New Orleans from the Air September 2019 - Central Business District Skyline (cropped)

Photo: George Bannister · CC BY 2.0

History · New Orleans

New Orleans has 192 places on the National Register, 26 of them National Historic Landmarks

Among the most historic 1% of U.S. towns · #1 of 161 in Louisiana. What drives it

Dated to 1718 (Wikidata), with 31% of its homes built before 1940 and 34 historic districts holding 43,399 contributing buildings. Below: 23 old photos and papers, maps from 1885 on, old-book passages, and every listing on the Register.

1718founded

192on the National Register

31%homes built before 1940

23old photos & papers

20famous people

Add an old photo Share a memory

From New Orleans’ archive · credits on each photo

Quick answers

How New Orleans began

When was New Orleans founded?

1718

New Orleans dates its founding to 1718 (Wikidata). Its post office opened in 1804.

2020 census: 383,997308 years

How historic is New Orleans?

A⁺

Among the most historic 1% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓

Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1804.The full story ↓

History grade

What drives New Orleans’ History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, New Orleans is among the most historic 1% of U.S. towns, #1 of 161 in Louisiana. All 3 inputs put New Orleans near the top nationally; its National Register listings ranks highest.

A⁺

HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of New Orleans’ overall grade.

Founding era1718, from Wikidata: founded before 1776, an older era than 96% of U.S. townsA⁺Homes built before 194031.4% of homes (±0.7) · typical LA town 3.4% · U.S. 8.4%A National Register192 listings, 43,399 historic buildings, 1,167 per 10,000 residents · typical LA town 3.8 · U.S. 2.4A⁺

All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Among the top 1%

NewerOlder

Louisiana towns of 2,500+ (161)#1 of 161

Among the 400 U.S. cities of 100,000 or more, New Orleans ranks #10 on History.

Louisiana towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Louisiana town has 3.8 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so New Orleans’ 1,167 sits above most of its state (100% of Louisiana towns have fewer) while its 43,399 historic buildings are more than any other U.S. town’s.

NoteThe founding year comes from Wikidata alone; no second source gives 1718.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would still be A+. The pre-1940 share (±0.7 points) is firm at this size.

Founding year: Wikidata (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →

What stands out about New Orleans’ past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A National Historic Landmark192 places on the National Register, 26 of them National Historic Landmarks.A historic districtThe Uptown New Orleans Historic District takes in 8,744 historic buildings.Lost villages6 post offices opened and closed inside today’s New Orleans, and 55 old place names are still on the map.A town in postcards23 old photos, postcards and papers, 1699–1900.

★ What stands out · On the National Register

192 listings protect 43,399 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. 26 are National Historic Landmarks, the highest tier. Boundary changes and added documentation are counted with their listing.

places listed

192

National Historic Landmarks

Cabildo, The

historic buildings protected

43,399

each building in a district counts

first listed

1966

Cabildo, The

BuildingsDistrictsSitesStructuresObjects★ landmark

Architectural styles listings

Greek Revival28

Italianate27

Colonial Revival13

Bungalow12

Eastlake10

Gothic Revival10

★ Landmark

Cabildo, TheBuilt 1795

★ Landmark

George Washington Cable HouseBuilding

★ Landmark

Jackson SquareBuilt 1721

★ Landmark

Old Ursuline ConventFrench Colonial · Built 1734

★ Landmark

Vieux Carré Historic DistrictDistrict

★ Landmark

Lafitte's Blacksmith ShopBuilding

★ Landmark

Madame John's LegacyFrench Colonial

★ Landmark

Nicholas Girod HouseFrench Colonial

All 194 listings

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

New Orleans’s post office has been open since 1804. Six other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

New Orleans

1804–today

Algiers

1854–1882

Rigolets

1875–1925

Chef Menteur

1879–1880

South Point

1898–1918

Little Woods

1914–1929

Spanish Fort

1925–1936

18001910today

Hamlets and corners on the map

AlgiersAurora GardensBarrington ParkCamp Leroy JohnsonCarrolltonChef MenteurCutoffEast GentillyFaubourg MarignyFerncrestFlamingo Recreational Vehicle and Mobile Home ParkForest IsleGarden DistrictGentillyGentilly TerraceGentilly WoodsGreens DitchGreenvilleHuntington ParkIdlewoodKingswoodLafayetteLake CarmelLake Catherine

Gone or out of use

All Saints Catholic SchoolschoolAllard PlantationlocaleAndrew H Wilson Elementary SchoolschoolAndrew J Bell Junior High SchoolschoolAndrew Jackson Elementary SchoolschoolAnnunciation Catholic ChurchchurchAnnunciation SchoolschoolAurora PlantationlocaleAvery Alexander SchoolschoolBaptist Bible InstituteschoolBarbara Jordan Elementary SchoolschoolBelleville SchoolschoolBienville Elementary SchoolschoolCamp WalkermilitaryCarrollton CourthousebuildingCarrollton SchoolschoolCarter G Woodson Middle SchoolschoolCharles J Colton Middle Schoolschool

45family graveyards and cemeteries inside New Orleans

Ahavas SholemBeth IsraelCarrolltonCathedral Basilica of Saint Louis King of FranceCharity HospitalChrist Church Cathedral ColumbariumCypress GroveDispersed of JudahEureka LodgeFiremensGates of PrayerGirodGreenwoodHebrew RestHoltLafayette Cemetery Number 1Lafayette Cemetery Number 2Lake Lawn ParkLincolnMandevilleMasonicMetairieOdd Fellows RestOld Congregation Chevra ThilmOliverOur Lady of the Holy Cross MausoleumResthaven Memorial ParkSaint BartholomewSaint John Cemetery Hope MausoleumSaint Joseph Cemetery Number 1Saint Joseph Cemetery Number 2Saint Louis Cemetery Number 1Saint Louis Cemetery Number 2Saint Louis Cemetery Number 3Saint MarySaint MarySaint Patrick Cemetery 3Saint Roch Cemetery 1Saint Roch Cemetery 2Saint Vincent Cemetery 1Saint Vincent Cemetery 2Saint Vincent De PaulUrsuline MausoleumValence StreetValient

See all 45

Ahavas Sholem Cemetery · Beth Israel Cemetery · Carrollton Cemetery · Cathedral Basilica of Saint Louis King of France Cemetery · Charity Hospital Cemetery · Christ Church Cathedral Columbarium Cemetery · Cypress Grove Cemetery · Dispersed of Judah Cemetery · Eureka Lodge Cemetery · Firemens Cemetery · Gates of Prayer Cemetery · Girod Cemetery · Greenwood Cemetery · Hebrew Rest Cemetery · Holt Cemetery · Lafayette Cemetery Number 1 · Lafayette Cemetery Number 2 · Lake Lawn Park Cemetery · Lincoln Cemetery · Mandeville Cemetery · Masonic Cemetery · Metairie Cemetery · Odd Fellows Rest Cemetery · Old Congregation Chevra Thilm Cemetery · Oliver Cemetery · Our Lady of the Holy Cross Mausoleum Cemetery · Resthaven Memorial Park Cemetery · Saint Bartholomew Cemetery · Saint John Cemetery Hope Mausoleum Cemetery · Saint Joseph Cemetery Number 1 · Saint Joseph Cemetery Number 2 · Saint Louis Cemetery Number 1 · Saint Louis Cemetery Number 2 · Saint Louis Cemetery Number 3 · Saint Mary Cemetery · Saint Mary Cemetery · Saint Patrick Cemetery 3 · Saint Roch Cemetery 1 · Saint Roch Cemetery 2 · Saint Vincent Cemetery 1 · Saint Vincent Cemetery 2 · Saint Vincent De Paul Cemetery · Ursuline Mausoleum · Valence Street Cemetery · Valient Cemetery

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

The story

How New Orleans came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of New Orleans.

Read it all →

La Nouvelle-Orléans (New Orleans) was founded in the spring of 1718 by the French Mississippi Company under Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville, on land traditionally inhabited by the Chitimacha people. The city was named for Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, then-regent of the Kingdom of France whose title derived from the French city of Orléans. As a colony, French Louisiana faced conflict with Native American tribes navigating rival European powers. In 1729, the Natchez revolt erupted with an attack on Fort Rosalie, resulting in the deaths of over 200 French colonists. Governor Étienne Perier launched a retaliatory campaign that effectively destroyed the Natchez people, but it soured relations between France and the territory's Native Americans leading directly into the Chickasaw Wars of the 1730s.

ChaptersFrench–Spanish colonial era United States territorial era Battle of New Orleans and antebellum period Civil War–Reconstruction era Jim Crow era 20th century 21st century

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

From the old history books

What they wrote about New Orleans in 1915

Passages that mention New Orleans, cut from the printed page as they were published.

**The story of the battle of New Orleans**1915Read the page →
Read the text
tory and march the army back to Mobile and to New Orleans. The General, after having made some dispositions at Mobile for the protection of that place, set out on the 21st of November by land for New Orleans."
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.

Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

Timeline

New Orleans, 1699 to 1924

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

17th century
1699In the archiveExploration du cour du Mississippi et fondation de la Louisiane en 1682-1699
18th century
1718
FoundingNew Orleans is established
1721BuiltJackson Square is built
1727In the archiveArrival of the Ursulines New Orleans 1727 (cropped)
1734BuiltOld Ursuline Convent is built
1750In the archiveDepartcassettegirls
1795BuiltCabildo, The is built
19th century
1804Post officeThe New Orleans post office opens
1814In the archiveLafitteClaiborneJackson
1851In the archiveBird's eye view of
1854Post officeThe Algiers post office opens
1855BuiltSt. Alphonsus Church is built
1860In the archiveView of the famous levee of New Orleans, the capital of Louisiana, which commencing 43 mi…
1875Post officeThe Rigolets post office opens
1882Post officeThe Algiers post office closes
1891On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
20th century
1901Born hereLouis Armstrong is born here
1924Born hereTruman Capote is born here

By decade

New Orleans, decade by decade

9 decades in the archive, from the 1690s to the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1690s–1750s4 items

Exploration du cour du Mississippi et fondation de la Louisiane en 1682-1699

1699Exploration du cour du Mississippi et fondation de la…Document

1727Arrival of the Ursulines New Orleans 1727 (cropped)Document

1727Arrival of the Ursulines New Orleans 1727Document

1750DepartcassettegirlsDocument

1810s1 item

1814LafitteClaiborneJacksonDocument

1850s–1870s6 items

1851Bird's eye view of

1857New-Orleans (Louisiana)

View of the famous levee of New Orleans, the capital of Louisiana, which commencing 43 miles below passes through the (…

1860View of the famous levee of New Orleans, the capital …

1860Mechanic's Institute

1873Federal Soldiery on St Louis Street New orleans 1873

Louisiana, the withdrawal of the federal troops from the state house in New Orleans, at noon, on April 24th

1877Louisiana, the withdrawal of the federal troops from …

1890s5 items

1890HennessySceneOfTheAssassination

1890–1920Oyster Boats

1890Royal St

1895DrTichenorsAntisepticMarchCover

1898The Lugger Landing

1900s7 items

1900–1910ColiseumParkCardPostcard

c. 1900Evening on Bayou St.JohnPostcard

1900sPostcardNewOrleansDistrict CBMasonPostcard

c. 1900Rx King of the Carnival APostcard

1900–1915SingleStackAgiersFerryCardPostcard

1900–1905UrsulineConventHillPostcardPostcard

1900New Orleans milk cart

1910s–1990snothing yet

Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Add from your album

On the map

New Orleans on the map, 1891 to 1992

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of New Orleans. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

1891New Orleans sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of New Orleans.

Every building

New Orleans, building by building, 1885–1908

Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.

New Orleans fire insurance map, 1885, sheet 2

1885Sheet 2 of 61

Edition

Sheets

+60 more at the Library of Congress

BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Retake this viewBird's eye view of, 1851

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on New Orleans’ page.

Retake this view · +15

Famous people

20 famous people were born in New Orleans

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →

Louis ArmstrongAmerican jazz musician, trumpeter and singer · b. 1901

Truman CapoteAmerican writer · b. 1924

Reese WitherspoonAmerican actress · b. 1976

Richard SimmonsAmerican fitness instructor and video producer · b. 1948

Lee Harvey OswaldAmerican former marine who assassinated John F.… · b. 1939

Anne RiceAmerican author · b. 1941

Help out

Finish New Orleans’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos

00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s

1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.

Retake an old viewBird's eye view of: stand where they stood+15 Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Gretna6 historic placesA MerauxIts storyD⁻MarreroIts storyD TerrytownIts storyD Metairie1 historic placeC⁻Chalmette2 historic placesB Arabi3 historic placesB⁺Jefferson3 historic placesC⁺VioletIts storyD Poydras1 historic placeC

Questions about New Orleans’ history

What year was New Orleans founded?

In 1718, according to Wikidata. New Orleans’ post office opened in 1804.

How does New Orleans rank for history?

New Orleans is among the most historic 1% of U.S. towns, #1 of 161 in Louisiana. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.

What is on the National Register in New Orleans?

192 listings, 26 of them National Historic Landmarks: 144 buildings, among them the Cabildo, The (a National Historic Landmark since 1960), 36 historic districts with 43,173 contributing buildings, 5 sites, 8 structures, and 1 object. 43,399 historic buildings in all.

How old are the homes in New Orleans?

31% of New Orleans’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 3.4% for a Louisiana town; the median home was built in 1960.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →

Start a conversation

Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

From Wikimedia Commons (19), the Library of Congress (4), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (194), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.

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New Orleans has 192 places on the National Register, 26 of them National Historic Landmarks

How New Orleans began

When was New Orleans founded?

How historic is New Orleans?

What drives New Orleans’ History grade

What stands out about New Orleans’ past

192 listings protect 43,399 historic buildings

Architectural styles listings

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

How New Orleans came to be

What they wrote about New Orleans in 1915

New Orleans, 1699 to 1924

New Orleans, decade by decade

New Orleans on the map, 1891 to 1992

New Orleans, building by building, 1885–1908

Stand where they stood

20 famous people were born in New Orleans

Finish New Orleans’s story

History across the town line

Questions about New Orleans’ history

Memory lane

Where this page comes from