The 1788 Great Fire of New Orleans
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- Опубліковано 9 лют 2025
- French Quarter dot com, notes: “ Looking at the vibrant, festive Quarter with millions of visitors annually, it is hard to imagine the devastation of Holy Saturday morning in 1788. Smoking ruins stretched from Chartres to Dauphine Street, and from Conti to St. Philip.” The 1788 great fire of New Orleans deserves to be remembered.
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Script by THG
#history #thehistoryguy #NewOrleans
I am from New Orleans and graduated from Ursuline Academy and we have a history with that fire. Look up the Shrine of Our Lady of Prompt Succor. The tradition goes that the nuns were asked to pray for intervention to Our Lady and the fire subsided (and didn't burn the convent). The convent is one of the only buildings from French Louisiana that survived the fires and is still standing.
YYR.
Another example of a historical occurrence that I knew nothing about before today. Thank you, THG. 👍
They sure can't blame Mrs O'leary and her cow this time!
But they can still blame George Bush.
@@dougearnest7590 You mean Jorge Bush !
I notice THG often chooses a historical topic that occurred on the date he intends the presentation, in this case March 21st.
It might be fun to visit one of those “This Day in History” type sites and try to guess what that days topic might be. However
THG is so good at digging up really obscure history, there’s a good chance it won’t be found on any “This Day in History” sites!
Competent and efficient government . . . what a concept. We should try that.
Na.
Most people in government would say it already is.
@@scotcoon1186 And, of course, they would never, ever lie or shade the truth. 😇
Ruled by a king. Maybe that's best. Every herd has a leader and we are herd animals.
There will always be humans involved so forget it.
I've thought for a long minute that New Orleans is really just passed over for history, even though it's probably on the same level as Boston and Philadelphia in terms of importance to history.
It's great to know this. New Orleans is and always will be strong.
I am from Pittsburgh, PA and yeah, since we are in an odd spot where we could be "Northeast" OR even "Midwest" (depending on what mood we are in, LOL) We DID get a lot of Boston and Philly history in school, BUT we also got taught the historical significance of more southern cities like Baltimore ("Balto" is also in an "odd spot" Some don't count it as "southern", But it IS below the M&D line..) Atlanta, New Orleans, St. Augustine and Newport News. We also got a good bit of history of "newer" cities like Detroit and Chicago - I'm thinking we learned a good bit about the last two due to them (like Pittsburgh) being important in terms of Industrial and Labor history.
Nah..
NOLA is no Boston or Philadelphia .
Never a center of Science , Industry or Political discourse.
@@donlove3741 I mean moreso that nowadays Boston or Philadelphia isn't one of the cities people talk about, even though they are historically significant. It's always New York and L.A. If there's a third it's often Chicago, though it could also be San Francisco, Miami, or any of the big 3 in Texas.
Just like Boston and Philadephia, their histories are forgotten, and only mentioned whenever they're pertinent.
However, New Orleans is just as historically important to the history of this nation as the other cities I have mentioned here, and, if you doubt it, I suggest you do some reading. Wikipedia is a great place to start.
When I was a member of the 156th Army Band, LAARNG, we did our Annual Training at Jackson Barracks in New Orleans, which meant spending our free time in the evenings (When we weren’t performing, that is) exploring and enjoying the great city! It’s a very unique metropolis! For example, Jackson Barracks is the oldest continuously occupied military base in the continental United States, and home to one of its oldest military units, the Washington Artillery.
I am from New Orleans and this video still taught me things about Mirro and others. The name is famous because of the street named after him also never thought of the CBD as a suburb. That’s LOL funny now. Thanks History Guy! I have subscribed for several years.
Lawrenceville in Pittsburgh, PA was a suburb once, (I grew up there and it's about as "suburban" as Queens, NY. LOL), Pittsburgh's largest single neighborhood, (Squirrel Hill ) was taxed as "rural" until the early 20th Century! and Pittsburgh's North Side was an entirely separate city once. Cities often "spilled over" and annexed their former suburbs, BUT, New Orleans is the FIRST case I have EVER heard of where the Central Business District ("Downtown") was the ADDITION! That's a neat bit of urban history!
Thanks!
thank you for this story for i was born in new orleans in 1951 as are my ancestors.their bones rest in our many cemeteries.i thank you again for what you do.this old paw-paw loves these videos.
I just love the use of language in that era when people used the sound and shape of words to great effect. Marvelous story!
Having visited New Orleans i can say that there generosity is forthright and genuine . and when the band is playin theys dancin.
Splendid 👍👍
from a southeast Louisiana native, thank you!
I know from firsthand experience during the Katrina disaster that the leadership of the city in 2005 paled in comparison to that exhibited in 1788. Thanks for reminding us of this nearly forgotten history.
I agree, the lack of leadership made that disaster even worse than what it could have been.
LOL , so you have 1st hand experience of the 1788 fire ??? You would have to be 250 years old !!! What seafoods have you been smoking ?
@@Bobby007D If you read my comments correctly you will see I was referring to the Katrina disaster, which I did have firsthand experience in dealing with because I was on the command and control staff at the Pentagon that coordinated the relief effort from start to finish. I was comparing our national and local response efforts during Katrina with those the History Guy described in his video.
@@Paladin1873Oh ! I read your comment correctly . The way you wrote the comment implies that you were at both events and were comparing one experience, with another experience. I mean , how do you know it paled in comparison & do you think it's objective comparing the 2 disasters in the first place ???
@@Bobby007D Use critical thinking skills. Notice I prefaced my comment by mentioning my experience during Katrina in 2005. I never said or implied I was present in 1788. You have stretched reasoning beyond credulity.
This may be my favorite of the historical stories you have shared with us. Heartening to hear tales of communities standing together in the face of devastation and much more so to learn of leaders who actually stood with the most affected to help make things livable again.
And with this, I have finally caught up and watched every video uploaded by The History Guy! Thank you sir, for sharing all of these fascinating bits of forgotten history!
As a native I highly recommend visiting the The Historic New Orleans Collection (THNOC) at 533 Royal Street in the French Quarter. The building is one of the only ones to survive a later major fire. It is a private collection and it's fabulous. The extensive collection of historical documents at their Williams Research Center is deep and unrivaled in New Orleans history. They also publish great books. For an interesting read on the history of New Orleans thru its street names, check out "Frenchman, Desire, Good Children and Other Streets of New Orleans" by John Chase.
@DramaTube I don't disagree. I moved away 30 years ago because my old historic Carrolton neighborhood became crime ridden and unsafe.
Frenchman is where its at! I tell people looking to visit not to miss it! The food, music, park & night market. ❤
I am absolutely shocked! I can’t believe that you posted a video about New Orleans when I’m back in Houston for school! I was just in New Orleans visiting the National World War Two Museum with my Mom, Dad, Nana (my mom’s mother), and Paw-Paw (my mom’s father)!
Went there last year, it's awesome!
@@everydayhero5076, amen, brother! Yeah, it is!
Another story told brilliantly you sure are a excellent storyteller thank you
Informative, entertaining, and well presented.
All of his vids are this good. Best thing to happen to historical docs since the "History" Channel died!
Thank you for this episode about the history of my great state that deserves to be remembered.
As someone who was born outside of New Orleans, I'm ashamed to say I didn't realize why there was so much Spanish architecture in the French Quarter. Most people realize it's there. But don't really think about why.Thank you again history guy, for the lesson..
Every public official should be required to learn about Gov. Miro!
I once attended a panel at a convention where a couple of ghost tour guides told is stories about New Orleans. I don’t doubt that there was some creative license taken with the stories of hauntings (whether you consider them true or manufactured), but I know enough of the city to know that they really didn’t have to embellish the stories behind them. New Orleans has seen things.
I live here in N’Awlins and you are very true to the fabrications of the stories. However though mostly like you say with creative licenses, the stories have been passed on for so long they are now legend. And they are good stories. But it is funny, I was sitting on a balcony in the Quarter at a friends place and he lived in a building where the ghost tour guys would stop and tell the tail to a rather large group of people. They did it with the donkey drawn carriages too.
That night I hear about 8 different stories not even remotely connected in any way. Some I’ve heard before but are the tales of different buildings and not the one we were in. Some more elaborate of the same story, and and some thing I wanted to yell down and say “what the hell are you talking about?” But it was a funny thing to witness. An old writer from here from years back wrote some great and simple to read and understandable books about the city that are just fantastic. Buddy Stall. If your interested. Have a good day.
I took a ghost tour of the French Quarter a few years ago. Heard some fascinating stories, although more along the lines of true crime than ghostly.
I love some of the ghost stories. There is one, at what used to be O'Flaherty's Irish Channel Pub at 508 Toulouse. It's a story of a illicit love affair, the killing of the mistress and then the suicide of her lover because a young boy saw him kill the woman. We spent a lot of time in NOLA when my husband was doing computer jobs for the Saints. We used to go to the pub every time we were there. Sadly, Danny O'Flaherty did not reopen the pub after Katrina. When I was working on my first novel (a vampire, of course), I put that pub and the ghosts in the book. It was such fun sitting and thinking about the place and our good times in the city. We even did our honeymoon there, working the game, in 1993.
I had heard of the fire, but not particulars, this channel is awesome. I'm a historian and I love learning things about places and people. :)
Holy crap! just a few hours after watching this, A tornado hit New Orleans. 😳I hope everyone there is OK.
I had heard of the great fire of new orleans but I never knew the details. Thank you for posting. I check everyday to see if The History Guy has a new post.
Fascinating history. Thank you THG
Keep up the good work tHG, can't believe it's been 3 years for me, time flies!
Thanks for doing an episode on my city. There is so much history in this area for a year's worth of THG. Between lynching of innocent Italians, slave uprisings, pirates, military history and many more stories could fill volumes.
An interesting story of government working well. Louisiana is a state with many accents. During the time I lived there in the late '60s, my recollection is that people from the city did not pronounce the name as a single word with a harsh southern accent, but as two distinct words with more of a soft southern accent - something like New Ohluns, perhaps dragging out the Oh for awhile.
Thank you for this well documented story of the New Orleans fire. I worked in "the big easy" off and on for several years. It is a city unlike any other city in the U.S. I loved my time there.
A history of Mardi Gras would be amazing! I love your narrations.
I had no idea. Thanks for sharing this @
Wow. Fascinating
That fire 🔥 was big at the time.
Nice to wake up to another fun history lesson, thanks.
Only been there once but I enjoyed my visit and plan on going back. Nice people, great food, music and beverages.
Thank you.
I learned something today, thanks to you!
Gotta love the map at 1:53 - "Wandering Indians and Maneaters". Is that the old USA version of "Here be dragons"?
After Desoto expedition disease spread all along the Mississippi. Cultures, cities, and the way of life was erased as 9 out of 10 people died.
By the time the French settled the area savages and reminents of great tribes was all that was left.
Desoto wrote about 500 cities along the Mississippi
The next outsiders were french almost 100 yrs later and they wrote about 50 villiges along the Mississippi.
Here be man eaters
I noticed that too, haha. And it’s written where modern day south east Texas and southwest Louisiana are located. You should read about the ‘neutral area’, lots of outlaws in the 1800’s hid out there.
@@mikehaynes1769 - I'm sure that would make a great video. IIRC the U.S. and Spain were about to go to war over the disputed territory when cooler heads prevailed and both commanders agreed it wasn't worth the deaths that would ensue, so both sides stayed in their respective territory. While their agreement prevented a war, it did leave a substantial amount of turf with no government and therefore no law.
@@mikehaynes1769 don't forget the Cajuns...and man eaters did exist in the form of 🐊
I love history and I love you, so you make it so interesting and you’ve told me stuff I’ve never known before, and I’ve read just about every thing in history, contemporary history, that I can not to mention the rest is history not to mention the stuff we forgot about thank you thank you thank you thank you, thank you love your channel man❤❤❤❤❤
Being from NAWLINS, I can tell you that that was the last time there was ever Any honest politician in this city. Thanks for the walk down memory lane. Hadn't heard this story since 7th grade La. History. I'm 60 now, It's been a while
Such is the way of democracy. Democracy is always messy, and authoritarianism works as great as the authority is at the moment...
I am 60 as well, born and raised in NOLA and I have never heard any locals pronounce the city’s name as “Nawlins”…. If you mean the aw here rhyming with paw… I’m sure you pronounce it as I do as more of an Orlins .. some of us pronounce it is one syllable like Norlins and others pronounce the new a little more.
Anyway, I just wanted to clarify that for the tourists who usually give them selves away when they say New Orleens. 😊
You left out our unique and exquisite cuisine in your intro. :) As usual I thoroughly enjoyed the episode. Keep up the great work.
Great work as always , THG ! Appreciate you doing a video on my hometown
thanks
I just returned from my first visit to New Orleans. I expected a dirty,crime ridden ghetto. I could NOT have been more wrong. The most unusual city i ever saw ..it was FANTASTIC and hope to return next February
The timing of the fire explains the distinctly Spanish architecture that is characteristic of the French Quarter. Thanks for posting.
1788, the final year we saw a "competent government official".
Preach! I learned a lot about Miro that I didn’t know. Its funny how people like him understood disaster recovery better than modern leaders. Where are these types of people now? Think about the current mayor and the others before her? Just crooks and idiots all the way down like some kind of disturbing Native American creation story.
Sad , but true
New Orleans has come down a long way since than.
I live in the New Orleans area. Bravo on your pronunciation! While your rendering of the way we pronounce the city may be just a bit overdone, you get extra credit for “mispronouncing” Chartres St correctly. Well done. Now try Tchoupitoulas. :)
Great history of effective leadership in the face of disaster.
Excellent story that needed to be told. However, I’m surprised you did an entire story about colonial New Orleans and didn’t mention pirates, because every story is better if it has pirates, and they are a big part of New Orleans history.
He will next time. Good point
The first census of Louisiana lists only two occupations for the eighty or so white men present: 'runners of the woods' and bucaneers.
🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥👀 Thanks THG🎀👍👍👍
Lestat de Lioncourt & Louis de Pointe du Lac accidentally started that fire. They were never charged, because they were never caught.
I Love History!
1:35 "... safe from tidal surges, and hurricanes." That hasn't aged well...
I was a New Orleans tour guide for many years Alcide Nunez was my great great grandfather.
Hello from Slidell Louisiana
First, most appropriate intro since the one on wine. Looks very much like falling ashes.
As a Canadian, it's somewhat surprising to have Louisiana being refereed to as "New France." We're used to this being applied to Quebec and, when we remember about it, the Acadia. The fact it also included, at it's height, the Island of Newfoundland, the Great Lakes basin, and most of the Mississippi River basin, is usually forgotten about.
The British kicked the French Acadians out and so they sailed down here to Louisiana. They didn't mesh well with the New Orleans creole culture so they settled in the outskirts, in the Atchafalaya Basin, along the coast, and in the prairie - where they developed their own unique culture, now known as Cajuns.
As we watch this Ukraine burns. I am reminded of what my father taugt me about the lesson and hope of history: This, too, will pass away.
Imagine if the government had responded similarly after Hurricane Katrina instead of how they did, moving a lot of poor people out of New Orleans to places like Seattle, and putting a lot of stress on their resources. The waiting list for public housing increased from two to five years because they have people from the projects in New Orleans precedence. I was lucky to get into pubic housing two years before, but think it was unfair to everyone how it was handled.
“but the quick action of a competent government official”
Does not compute.
I’ve never heard of de la salle referred to as cavelier…very interesting.
7:13 Blankets for the Indians just sounds sooooo sinister.
The Governor got A+ performing his duties.Wish more public servants like him.In every nation of this earth.
Must visit Norlins some time.
I had no idea of the Spanish influence in New Orleans.
In May 1978 I was visiting New Orleans (love the city) when walking through downtown there were sudden fire alarms and six fire engines roared up to a building just off Bourbon street. Apparently, there had been an electrical short in the Voodoo Museum less than half a block from where I was leading to a smoky but otherwise uneventful fire. I learned afterwards that any fire report in la Vieaux Carriere was an automatic 6 alarm fire because they are that afraid of losing it.
Geesh! I had no idea
Great video , Thank you for sharing ! At 1:21 in the map , what was " Wandering Indians and Man-eaters " ? Hope you and your loved ones have a great/safe week !
Jean-Baptiste LeMoyne, was known as "D'Iberville", was the son of Charles Lemoyne, a "Seigneur" or lord, with a large slice of land across the St-Lawrence river from Montreal. D'iberville, was born there, and had a colorful life that took him from the arctic to the tropics
There is a D'Iberville street in Montreal and a Metro station there named for him.
That would be a cool episode for THG!
@@wilfdarr episode-s about Montreal's origins, Longueuil, Boucherville
things were happening in the 17th century
@@StargazerFromBC Too true. I find history so interesting, it's just bizarre to me that Alberta curriculum is so effective at making it so mind numbingly boring!
@@wilfdarr it isn't just Alberta. Ontario too. Let's face it though, as kids we want to learn about great battles and feats of bravery. Canadian history is voyageurs, people ignoring the natives when they are not bringing them furs and lots of people talking
That Spanish Governor was exactly the right man for the job at that time. Let's hope New Orleans gives him his proper due.
I'd love to hear about the Chicago fire 🔥
Hey Hi Guy 👋🤓,if you were there what would you have rescued?
My family and my cats.
@@TheHistoryGuyChannel Best answer ever! The true necessities.
@@TheHistoryGuyChannel Agree, but my cat would hide for hours, at the appearance, of the dreaded cat carrier, and when the apartment fire alarm, would go off! 🥴
Apologies for an off-topic question I'm compelled to ask: Did The History Guy ever do a video on the 1859 Carrington Event? I would have sworn you did, but I can't find it now.
I have not yet.
@@TheHistoryGuyChannel - Thank you for your prompt response. I'm encouraged by your inclusion of the word "yet". Perhaps instead of obsessing over where I saw the video, I should just wait until you do one. Telegrams sent without benefit of batteries to supply the power. Telegraphers getting shocked. Telegraph offices bursting into flames. It all sounds so very exciting. But alas, no pirates.
@@dougearnest7590 What if it was caused by solar pirates? Think about it. It would make a great short story.
🌞
You ought to explore the Monmouth County - Freehold - Englishtown - Tennet areain NJ rich in Revolutionary History including the Battle of Monmouth.
I was there in January, I realize that is "off season" but I was not impressed, almost NO eating establishments around our hotel were open after 4PM.. which floored me. We stayed directly between the Superdome and Bourbon street. I walked to the Superdome and was the only person walking around. The one lady working the gift shop where I stopped had to unlock the door and let me in at 11AM so I could by my son a shirt. The sidewalks were either closed outright or there was plywood covering gaping holes in it and Bourbon street.. well lets just say I was not impressed and have no intention on returning. JM$.02 YMMV
It was said that the fire engulfed the jail before the prisoners could be set free? But a few sentences after it was said only One loss of life, because she was too sick and couldn't escape...
Thank you history Guy
Please do a video about the Baroness Pontalba.
Been there years ago.. honeymoon !
Great time ! Area has actually said city under five different flags... Spain twice !?!
I wonder how the politicians of today would hsndle these tragedies. Would greed and partisanship deter their efforts?
I overlaid the historical maps onto a current map.
While all the major streets are still there, it doesn't appear that any part of the original protective ramparts or turrets survived the 200+ years of history since.
Any locals are welcome to correct & educate me if I'm in error.
Not only do none survive, there was a study showing the maps provided to the king (what you see here) may not match what was built. It is now believed some ramparts were never completed. Even suspicion that the Spanish empire was billed for the work and then the money pocketed. Not like they were going to sail over and check. I don't recall where I read that. I read a lot of local news and history.
Have you considered covering the great peshtigo fire? It happened the same day as the Chicago one but it was MANY times more devastating
He's covered Peshtigo twice.
ua-cam.com/video/EidzEh6SMBs/v-deo.html
Hey there is a good story about Col Andrew Jackson's defense of New Orleans in 1815. And also there was a pirate named Jean Lafitte that helped, because don't all good stories involve pirates? Lafitte is another story that would be good to tell.
I'm proud to be from NOLA!
The Spanish Quarter
Nero fiddled while Rome burned and built his palace on the ashes. Miro came to the people's assistance after New Orleans burned and helped rebuild the city.
Efficient government.....kind, generous citizens helping others....huh.
The priest refused to ring the church bells during the great fire to summon out the bucket brigade because it was a Good Friday a holy day of silence
The original hovels were built partly with reeds and were blown down by huricanes. The subsequent wood buildings were burned down. Like the Three Little Pigs, New Orleans was at last rebuilt with bricks, and these are the buildings which survived.
I lived in New Orleans for over 5 years and never knew this story. But it does explain some of the roots of the city's soul.
For the excellent presentation, you've earned a double order of Beignets.
It’s no wonder that New Orleans lets the good times roll…
Compassionate and competent are 2 rather rare words about colonial Governors but sometimes the right person is in the right place. We can only imagine what would have happened if all Spanish Governors were like that.
Comparison is a relative game but if we are going to play it then it is easy to make the case the Spanish were among the best of the 'colonial' powers of the time. The British and Dutch were purely mercantile and the crown was hands-off for the most part in their ventures, and the French were more establishment but simply brutal. The Spanish were not saints to the existing powers, but looking over the entirety of the Spanish rule in the Americas it is hard to make a claim they made things worse anywhere they went.
@@fortusvictus8297 That wasn't really my point, it was that it is possible that Spain might have retained some of their colonies if they had more governors like that.
I don't think I could say that Spain were worse then any of the other colonial powers after the initial 100 years from when they started. In the 1500s though, they were really bad even compared to other colonial powers, the conquistadors were not nice people.
After 1600 that started to change and even countries we usually don't think of as colonial powers did some pretty nasty stuff, like the Belgians in Congo.
Around 1788 the colonial powers had about the same level of awfulness but more importantly, colonies were very often mismanaged due to incompetence and greed. There are certainly exceptions but competent leadership were not the norm.
I don't think the French in general were more brutal then anyone else at the time, that came later in Africa and the Orient.
But don't get me wrong, slavery was every where, colonist were often starving and it was generally not a great thing to be a colonist in the 18th century. But it was still better then the 16th-17th century and defiantly better then the colonial 19th century in Africa.
@@loke6664 Good points, I am not familiar enough with French colonial culture over time, and base my statements on my knowledge of how they managed colonies in the Americas, Africa, and Indochina. It is possible that the policies of Hati and Guyana were different early on or different from other regions of the world, but I haven't seen anything to that end.
Perhaps a darker rabbit hole to explore sometime.
@@fortusvictus8297 Indeed, France colonial history is pretty complicated and spanned from early 1600s to mid 1900s.
Being a native American in New France were actually not that bad compared to being the same in the British colonies but being a Moroccan in the late colonial period was pretty awful. You could easily make tons of content used covering all that and there is a lot to research.
Martinique is for instance a very successful and competently managed colony that later became a part of actual France, today it is a very strange and far off part of EU and a better place to live in then US "territories" like Guam.
France history is rather confusing filled with both competent and compassionate people as well as terrible morons.
It is also interesting that the worst of all examples of a terrible colony is Belgian Kongo, you would expect one of the larger powers to take that price but no one even comes close. It was so bad that it shocked both France and England.
Thank you Gov. Mirro for stopping the Inquisition here.
I'm not at all a fan of large cities, residing, by choice on a mountain in Appalachia. Nevertheless, I loved my two forays to New Orleans and look forward to a return visit.
la vie comme la vie
I wonder what was in that untouched cross in the upper right path of the fire that saved it???
A governor who did the job, sad how rare that is good job History Guy
After the Katrina flooding, caused by defective Federally constructed levees and floodwalls, I never thought I would see more high rise buildings be constructed there. But sure enough, several have popped up in the CBD since then. That WW II museum is amazing. Levee improvements are now more or less continuous throughout the entire area.
What are the odds you come out with a video on New Orleans and the next day they had a tornadoe tear through the city
That was a good governor.