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This lithograph shows Jackson Square as it appeared in 1855, with cupolas adorning the Cabildo and Presbytere buildings.
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Photo by Image from New Orleans: An Illustrated History
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Hey Blake,
I have a lithographic picture that I purchased when the Fountain Bay Motel had its estate sale years ago. It is a picture of Jackson Square. However, there are some pieces of history I can't seem to put together.
First, the Cabildo and the Presbytere both have cupolas. The parade field has only one entrance on the Decatur side of the field, and the square does not have a statue of Jackson or Arch in the center of it. There aren't any trees in the field and it looks like there are piles of soil and random shrubbery near the fence on the Decatur side of the picture. The men in the picture are wearing stovepipe hats and knee-length coats, and the ladies are wearing bonnets and bustled skirts. There are some initials, "SG," on the bottom of the left side of the picture. The caption is "View of the Place Des Armes, New Orleans, Louisiana."
Can you give me some indication as to what period in time this picture is representing? I think that it may be somewhere around 1873, but I'm not sure.
Charles Folk
Dear Charles,
You are very fortunate to have this piece of New Orleans history, and I'll bet it's worth more to you than money. But the time period represented in your picture is much earlier than 1873, perhaps 25 years earlier.
By 1873, the statue of Andrew Jackson had been erected and was already a popular meeting place for pigeons. The name of the square had also been changed again; however, the cupola on the Presbytere was still there.
Here's how and when it all happened. The square was laid out in 1721 by the French under Adrien de Pauger and was called Place D'Armes. With the coming of the Spanish General Alessandro O'Reilly in 1769, the name changed to Plaza de Armas. It was also referred to by Creole citizens as Place Publique, while the Americans called it Public Square. To honor the hero of the Battle of New Orleans, Andrew Jackson, the square was renamed in 1851, but even then Councilmen debated over whether to call it Jackson Gardens.
A cupola was added to the Cabildo in 1847 when city surveyor Louis Surgi designed a third-story addition to the building influenced by the improvements made by the Baroness Pontalba to her two buildings on each side of the Place d'Armes. City officials persuaded the church wardens to duplicate Surgi's design on the Presbytere, so a cupola was added that same year.
Now you may wonder why the cupola is no longer there. Pictures show that it was still atop the Presbytere in 1891, but after a series of hurricanes, the matching cupola was gone by 1900. For various reasons -- probably financial -- it has never been replaced.
It was an auspicious occasion when General Jackson, former President of the United States, visited New Orleans for the third and last time in 1840. A ceremony was held to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Battle of New Orleans on Jan. 8, and Jackson was the guest of honor. Five days later, the General was escorted to the Place D'Armes where he participated in the laying of the cornerstone for a future monument.
"Old Hickory" died in 1845, and a year later the Baroness Pontalba submitted plans to the council for the improvement of the Place d'Armes. She wanted to turn it into an elegant park, and it was probably her design that was used by Surveyor Louis Pilie four years later. A Special Committee on Improvements to be made to the Public Square had been appointed, as well as a committee to erect a monument to General Jackson. When they met in 1851, they argued that since the cornerstone for the monument was in the Place D'Armes and that is where the monument would be erected, why not name the square after him, too? After a spirited discussion, the decision to change the name to Jackson Square was made official on Jan. 28, 1851.
The statue itself, designed by Clark Mills, was finally dedicated on Feb. 9, 1856.
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