Today, the Fairgrounds neighborhood extends, roughly, from Bayou St. John to Broad Street, and from Esplanade Avenue to Florida Avenue.  During the first century after Europeans began settling along the bayou, various owners held large pieces of land in this area.  Eventually, these were subdivided into small lots.

But, before it was turned into a residential suburb in the early 1800's, one of the things this area became known for was a Haitian Voodoo practitioner by the name of John Montenet who lived along the banks of Bayou St. John with his followers.  Many believe it was this man, known as "Dr. John," who was the first person to mix traditional Voodoo with some of the rituals of the Catholic Church.

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On the downtown corner of Royal and St. Peter Streets stands a building that once housed the celebrated bakery of Cadet Molon.  Not only were his loaves of bread considered the best in the city, but it was Molon who often supplied bread, without charge,  to the famed Capuchin priest, Pere Antoine, for distribution to the poor.

Cadet's father, Jacques Molon, purchased this site in 1789 and, not long afterward, he constructed the bakery, which passed on to his son.  Cadet carried on the bakery business until 1824, when he was succeeded by Joseph Vincent, whose confectionery shop was popular more for its sweet treats than the bread that had been a trademark of the Molons.

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NEW ORLEANS | Court hearings were a little less structured and formal 150 years ago, but the judge was always in control and rendered judgment not only with the help of established law, but, also, with an apparent understanding of human nature.

In the 1800's, reports on the cases heard by the Recorder's Court appeared in the city's newspapers the following day ("recorder" referred to a position we would call "magistrate" today). During that time, New Orleans had been divided into three municipalities, each with its own city government.

Decorating the cemeteries on All Saints Day has been a New Orleans custom since the city's first cemetery opened in 1742.  More widely observed than in most other places in the country, this old custom continues, though somewhat more subdued today.

In times past, whole families faithfully gathered at the cemetery to clean, whitewash and repair the tombs of their family members.  They would bring a basket of food and take a break from their labors to have lunch right there in the cemetery.  After the work was completed, a bouquet of flowers (usually chrysanthemums) was placed on the tomb.  This was often done a day or two ahead of time, so that, on the morning of November 1st, the cemeteries were magnificent sights to behold, each tomb glistening white in the sun and colorful flowers everywhere, as far as the eye could see.  I'll never forget the first time I observed this from a vantage point where the entire cemetery could be seen at a glance.  It was an amazing sight.

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We pick up where we left off last week, learning about the original houses of the Old City from Stanley Arthur's 1936 book, "Old New Orleans."

"Two disastrous fires visited New Orleans during the Spanish regime, the first in 1788, the second in 1794.  One of the orders issued by Governor the Baron de Carondelet after the second conflagration ordained that all homes more than one story high must be reconstructed of brick.  Spanish regulations also decreed the kind of timber to be used - cypress which must be felled at certain periods of the year and, incredibly, only during certain phases of the moon!  It was believed that the wood thus secured would be well seasoned and free from decay.  Today, notwithstanding the inroads of time and the damp, sub-tropical climate, many of the buildings in the heart of the Vieux Carre remain remarkably preserved.

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In his 1936 book, "Old New Orleans," Stanley Arthur gives us an intriguing glimpse of the Vieux Carre as it was in French and Spanish colonial times:

"The houses built by the original French settlers and their children were low frame structures, bricked between posts and roofed with cypress shingles.  The French designated this style of architecture "briquete entre poteaux."  About 1770, during the time of the domination of Spain, the new buildings in the Vieux Carre took on increased ostentation.  Many were constructed wholly of bricks and two-story buildings began to appear.  Tile was substituted for wooden shingles; some roofs were covered with the familiar half-round red tiles, others with green tiles.  Flat tiles were used on the roofs of houses that were terraced, after the manner of residences in Mexico City and Havana, and at sundown, families repaired to these high places to enjoy what breeze might be meandering from the direction of the river.

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The Ursuline nuns arrived in New Orleans in 1727 to a citizenry very grateful to receive them. The sisters wasted no time in providing the community with urgently needed medical care and, shortly thereafter, in establishing a school and orphanage for girls. The Ursuline Academy still thrives after more than 280 years and is the oldest girls' school in the United States.

Since the ghosts of the old Girod Street Cemetery seem to be resting peacefully this football season - as evidenced by the fact that the Saints are doing well - I thought it might be safe to talk about the cemetery today.  I do this with some amount of apprehension, because, if the Saints should suffer a decline in fortunes (Heaven forbid), I wouldn't want to be held responsible for stirring up those venerable Girod Street spirits!

But, we'll get to that part of the story later.

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Until the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, there were no banks in Louisiana.  This was no accident.  The colonists held banking institutions in dubious esteem and, what's more, even the use of paper money had been staunchly resisted until that time.  As far back as 1734, when the French government sought to issue pasteboards for its expenses in the colony, Bienville had advised against it, stating in no uncertain terms that the people lacked confidence in paper.

When William Charles Cole Claiborne, the first American governor, established the Louisiana Bank in 1804, according to newspaper accounts, it "excited lively apprehensions" and many thought it "would turn out to be legalized robbery."  One newspaper article opined, "We believe banks were instituted to exhibit to the world the extent of men's turpitude.  We have seen that one who has paper money in his pocket will spend it more easily than hard coin and that, when such is the currency of the country, everyone consumes all he earns without any thought of tomorrow."

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There's an ancient brick building at 514 St. Philip Street with a long and storied history.   The date of construction is uncertain, but we know that by 1808, it was the original location of the celebrated Cafe des Refugies.  The cafe became a gathering place for locals and visitors alike - an eclectic mix of customers who were, to say the least, intriguing and, sometimes, even mysterious.

As proprietor Jean Baptiste Thiot had so aptly named it, the coffee-house was a home-away-from-home for "refugees" of all sorts and stripes (much as the city itself has always been).  Pirates Jean and Pierre Lafitte, Captain Dominique You and, smuggler Rene Beluche, all frequented the Cafe des Refugies.  Recent refugees from the West Indies could be found there - in fact, the cafe became the unofficial headquarters of the "Colons de Saint-Domingue," refugees from Santo Domingo who'd fled the recent uprising.

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