The Great New Orleans Fire (1788) ( Spanish : Gran Incendio de Nueva Orleans , French : Grand incendie de La Nouvelle-Orléans ) was a fire that destroyed 856 of the 1,100 structures in New Orleans , Louisiana (New Spain) , on March 21, 1788, spanning the south central Vieux Carré from Burgundy to Chartres Street, almost to the Mississippi River front buildings. An additional 212 buildings were destroyed in a later citywide fire on December 8, 1794.
13-616: Great New Orleans Fire may refer to: Great New Orleans Fire (1788) Great New Orleans Fire (1794) Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Great New Orleans Fire . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Great_New_Orleans_Fire&oldid=932854969 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description
26-559: A city, now in ruins, transformed within the space of five hours into an arid and fearful, desert. Such was the sad ending of a work of death, the result of seventy years of industry. After six years of rebuilding, on December 8, 1794, another 212 buildings were destroyed in the Great New Orleans Fire of 1794 . Still a colony of Spain, rebuilding continued in Spanish style, and most French-style architecture disappeared from
39-413: A fire alarm. Within five hours it had consumed almost the entire city as it was fed by a strong wind from the southeast. The fire destroyed virtually all major buildings in the city (now French Quarter ), including the church, municipal building, army barracks, armory, and jail. Colonial Governor Esteban Rodríguez Miró set up tents for the homeless. The fire area stretched between Dauphine Street and
52-433: A while over the saddening spectacle; but more horrible still was the sight, when day began to dawn, of entire families pouring forth into the public highways, yielding to their lamentations and despair, who, but a few hours before, had been basking in the enjoyment of more than the ordinary comforts of life. The tears, the heartbreaking sobs and the pallid faces of the wretched people mirrored the dire fatality that had overcome
65-441: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Great New Orleans Fire (1788) The Good Friday fire began about 1:30 p.m. at the home of Army Treasurer Don Vincente Jose Nuñez, 619 Chartres Street, corner of Wilkinson, less than a block from Jackson Square ( Plaza de Armas ). Because the fire started on Good Friday, priests refused to allow church bells to be rung as
78-801: The First Great New Orleans Fire . The fire started on December 8, 1794, and stretched across 212 buildings, including the royal jail, though it stopped short of the riverfront buildings facing the Mississippi River. Among the buildings spared were the Customs House, the tobacco warehouses, the Governor's Building, the Royal Hospital, and the Ursulines Convent. Despite widespread fire damage,
91-564: The Mississippi River and between Conti Street in the south and St. Philip Street in the north. It spared the riverfront buildings including the Customs House, the tobacco warehouses, the Governor's Building, the Royal Hospital, and the Ursuline Convent . Colonial officials were to replace the wooden buildings with masonry structures which had courtyards, thick brick walls, arcades, and wrought iron balconies. Among
104-619: The city as a result. 29°57′26″N 90°03′51″W / 29.9571°N 90.0643°W / 29.9571; -90.0643 Great New Orleans Fire (1794) The Great New Orleans Fire (1794) was a major fire that destroyed 212 structures in New Orleans, Louisiana on December 8, 1794, in the area now known as the French Quarter from Burgundy to Chartres Street, adjacent to the Mississippi River. On March 12, 1788, just 6 years prior, 856 buildings had been destroyed in
117-402: The greed of the relentless enemy, would retire to out-of-the-way places rather than be witnesses of their utter ruin. Fathers and husbands were busy in saving whatever objects the rapidly spreading flames would permit them to bear off, while the general bewilderment was such as to prevent them from finding even for these a place of security. The obscurity of the night coming on threw its mantle for
130-422: The new St. Louis Cathedral was not destroyed and was dedicated just two weeks later, on December 23, 1794. In the aftermath, the schooner Nuestra Señora del Cármen was used as a temporary jail during the period December 10, 1794 to February 26, 1795. The ship's owner, Don Prospero Ferrayolo, received rental payments for use of the ship, replacing the royal jail destroyed during the fire. Because New Orleans
143-628: The new buildings were the central New Orleans (now Jackson Square) fixtures of St. Louis Cathedral , the Cabildo , and the Presbytere . The funds and supervision for the Cathedral and the Cabildo were provided by Don Andres Almonaster y Rojas . The Cabildo burned in the 1794 fire and had to be reconstructed. The Presbytere was built on a somewhat later basis, and Almonaster died before it could be completed. Governor Miro's report summarized
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#1732775714481156-433: The suffering: If the imagination could describe what our senses enable us to feel from sight and touch, reason itself would recoil in horror, and it is no easy matter to say whether the sight of an entire city in flames was more horrible to behold than the suffering and pitiable condition in which everyone was involved. Mothers, in search of a sanctuary or refuge for their little ones, and abandoning - their earthly goods to
169-490: Was at the time a colony of Spain, rebuilding after both fires continued in Spanish style, and consequently most French architecture was eliminated from the French Quarter. The Spanish occupiers replaced the wooden buildings with structures with courtyards, thick brick walls, arcades, and wrought iron balconies. Among the new buildings constructed were the signature New Orleans buildings of St. Louis Cathedral (1794),
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