In 1822, Charles Sanford started buying up parcels of land on Canal and Laurens St. to create a new business center on the northern edge of the city.

[5] On February 27, 1825 the first ever Hippodramatic show on American soil premiered at the Lafayette when the last two acts of Richard III were staged with horses.

[8] Lafayette Circus was the first American theatre specifically designed for hippodrama, followed by the Philadelphia Amphitheater and the Baltimore Roman Amphitheatre.

[9] The shows attracted lower classes, laborers and seamen,[10] "ready to riot at the slightest provocations";[11] "in fact, much of recorded rowdyism of the mid-1820s" took place at Lafayette Circus.

[13] Notable public disturbances and gang fights were recorded in December 1825 and in July 1826, when a watchman attempting to expel a prostitute barely escaped from the mob.