1979 - Trip to New Orleans

Pontalba apartments, New Orleans. Submitted to the VPTP for the theme, A SKYSCRAPER, ROW HOME, OR ANY OTHER TYPE OF BUILDING YOU MIGHT FIND IN A CITY. The Pontalba apartments are two similar buildings set on opposite sides of Jackson Square. The lower floor has always been retail space with residences above. They were constructed in the 1840s by the Baroness Micaela Almonester Pontalba, daughter and heir of her father's fortune. Don Andres Almonaster y Rojas had made his fortune through his position as a civil servant of the Spanish government responsible for processing government documents on behalf of the Spanish governors. He exacted fees from landowners and merchants who had business with the government and wished to ensure their documents were expedited. Originally, the buildings were attached row houses. They were converted to apartments in the 1930s.