The Rathbone Mansions Esplanade are located where the French Quarter, Faubourg Marigny and the Treme Historical District meet. The Treme is the oldest black neighborhood in the United States and the birthplace of jazz itself. This was the first neighborhood where free people of color were able to own their own homes, during an era when America was immersed in slavery. Originally consisting of over fifty percent churches and convents, the neighborhood took a drastic turn in 1898 when the city took a section of Treme and named it Storyville in, unbelievably, an attempt to confine and curtail prostitution! Instead, brothels, bars, lax liquor laws, wealthy plantation owners, black musicians and white classical players all merged together and exploded into the birth of jazz music itself. Treme was home to an extraordinary rooster of jazz musicians, from Buddy Bolden and Sidney Bechet, to Jelly Roll Morton and Louis Armstrong. Louis Armstrong Park, a few blocks from the mansions, was originally known as Congo Square. This is where the slaves used to meet, sing and dance. This is also considered to be a vital component in the birth of jazz music, as the African chants and rhythms bled into the music created nightly in the bars and brothels of Storyville. Around the corner lies the St. Louis Cemetery, the oldest cemetery in New Orleans, where the infamous voodoo queen Marie Laveau lies buried.
The Faubourg Marigny was originally a Creole neighborhood and provides a welcome alternative to the bustle of the French Quarter. Pastel "shotgun" homes share the neighborhood with cafes and clubs. The main artery of the Marigny is Frenchmen Street. During holidays such as Halloween and Lundi Gras (the Monday before Mardi Gras), Frenchmen Street is blocked off to traffic as it becomes a circus of people, music, fire and dance. Frenchmen offers ten music clubs in two blocks with an astonishing variety of live music; everything from jazz to Latin to rock to reggae to funk to rhythm and blues. In the same two-block strip there are nine restaurants offering Jamaican, Thai, Lebanese, Creole, Italian, Soul and Health food. All these experiences, sights and sounds are just minutes from the doors of the Rathbone Mansions.
For more information on the history of the French Quarter, please visit www.frenchquarter.com/_php/_history.php. You can also find lots of information on all of the great things to do in the Quarter.
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