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The Vieux Carré Index (French Quarter Title Abstracts)  Editor's Note



Partial Title Abstracts from the Vieux Carré Survey at the Historic New Orleans Collection:
These abstracts are not as complete as those in the Historic New Orleans Collection and we urge you to visit the research center at 410 Chartres Street.

The goal here is to give the researcher names to relate to the early history of New Orleans. Many listings do not continue past the mid-nineteenth century unless a name of historical importance appears later.

Lot listings start on the street at the top of the graphic on each page and move clockwise around the block, but starting at the lowest address on each street.
As with other parts of this encyclopedia many gaps exist. If you cannot find the information you are looking for please click the Contact Encyclopedia Louisiana link at the top of each page and the answer will appear as soon as possible. If you do not have a regular E-mail address send your request in care of Encyclopedia Louisiana, P.O. Box 53204, New Orleans, LA 70153
Thank you for your interest.


Governor Nicholls Street was called Hospital Street until 1911 when it was changed to honor the recently deceased Francis T. Nicholls, a former governor and Supreme Court justice. Barracks Street was called Calle Quartel by the Spanish, Garrison Street by the Americans.
Esplanade did not exist until after the American administration began. The ramparts at that time were sinking back into the ground and only Fort St. Charles at the downriver corner of the ancient city was still worthy of being called a fortification.
The lot lines in the middle of the squares between Esplanade and Barracks (and Canal and Iberville) show the diagonal lines of the old ramparts which guarded the city , but needed constant repairs from flooding and neglect.
An act of Congress in 1807 freed the city to sell this property. Thinking it could keep a perpetual fund of money coming into the public till, the city sold all of the fortification land with an obligation of annual ground rent. It was a century or more before the legal tangles this created had been resolved and the ground rents canceled to the satisfaction of all concerned.

Updated: Monday, September 20, 1999


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12/13/99   9:13 AM

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