The inventor of New Orleans slept here
Nestled among the tall steel-and-glass buildings of the Tulane Medical Center is an out-of-place brick house that was once the home of 19th-century journalist Lafcadio Hearn (1850–1904), dubbed “the inventor of New Orleans.”
Hearn, who was born in Greece, was abandoned by his mother and raised by Irish relatives who shipped him off to the States at 19. In Cincinnati, he took odd jobs, lived in a stable, read voraciously, and eventually became a self-taught writer. He started penning profiles for the Cincinnati Enquirer, but was forced to leave Ohio for New Orleans in 1877, when he broke a state law by marrying a biracial woman.
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Address 1565 Cleveland Avenue, New Orleans, LA 70112 | Hours Not open to the public; viewable from the outside only| Tip Note that the modern buildings surrounding Hearn’s former house are not the towering monoliths one finds in many American cities. Because New Orleans is resting on a swamp, there are no real skyscrapers. Donald Trump learned why when he endeavored to erect a tower but was informed by architects that a 70-story building in New Orleans would require a 50-story profit-sucking foundation or it would sink. The Donald abandoned his plan.
Drawn to others on the fringe, Hearn and New Orleans formed a perfect marriage of misfits. His exotic stories about his new adopted city became regular pieces in Scribner’s, Cosmopolitan, and Harper’s Bazaar. It was Hearn who first wrote down the folklore of the unique local cuisine in his verbosely named book, La Cuisine Creole: A Collection of Culinary Recipes, From Leading Chefs and Noted Creole Housewives, Who Have Made New Orleans Famous for Its Cuisine. It was Hearn who also detailed for outsiders the customs of the Voodoo religion. And it was Hearn who painted word pictures of New Orleans as the most exotic city in America: “There are few who can visit her for the first time without delight; and few who can ever leave her without regret; and none who can forget her strange charm when they have once felt its influence.”
Ever the wanderer, Hearn moved to Martinique in 1887, then settled in Japan. His former NOLA neighborhood grew seedy and his residence became a dingy flophouse. The property was eventually bought and restored by Saints linebacker Pat Swilling. Richard Scribner, an LSU professor, then took ownership and through his efforts the house was designated a historic landmark and added to the National Register of Historic Places.
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