Great New Orleans Fire (1794)

[1][2] On March 12, 1788, just 6 years prior, 856 buildings had been destroyed in the First Great New Orleans Fire.

Despite widespread fire damage, the new St. Louis Cathedral was not destroyed and was dedicated just two weeks later, on December 23, 1794.

In the aftermath, the schooner Nuestra Señora del Cármen was used as a temporary jail during the period December 10, 1794 to February 26, 1795.

The Spanish occupiers replaced the wooden buildings with structures with courtyards, thick brick walls, arcades, and wrought iron balconies.

[2] In 1795, Don Andrés Almonaster y Rojas agreed to pay for construction of the building now known as the Cabildo.