Pitot House
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The Pitot House was built in 1799 as a country home for Bartholemé Bosque. The Pitot House is named after James Pitot, who occupied the property from 1810 until 1819.
James Pitot was born in Normandy, France in 1761. He became an American citizen in Philadelphia before arriving in New Orleans in August 1796. Pitot was president of the Orleans Navigation Company, which aimed to improve navigation on Bayou St. John and the Carondelet Canal by connecting the canal to the Mississippi River by way of Canal Street. The proposed canal, which was never built, gave Canal Street its name.
Pitot was elected as ward commissioner by the Spanish Cabildo. After the Louisiana Purchase, he became a member of the New Orleans Municipal Council and later the first elected mayor of New Orleans from 1804-1805. Pitot was later appointed a judge of the Parish Court.
Pitot sold the property in 1813, however, the Pitot family continued to occupy the home as tenants until 1819. On June 17, 1819, the house was sold to Albin Eusebe Michel. The house had various owners through the years, one of which, Felix Ducayet, developed the property as a production farm.
On July 11, 1904, Mother Frances Xavier Cabrini, foundress of the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart, bought the house and other surrounding properties. In 1964, Louisiana Landmarks Society obtained the Pitot House and moved it from its original location at 1370 Moss Street.
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Pitot House
Bartholemé Bosque, a ship owner and merchant from Spain, bought the Bayou St. John property as a location to build a country home. Image courtesy of Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, Historic American Building Surveys Collection, HABS LA,36-NEWOR,64–1
Portrait of James Pitot by Claude Bornet, 1802.
Source: Image is in the Public Domain. Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
Front Elevation of the PItot House
Image courtesy of Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, Historic American Building Surveys Collection, HABS LA,36-NEWOR,64- (sheet 4 of 6)
First Floor Plan of the Pitot House.
The house is typical to other colonial period houses in Louisiana, with three rooms across the front of the house that open onto a broad gallery, and two smaller rooms in the rear with a recessed gallery between them. Image courtesy of Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, Historic American Building Surveys Collection, HABS LA,36-NEWOR,93- (sheet 4 of 13)