Orleans Parish (an area much larger than the New Orleans most people know) has a long rich history. The area was home to the Native American tribe - Chitimacha. The French established LaNouville Orleans in 1718. In 1763, the area was ceded to the Spanish, but came back under French control in 1801.

The Cabildo was built as the seat of the Spanish government when Spain owned and ruled what is now Louisiana. The original building was destroyed by fire in 1788, The building was rebuilt in 1799 and was the site of the transferring of the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. The building was used by the New Orleans city council until the 1850’s After the city moved out, the building fell into disrepair and was scheduled for demolition in 1895 In 1911 the Louisiana State Museum opened in the Cabildo. A major fire in 1988 destroyed the entire third floor, which was also rebuilt

The building has been placed on the National Register of Historic Places. The building houses several paintings by John James Audubon as well as a painting depicting the battle of New Orleans - the most decisive battle of the wart of 1812.

Louisiana almost didn’t become a state in 1812 because of many reasons. It was located WEST of the Mississippi River - our founding fathers, though they just purchased all of the lands drained by the Mississippi River system, they somehow did not envision our nation to go “from sea to shining sea”.

Louisiana was of French and Spanish tradition with strong Catholic ties - this in comparison to the rest of the nation which had English and Protestant ties. The boundaries of Louisiana were not specific - there was uncertainty as to where the western boundary lie, and the same to the area above Lake Ponchartrain known as the “Florida Parishes” (See, Louisiana has French “parishes”, not English “counties”) Then there was a language issue, they spoke a foreign language - French and Spanish - not English.

Last but not least, Louisiana possessed that most famous place known for violence, gambling, drinking, prostitution, and other depravities - New Orleans !!! That could not be part of this great nation.

Somehow, the Senators and Congressmen overcame their objections, and allowed Louisiana to become a state. On 30 April, 1812, it became official, Louisiana was now the 18th state. It’s value to the nation would be proved on 08 January 1815 on a sugar cane plantation in Chalmette south of New Orleans when Gen. Andrew Jackson led these same people that Congress did not want to be a part of this country defeated General Edward Pakenham’s British forces intent on capturing New Orleans, effectively securing America’s freedom from Britian.

In 2005, Orleans Parish was the scene of the failure of the US Army Corps of Engineers hurricane levee protection system resulting in major flooding which lasted for weeks. The most documented scenes of this can be seen on pbase photographer Coleen Landry http://pbase.com/septembermorn