The city of New Orleans was founded by the French in the early 1700s, ruled for 40 years by the Spanish, and declared territory of the United States in 1803 with the Louisiana Purchase.

During the Spanish period, starting in 1763, the laws allowed for a free people of color or gens de colour.

Being near many waterways, New Orleans was able to easily import and export goods to and from the Caribbean, South America, and Europe.

With New Orleans' growth as a major port city in the 19th century, many neighborhoods began to develop as people migrated to the more promising areas.

[2] “The area has a proud history as home to one of the country's largest populations of free people of color before the Civil War.” GNOCDC.

By the late 1920s, St. Roch was considered a “low-key”, serene, racially mixed residential section of New Orleans.

Peter Leonard Thevis, arrived in New Orleans, turning to Saint Roch, the patron of good health.

Promising that if no one in the parish died from the epidemic, he would build a chapel in honor of Saint Roch, Rev.

To give his thanks, Thevis built a chapel as a shrine, and a cemetery as a final resting place for his parishioners.

The St. Roch shrine, cemetery, and chapel have served as landmarks and places for many New Orleanians to continue traditions.

In response to this, the residents of the area protested heavily in order to stop the city from tearing down the market.

The market was doing well, selling fresh seafood for years and having one portion used as a restaurant as the Chinese immigrants who operated it desired, until it was practically destroyed in 2005 by Hurricane Katrina.

Years after the destruction, the city of New Orleans began their attempts to rebuild the market to restore it to its previous state or better.

They wanted to use a dozen stalls in order to provide space so local vendors could sell their fresh foods along with kitchen staples at affordable prices.

The goal the group is trying to achieve is to create a market that will be open six days a week where residents of the St. Roch neighborhood and the surrounding area could go buy both seasonal local produce.

Despite its lofty ideals, it has come under fire since opening for failing to provide groceries, charging excessive rents to vendors, being prohibitively expensive for the overwhelming majority of local residents, and exploiting federal relief money for the enrichment of its private founders.

The total area of is 1.255 square miles with a population of 6,575 with 5,239 individuals being African American based on the 2011 census.

The St. Roch Market was devastated by the flood waters of Hurricane Katrina, but in July 2012, Mayor Mitch Landrieu initiated the remodeling of the abandoned marketplace.

Over the years, farmers have stopped going to the market to sell their good; other vendors such as crawfish sellers and po-boy makers have taken their place.

The newly renovated marketplace will[needs update] also feature an art walk which guides visitors to the St. Roch Park.

[citation needed] The wind and flood waters from Hurricane Katrina damaged most of the structures in the neighborhood.

The City of New Orleans has begun several projects to repair the damage done to this neighborhood by Hurricane Katrina.

The majority of these projects involve cleaning up this neighborhood and ridding it of the debris left by Hurricane Katrina.

The city plans on repaving the roads in St. Roch because the flood waters left the pavement uneven with countless potholes.

[16][17] The city is also doing everything in its power[citation needed] to help reduce the amount of crime that the neighborhood has been experiencing recently.[when?

Many people do not let their children play at the St. Roch park because of the amount of violence happening in the area lately.[when?

They are not having much success,[citation needed] but the citizens of this neighborhood still have hope that one day the amount of crime in this area will decrease.