Royal Street and St. Anthony’s Alley

What we call “Pirates Alley” was “St. Anthony’s Alley” in 1916.

St. Anthony’s Alley in 1915

pen drawing, “Corner of the yard of the St. Louis Cathedral, where St. Anthony’s Alley meets Royal Street,” from Pen Drawings of Old New Orleans, by Frank G. Churchill, 1915. The book was published by Robert H. True Co., of New Orleans. A quick search on Mr. Churchill didn’t turn up much, so I’ll dig deeper at some point. His drawings are quite nice, and it’s likely we’ll return to them. This particular one, however, caught my eye.

Walking the Quarter

When doing French Quarter Walking Tours for the Friends of the Cabildo, i take an “up-river” route. My guests and I go up towards Conti Street, at the end of Exchange Alley. We then head back down, on a return path to Jackson Square. I like to walk folks along a block of Bourbon, so we go up Toulouse, past Tennessee Williams’ first apartment in town (722 Toulouse), up to Rue Bourbon. We turn right, walk a block, then right again, down St. Peter. Back at Royal Street, we turn left for half a block, to walk through Pirates Alley.

That’s why I like this drawing. It’s that turn on my tour, but 110 years ago! Certainly things have changed, but this view is similar. The cathedral and its back garden with its iron fence stand there. The building across the street still stands. Folks always hang out on Royal Street, and the alley continues to be a well-walked passage.

So, the main addition to this scene in 2025 are the artists.. A number of artists hang up their work along the fence of St. Anthony’s Garden. They sit along street and alley, enticing passersby. I regularly shout-out the artists, encouraging guests to pass back and check out the art.

The Alley

Mr. Churchill calls it, “St. Anthony’s Alley” in his book. That fits with the cathedral garden. Earlier maps list this alley as “North Orleans Alley,’ with the one on the down-river side of the cathedral as “South Orleans Alley.” Since Orleans Avenue ends at Royal, this fits as well. The alleys receive their modern names in the 1960s, as city and tourism officials looked to romanticize the alley. They named it for the “priates,” specifically thinking of the brothers Lafitte. When I lead my guests into the alley, I usually say, “This is ‘Pirates Alley.’ There are no pirates here. There never have been pirates here, but we do have some fantastic artists!”

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