Lafayette Square (New Orleans)

The park was designed in 1788 by Charles Laveau Trudeau aka Don Carlos Trudeau (1743–1816), Surveyor General of Louisiana under the Spanish government; who later served as New Orleans' acting mayor in 1812, after Louisiana statehood.

From 1834 to 1938 First Presbyterian Church of New Orleans occupied much of the Western side of the square and was the tallest steeple in the city.

It was from this steeple that General Benjamin Butler used the bell to ring curfew during the occupation of New Orleans (1862–65) during the American Civil War.

Most of the architectural elements (including the bell) were moved to First Presbyterian's subsequent location at the corner of South Claiborne and Jefferson Avenues in New Orleans.

A group of neighborhood residents and downtown workers formed a charitable organization, the Lafayette Square Conservancy, to transform it into a premier urban space.

1854
2010