The house at Bourbon and St. Philip Streets is part of the Jean Lafitte legend.
Jean Lafitte Blacksmith House
via THNOC, this 1960s rendering by “Nick, D.” of the Jean Lafitte Blacksmith House offers a magical view of a popular Vieux Carré bar. While there is no record of the house being owned by the Lafitte brothers, it’s part of their legends and stories.
The image
THNOC’s record for the image:
Grisaille rendering of the Jean Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop Bourbon Street at Saint Philip in the French Quarter. Shows single-story house with single chimney, two dormers, curved hipped roof and brique-entre-poteaux construction with four French doors having louvered shutters. Shows a coach lamp at left, a streetlamp at right, and a crescent moon in the sky at upper left.
It’s a writing prompt.
Meeting place
The house was purported to be where the Lafittes met with local ship captains and businessmen. The privateers needed to sell the goods they smuggled into Louisiana, and legitimate business owners were not going to invite the brothers into their homes. So, operating out of a house a bit further downriver made sense from the current bar’s website:
Between 1772 and 1791, the property is believed to have been used by the Lafitte Brothers, Jean and Pierre as a New Orleans base for their Barataria smuggling operation. The legend is based on the fact that the property was owned by the family of Simon Duroche a.k.a. Castillon and the wily privateer Captain Rene Beluche. Castillon was a rather record-shy adventurer and entrepreneur. Captain Beluche commanded his ship “Spy” in Lafitte’s Baratarian fleet. Although the owners of the property, Jean Baptiste Dominica Joly LaPorte probably lived on the premises, it is within reason that the Lafittes could have used the place as city base for negotiations with potential buyers of their goods.
From smuggler’s base to tourist watering hole!
Walking Tour
My version of the Friends of the Cabildo French Quarter Walking Tour goes past Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop. We walk from Jackson Square, through the French Market, then up to Ursulines and Bourbon Streets. So, we talk about the house became one of the oldest gay bars in the US in 1933. An ownership change in 1953 forced the gay bar to move to the other end of that block of Bourbon. Now the original bar is now “Cafe Lafitte in Exile,” located at Bourbon and Dumaine Streets.
Be sure to check out In Exile: The History and Lore Surrounding New Orleans Gay Culture and Its Oldest Bar (NoLa Gay), by Frank Perez and Jeffrey Palmquist.
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