The Cabildo

The Cabildo was erected from 1795 to 1799, designed by Don Gilberto Guillemard and constructed, financed, and directed by Don Andres Almonester y Roxas, with a mansard roof added in 1847. Its Sala Capitular hosted sessions of the Spanish colonial city council from May 10, 1799 until Nov. 30, 1803. The building served as New Orleans city hall from 1803 to 1853 and as the supreme court of Louisiana from 1853 to 1910, while a rear prison was used as a jail for the police station on the first floor until 1914. It became part of the Louisiana State Museum in 1911. On December 20, 1803, documents transferring the Louisiana Purchase Territory from France to the United States were signed here. In 1825, the Cabildo was converted into a residence for the visiting General Lafayette. Earlier structures on this site included a French colonial Corps de Garde in 1724 and a prison and criminal court room in 1730; the Corps de Garde was rebuilt in 1751 and burned in 1788, and the remains of its brick walls were incorporated into the present building in 1795. The first Cabildo on this site was built in 1769 by the Spanish governor Don Alexandro O’Reilly and was destroyed in the fire of March 21, 1788. The building was restored from 1966 to 1970 for the Louisiana State Museum.

New Orleans, Louisiana · United States