Blast from the Past

A lot can happen in 200 years! Take a quick journey through the major events influencing Tremé, from before the neighborhood’s founding to the present day.

1718 Earliest known land grant along Bayou Road

1728 Earliest record of first Morand plantation house

1765 Earliest definitive records of Morand-Tremé House

1780s Map notes residence of “one of the earliest recorded persons of color to own land on Bayou Rd.”


1798 Claude Tremé begins selling lots

1810 City of New Orleans buys 40 acres from Tremé

1812 City annexes Tremé


1812 Morand-Tremé House and grounds set aside for College d’Orleans; college building constructed sometime before 1815

1820-1860 500,000 immigrants come to New Orleans, mainly Irish, German, and
French


1823 College d’Orleans closes

1826 School for free black children opens in former Morand-Tremé House

1836 New Orleans split into three municipalities, with Tremé divided between the First and Third municipalities

1840 St. Augustine Catholic Church built for African American Catholics

1840 Carmelites purchase Morand-Tremé House and operate a school for white and black students


1852 Municipalities combine into single city government


1898-1917 Tremé between Iberville, N. Robertson, N. Basin, and St. Louis Street set aside as “Storyville”
red-light district

1926 Morand-Tremé House demolished

1960s 12 blocks of Tremé demolished for proposed cultural center (now Armstrong Park)


1969 Elevated expressway along N. Claiborne Ave. completed. Claiborne Avenue was the heart of the African American social and business community, and the interstate destroyed the main area of social gatherings, the avenue’s broad, shady neutral ground (median). The community struggled to retain their businesses and traditions.

1980 Esplanade Ridge National Historic District established, including all of Tremé


1998 Local Tremé historic district established

2005 Hurricane Katrina and the levee failure that followed damaged buildings and flooded parts of Tremé

2010 HBO premieres TV series “Treme,” bringing wide attention to the neighborhood and the city as they recovered from Hurricane Katrina

2012 Tremé celebrates its 200th anniversary!