live at the hotels and
boarding houses, embrace nearly, if not quite, one half the business
men of the city, it may serve to some extent, to account for the
seemingly severe restrictions by which the avenues to good native
society are protected. Unexceptionable character, certified beyond
mistake, is the only passport to the domestic circle of the Creole.
With such credentials their hospitality knows no limits. The resident
Americans are less suspicious in admitting you to their hospitality,
though not more liberal than their Creole neighbors, when once their
confidence is secured.