"the culture of the Creoles and the free persons of color is rooted, to a large extent, in Tremé and the sixth ward, which were substantially developed in the late nineteenth century."

Office of Policy Planning, New Orleans, 1978

Faubourg Tremé

In New Orleans, the Faubourg Tremé lies north of the Vieux Carré within an area generally agreed to lie between Canal St., North Broad St., Saint Bernard St., and North Rampart St. and encapsulates the site currently occupied by St. Louis I (see Site History). The Faubourg Tremé is significant to the history of the United States as it is one of the oldest neighborhoods in the nation to continuously house "free people of color." For this reason, it is said that "the culture of the Creoles and the free persons of color is rooted, to a large extent, in Tremé and the sixth ward, which were substantially developed in the late 19th century."1

The area to become Faubourg Tremé was first developed in 1725, when Chevalier Charles de Morand, an employee of the Company of the Indies, established the city's first brickyard in the area of Bayou Road above Claiborne.2 Soon afterwards, Morand purchased the brickyard and much of its surrounding land and developed a large plantation upon the grounds, while continuing to manufacture bricks. At this time his holdings included the area surrounded by what is currently North Rampart, Claiborne Ave., and Bayou Road. In 1756 Morand extended his holdings to include the area bounded by Governor Nicholls, St. Bernard, Galvez, and Rampart, and in 1774 his era came to a close when he sold his land to Pablo Moro and his wife Julie Prevot.3 By 1780, most of the area had been acquired by Claude Treme, the husband of Madame Moro's granddaughter and the namesake of the area. This land was given further value when in 1794, the Baron de Carondelet, Spanish Governor of Louisiana, decided to create a canal, "half a league long" from Bayou St. John to the town.4

The Canal ended in a square basin, to allow boats to turn, at what is currently the intersection of St. Louis and Basin Streets (see map below). Basin Street was later created and then widened by the Navigation Company of New Orleans to accommodate better travel to Canal Street in the 1820s. Until the construction of the New Basin Canal, the Carondelet Canal served as the only means of transporting products produced on the north shore of the lake to the city. The terminus of the canal in Tremé was used as a landing depot for schooners carrying lumber, firewood, charcoal, and other commodities. Warehouses soon appeared along the canal's borders in Tremé to store these goods.

The Canal gave the area some commercial viability and soon Claude Tremé began to subdivide his plantation for further development. In 1798, Christoval T. de Armas purchased a portion of the plantation below Bayou Road, and in 1799, Tremé began subdividing his remaining land. In 1810, the remainder of the Tremé plantation was sold to the Corporation of New Orleans for $40,000 and by 1816, the city was selling this land in smaller subdivided lots for a profit.5 These lots were sold to both white people and free people of color, most of whom were either the children of white men or individuals who fled the slave uprisings in the West Indies. The free men of color who resided in Tremé were often musicians, craftsmen, and artisans. It was at this point in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries that this suburb began to establish itself as a unique neighborhood of mixed ethnicities.

1. Office of Policy Planning, Sixth Ward / Tremé / Lafitte Profile (City of New Orleans: The Historic New Orleans Collection, December 1978). Back

2. Samuel Wilson, Jr. The Vieux Carré New Orleans Its Plan, Its Growth, Its Architecture. Historic District Demonstration Study, Conducted by Bureau of Governmental Research New Orleans, Louisican for the City of New Orleans, 1968, 23. Back

3. Office of Policy Planning, Sixth Ward / Tremé / Lafitte Profile (City of New Orleans: The Historic New Orleans Collection, December 1978). Back

4.Robert J. Cangelosi, Which Way Tremé? An Architectural Terminal Project (Baton Rouge: LSU Department of Architecture, 1975). Back

5. Office of Policy Planning, Sixth Ward / Tremé / Lafitte Profile (City of New Orleans: The Historic New Orleans Collection, December 1978). Back