Haunted History of The French Quarter
The French Quarter is one of the oldest neighborhoods in America, located West of Orleans Avenue in New Orleans, Louisiana. It contains over 200 bars, jazz clubs, and upscale restaurants. It is made up of many different ethnic groups and cultures, making it a melting pot in a sense. A total of ten wars have taken place in the area, and six different flags have been raised over Jackson Square. Today, the French Quarter attracts approximately 10 million tourists every year. The land on which the neighborhood stands was claimed for the King of France by explorers in 1682.
Shortly before 1700, Pierre and Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne sailed up the Mississippi River from the Caribbean and landed at a spot that they called Pointe du Mardi Gras. Not too long after, plans had begun for development under John Law and his New Company of the Indies. In 1718, a town was established at Pointe du Mardi Gras on an Indian trail that connected the Mississippi River and Lake Pontchartrain. Immigrants began to come from France within two years, and the town was named La Nouvelle-Orleans. Sieur de Bienville commissioned engineer Adrien de Pauger to lay out a grid plan of 66 blocks.
This plan included a large public square, which is today known as Jackson Square, to serve as a point of embarkation for passengers and cargo. The city quickly filled with immigrants, butt most of their houses were then destroyed in the great fire of 1788. The city was rebuilt with vast improvements which included street lights, drainage canals, and codes for the construction of buildings. In 1762, New Orleans was deeded to Spain by the French. Then in 1803, The Louisiana Purchase made New Orleans an American institution. New Orleans offers a unique and diverse culture of food, music, architecture, and social history that is second to none.
This in turn leads to a paranormal atmosphere that is unique in of itself as well. These century old buildings here in the French Quarter offer an invitation for people to investigate other realms of this world, in places that one may never expect it.
(Source: Dwyer, Jeff. Ghost Hunter’s Guide to New Orleans. 2007.)
