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| Photo courtesy of www.gibbsconstruction.com |
6400 St.Claude Ave.
New Orleans, LA 70116
29.958366,-90.007172
One thing we have learned so far is that New Orleans and the surrounding areas have seen their fair share of war. Dating as far back as 1722 the first rudimentary wooden barracks were erected on St. Peter and St. Anne Streets, fronting the Place d'Armes. After 1727, the barracks were moved to the square on Conde Street, now Chartres Street. These French Quarter barracks housed, in turn, the garrisons (French, Spanish and American troops) for over a century. In 1828, the barracks were used to quarter the United States Garrison for New Orleans. The United States Government sold the property in 1828 and New Orleans was without a garrison or barracks.
After the War of 1812, the U.S. Congress realized coastal cities were not properly defended, so they signed the Federal Fortifications Act in 1832, funding thousands of dollars to purchase land and build new barracks. On December 16, 1833 the original piece of land for this new fortification was purchased from Pierre Cotteret in the area that is now known as the Lower Ninth Ward. Construction was complete in 1836 and the location was officially called the New Orleans Barracks. The name was later changed to the Jackson Barracks, in honor of New Orleans hero, Andrew Jackson. It housed four infantry companies and came equipped with a prison, a storehouse and four 3-story guard towers, all surrounded by the river, levee and a ten foot tall brick wall.
