October 21, 2012
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| The Baroness Herself |
Jackson Square is formed by the St. Louis Church, the
priests’ residence (the “Presbytere”), and the Cabildo on one side, and the
Misssissippi River on the other side. Today, each of the other sides of the
square is framed by the Pontalba buildings, named for the Baroness Almonester
de Pontalba.
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| A Pontalba building next to the Presbytere |
The Baroness’ father was a wealthy landowner in New Orleans in the
early 1800s. The Baroness was married to a cousin at the St. Louis church and moved to
France with her husband, whose father insisted that she sign over her inherited wealth
and land to the Pontalba family. When she refused her father-in-law shot her three times and then killed himself.
Amazingly, she survived, and returned to New Orleans in 1849 to claim her land.
She not only designed the large brick Greek Revival/Empire buildings, but she
reportedly played a big part in the selection of the building materials and
execution of their architectural design.
Each building consists of 32 row houses, with three stories and an
attic. Our guide told us that there is a 3 year waiting list to be able to rent
one of the Pontalba apartments today.
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