Things to do nearJackson Square

Jackson Square sits at the oldest settled part of New Orleans, a city founded by French colonists in 1718 on a sweeping bend of the Mississippi River. Originally called the Place d'Armes, the square served as a military parade ground and public gathering space during French and later Spanish colonial rule. It was renamed in honor of Andrew Jackson following the American victory at the Battle of New Orleans in 1815, and the bronze equestrian statue of Jackson at the center of the plaza has stood there since 1856.

Framing the square on three sides are the Pontalba Buildings, among the oldest apartment buildings in the United States, their cast-iron galleries casting lacy shadows across the flagstones. The dominant presence on the fourth side is St. Louis Cathedral, the oldest continuously operating cathedral in the country, its white facade and three steeples forming one of the most recognizable silhouettes in American architecture.

On any given afternoon, Jackson Square functions as an open-air gallery and performance space, with tarot card readers, jazz musicians, sketch artists, and tourists all sharing the same worn brick pathways. The nearby Cafe Du Monde, just steps from the square, has served beignets and chicory coffee to visitors for well over a century and remains a deeply rooted local ritual. The Mississippi River levee behind the square offers a broad view of the water and the working port beyond.

Jackson Square earns its reputation not through spectacle alone but through the rare quality of feeling genuinely inhabited, a place where history and daily life have never really separated.