Great New Orleans Fire

Background. New Orleans had already suffered a catastrophic blaze on March 12, 1788, when 856 buildings were destroyed in the First Great New Orleans Fire. Just six years later, the city was again vulnerable, and the December 1794 fire struck the same dense district near the Mississippi River.

The Fire. The fire began on December 8, 1794, and spread across 212 buildings, including the royal jail, in the area now known as the French Quarter from Burgundy to Chartres Street. It stopped short of the riverfront buildings facing the Mississippi River, sparing that row of structures.

Aftermath and Rebuilding. Louis Cathedral survived and was dedicated on December 23, 1794, two weeks after the fire. The royal jail was among the structures the fire stretched across, and the schooner Nuestra Señora del Cármen was used as a temporary jail during the period December 10, 1794 to February 26, 1795. Because New Orleans was at the time a colony of Spain, rebuilding after the fires continued in Spanish style, and consequently most French architecture was eliminated from the French Quarter.