The French Quarter Emerges
In the early and mid-1800s, The French Quarter’s location along the Mississippi and the Gulf of Mexico set it up as a bustling trade district. It processed good coming down the Mississippi on steamboats from northern ports and coffee from the Caribbean. These imports supplemented the cotton and sugar produced on local plantations, processed, and shipped to the European markets. But this antebellum prosperity had a dark side; it was earned on the back of slave labor.
Slavery would be the cornerstone of the city until the American Civil War. Meanwhile, even as more money poured through the port and trains increase the volume of goods moving through the area, the French Quarter struggled. Houses were converted to warehouses, hotels, and boarding houses. Wealthy residents moved to the Esplanade and North Rampart Street districts. Industrial development changed the character of the area.
