Happy Favorite Building Friday This week we head back downtown to the Central Business District to learn about the New Orleans Cotton Exchange. In the past I have come across pictures of the original building and wondered about it – it is really an amazing work of art, but where is it? What happened to it? Today I bring you all of my findings. In 1871, in order to compete with the newly formed New York Cotton Exchange, the New Orleans Cotton Exchange was created in an office at the corner of Carondelet and Gravier Streets in the Central Business[…]

Happy Favorite Building Friday! This week we head uptown to the Garden District to talk about the Morris Israel House, one of the best examples of Italianate architecture in the city. This house was designed in 1860 by Samuel Jamison. Mr. Jamison started his career as a craftsman working primarily in masonry and plaster. One of his more famous projects was the buildings of Factor’s Row in the Central Business District, known as the setting for Edgar Degas’ painting The Cotton Office in New Orleans. The Factor’s Row buildings were designed by Lewis Reynolds, and built by Samuel Jamison in[…]

Happy Favorite Building Friday! Today’s building is the Louisiana State Bank Building on Royal Street. I can guarantee that if you’ve spent any time in the French Quarter, you have walked right by this fabulous building, but you probably didn’t even notice it because your gaze would have fallen on the massive Beaux Arts Supreme Court across the street. That’s fine, the Louisiana State Bank isn’t mad at ya, but you might want to pay more attention next time! So let’s get down to it. The Louisiana State Bank was designed by Benjamin Henry Boneval Latrobe, known as the “Father[…]