Here, on December 20, 1803, French officials transferred the Louisiana Territory to the United States, thereby doubling the size of the young nation and ending France’s New World ambitions. A survivor of wars and fire, the Cabildo symbolizes New Orleans’s unique history as a prize once coveted by three nations.

Begun in 1795 and completed four years later, the Cabildo’s Tuscan columns, arcades, brickwork, and masonry are often seen in eighteenth century Spanish colonial outposts. The building took its name from the Spanish town council, the Illustrious Cabildo, which met here in the capitol house ore Casa Capitular. Following the Louisiana Purchase, it served until 1853 as New Orleans’s city hall and the meeting place of the territorial legislature.

The Cabildo is filled with exhibits tracing the state’s odyssey from a French outpost to a languishing captive of the Union following the Civil War. Note the portraits of important persons that line the grand staircase, each individually labelled.