Tremé/Lafitte and the Seventh Ward

Just across Rampart Street from the French Quarter is Tremé (pronounced "truh-MAY"), one of the oldest neighborhoods in the city, perhaps in the country. The rows of cottages, churches, and corner stores belie the raucous historical and musical legacy of this area, originally built and populated largely by free people of color.

This is the birthplace of jazz, after all, not to mention the site of the old Congo Square gathering place for African and Caribbean slaves, and the location of the fabled Storyville red-light district. Through its many incarnations it has remained true to its heritage as one of the oldest African American neighborhoods in the nation. Tremé continues to be one of the great driving forces behind the musical culture of New Orleans.

The Seventh Ward is a traditionally Creole neighborhood, settled largely by French-speaking free people of color as early as 1720. In later centuries, factors like the construction of Interstate 10 through this neighborhood did damage to its peace and prosperity. Today, you’ll find small, community-oriented businesses scattered among residential blocks. The great craftsmanship of the neighborhood’s early inhabitants is evident in the architecture of the houses.