Baroness Pontalba and the Rise of Jackson Square Exhibit

The exhibit opened to the public Sunday December 2nd, 2018. The Louisiana Museum Foundation celebrated the closing tricentennial events at the Cabildo as the Louisiana State Museum featured the 18th-century New Orleans philanthropist, Don Andrés Almonester and his daughter, Micaela Almonester, Baroness de Pontalba.

Jackson Square can be credited to two individuals: the Baroness, for her namesake apartments, and her generous father for rebuilding the Cabildo, Presbytere, and St. Louis Cathedral after the 1788 fire. The Baroness de Pontalba was also instrumental in transforming the muddy military parade ground, once known as the Place d’Armes, into the beautiful Jackson Square, which is to this day the most iconic and visited part of Louisiana.