The Transformation of Jackson Square

The Louisiana State Museum's Cabildo hosts the exhibit, "The Baroness de Pontalba and the Rise of Jackson Square" coming full circle as a host of New Orleans history.

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The New Orleans Cabildo has served as the site for a number of monumental historical events. Thomas Jefferson signed on the dotted line for the deal of all deals there in 1803 and doubled the size of the United States with the Louisiana Purchase. When the building housed the Louisiana Supreme Court from 1868 to 1910, the appeal for the landmark case Plessy v. Ferguson was heard there. Now, it’s home to the Louisiana State Museum, chronicling the history of our state’s movers and shakers. Currently on exhibit, The Baroness de Pontalba and the Rise of Jackson Square recounts the lesser-known legacy of one of Louisiana’s most formidable trailblazers and the transformation of Jackson Square from a “rather scruffy parade ground” into an impressive, elegant public space, said exhibit curator Randolph Delehanty. The riveting history will come to life on September 7 at Country Roads’ Supper Club, “The Pontalba Experience.”

[Read about the special Creole menu we've prepared for "The Pontalba Experience" Supper Club, created by New Orleans culinary icon, Chef Dickie Brennan himself.]

“There has essentially been no change to Jackson Square since 1851,” said Delehanty. “It is one of the most highly regarded formal urban spaces in the United States, and in my interpretation it is the inheritance of a father and his daughter.”

It’s true, the story of the Cabildo cannot be told without first untangling the story of the Baroness de Pontalba and her wealthy father—and New Orleans’ first philanthropist—Don Andrés Almonester. Born Micaela Leonarda Antonia de Almonester Rojas y de la Ronde and raised a French-speaking Creole aristocrat with Spanish blood, the Baroness de Pontalba embodied the diverse influences of her native land as Louisiana shifted from Spanish to French to American control in the 18th and early 19th centuries. Prized family heirlooms are now on display in the same halls once strolled by the Baroness herself. While Delehanty procured many of the exhibit’s artifacts through local court records and public library archives, other items, such as drawings, documents, and personal belongings, endured transatlantic travel from the Pontalba family home in France, Château Mont-l’Évêque. 

[Read about how we're bringing this history—of the Baroness and her family—to life for our most dramatic Supper Club yet.]

The exhibit includes tidbits of New Orleans history even the most seasoned local may not know, like the murky mystery surrounding the true architect of the Pontalba buildings, as well as the indelible imprint of the Baroness still visible on the buildings’ wrought iron balconies today. You may not see her mark immediately, but take a closer look and there it is—she’s been there all along. 

We hope you'll join us for Country Roads' "The Pontalba Experience" Supper Club on September 7 at the Louisiana State Museum Cabildo in Jackson Square. Tickets are available at bontempstix.com.