Of costly and splendid buildings in New Orleans, there are but very few
worthy of note. The St. Charles Hotel, however, presents the proudest
monument of that city, and of buildings of that character it stands
unrivalled, and without a comparison in the world. This magnificent
establishment, in size and beauty, in its external appearance, and
architectural designs, impresses upon the beholder that sublimity and
grandeur, which perfection in the science of architecture is ever
calculated to produce. The most casual observer, when unconsciously
brought to view this _speaking_ monument, feels an awe stealing
over him, which at once charms him into the stillness of a statue;
and he stands a silent gazer upon that tongueless yet speaking mass
before him. There are other buildings in our country that are costly
and magnificent in structure; yet in comparison to the St. Charles
Hotel they fail in that speaking eloquence which it is the power of
perfection in the science of architecture to display.
This immense structure was commenced in the spring of 1835 by an
incorporated company, and was completed in three years.--The entire
cost of the building was between five and six hundred thousand dollars.
The front, on St. Charles Street, as viewed in passing down, presents
a projecting portico of six Corinthian columns, standing on a granite
basement, and four similar columns, on each side of the portico,
ranging with the front wall of the centre part of the building. Behind
these four columns is an open space, one hundred and forty feet long,
covered with large granite slabs, thus affording a wide and extensive
range for promenading. The entrance to the bar-room is on the front
of the portico, in the basement, on each side of which is a range of
stores in front. It occupies the centre of the main building, and
is octangular, or eight square, and is seventy feet in diameter and
twenty feet high. To support the floor above, is a range of heavy Ionic
columns, in a circle round the room. In rear of this is a bathing
establishment, consisting of fourteen rooms, perfectly arranged, and
adapted to warm or cold baths. In the basement also are the wine and
liquor cellars, store house, and other domestic apartments, necessary
for such an immense establishment. The saloon, or reception room, for
gentlemen, in which also is the office, is directly over the bar-room,
and of equal size. In the centre of this room commences a winding
stair-case, that leads through the upper stories to the dome. As it
ascends up, in each story, around the stair way, is a space or gallery,
that leads into a suite of bed rooms. The gentlemen’s dining room is
one hundred and twenty feet long, fifty wide, and twenty-two feet
high, beautifully finished in the Corinthian order of architecture.
The floor above is supported by two rows of columns, arranged so as
to give space for four tables, through the whole length of the rooms.
The ladies’ dining room is in another part of the building, entirely
separate, and is fifty two feet long and thirty six wide. The angle in
front, and to the right of the portico, is the ladies drawing room, and
is forty feet long and thirty two wide. The gentlemen’s sitting room
is also in front, on the opposite side of the building, to the left of
the portico. It is thirty eight feet square. There are, in the whole
establishment, three hundred and fifty-two rooms, besides nine private
parlors, with bedrooms adjoining. These rooms, throughout the whole
building, are furnished with a taste and elegance, unsurpassed by any
other Hotel in this or any other country. To complete and perfect this
magnificent structure, a dome, in diameter and heighth, surmounts the
centre of the building, that appears so perfectly in harmony with all
the other parts, that to add to or diminish it would seem to destroy
every line of beauty, which is now so richly displayed.--And yet to
finish and fill up the conceptions of the imagination, on the top of
this dome, away in the dizzy height, is a beautiful Corinthian turret,
that keeps up, in its proportion, the image of perfection, that looks
out from every part of this unrivalled specimen of architecture. The
dome is fifty-six feet in diameter, and around this, at a distance of
eleven feet, is a range of columns that support the projecting cap of
the dome, thus making a beautiful gallery for promenade, from whence
the eye can range at a glance over the whole city, and trace in the far
distance the windings of the rushing tide of _many waters_ that lays
before it.
The influence that this vast and magnificent structure has upon every
one, is such that it places every other building in New Orleans so far
in the back ground, that they will not receive even a passing notice.
The St. Louis Hotel, however, is a building of much elegance and taste,
yet presenting nothing remarkable to attract the attention of the
passer by, except its immense size and the space it occupies. It fills
the entire block, between Royal and Chartre Street, fronting on St.
Louis, three hundred and ten feet, and on Royal and Chartre, in width,
one hundred and twenty.--The original design of this immense building,
was for a City Exchange, a Bank and Stores, a Hotel, and a large
dancing room, in imitation of the Saloons of Paris. For a Hotel, the
arrangements for such are, perhaps, the most complete and perfect of
any other in the world; yet it has failed in every particular in being
sustained, and this is in consequence of its location, being in the
first municipality, or the French part of the city. Hence it can never
become the resort of business men, or him who comes in for pasttime or
pleasure. The determination of every thing in New Orleans is in another
direction, and nothing hereafter will succeed unless it comes within
the range of the American part of the City,--the second municipality.
It is of no use to try in any other part, for “Capt. Scott” is there,
and they may as well “give in” and “come down,” first as last, for they
will surely be killed, if they don’t. There are no other buildings of
note, or any that will rank with the common average in cities generally.