In 1940, the patient population was between 400 and 450 and a massive renovation was underway. The improved hospital created individual rooms for 450 patients and the 13” thick concrete walls made the buildings as fireproof as possible. Fire was…

Maspero’s Exchange, also known as Maspero’s Coffee House and now called the “Original Pierre Maspero’s,” is located at 440 Chartres Street, on the corner of St. Louis and Chartres Streets, nearest the river and Canal Street. The original 1788 house…

The Old Absinthe House, a stucco building at the corner of Bourbon and Bienville Streets, is one of the oldest structures in New Orleans, dating to approximately 1806. In the nineteenth century, the Old Absinthe House became famous for its…

The present-day location of Circle Food Store at the corner of St. Bernard and Claiborne Avenues, first played host to a market in 1854. Then called St. Bernard Market, this grocery was one of several dozen public markets operated by the city of New…

“Belle calas tout chaud, Madam, belle calas tout chaud,” calls out the calas lady selling fried rice fritters to the tourist and locals roaming New Orleans Streets. The calas lady is one of the most renowned street vendors in New Orleans history;…

The muffaletta is one of New Orleans’ most iconic and identifiable dishes. Made on large rounds of sesame bread and layered with olive salad, genoa salami, ham, mortadella, provolone and Swiss cheese, the muffaletta is clearly Italian in spirit and…

As with many culinary innovations, the poor boy or po-boy sandwich has attracted many legends regarding its origins. However, documentary evidence confirms that stories about one particular restaurant were right.Bennie and Clovis Martin left their…

Al Kleindienst explained that he met a Dakin Street club owner because the owner would frequent the Kleindienst bakery. Al asked the man why he was always buying so many birthday cakes, and the owner explained that "if he was informed that they…

The Maple Leaf Bar, one of the city's longest operating music clubs, is a haven for local music and has been drawing crowds from New Orleans and throughout the world since the venue opened in 1974. The artifacts, oral histories, images, and…

In April 1814, Mayor Nicolas Girod was serving his first term as mayor of New Orleans when his brother, Clause Francois, died and left him a lot on the corner of Chartres and St. Louis Streets. When he received this plot, he began to build a grand…

Pralines are thought to have originated in seventeenth-century France when the chef of César, Duc de Choiseul, Comte du Plessis-Praslin coated almonds with sugar. While sugared nuts were already enjoyed throughout the world, the candy termed…