300 years of rhythm
No other location in New Orleans has more musical history or importance than Louis Armstrong Park. Within the park is Congo Square, which has been an open plaza since the city’s founding, in 1718. After an expanded version of the Code Noir was approved by Louis XV in 1724, slaves in New Orleans were freed from work on Sundays and permitted to gather and socialize, which enabled them to keep their African traditions alive through music, song, and dance. They congregated each week at Congo Square to play drums and banzas while locals danced the traditional Calinda and juba. Arguably the physical birthplace of jazz, Congo Square saw the development of rhythms that are still heard today, not only in jazz clubs, but in second lines and Mardi Gras Indian parades.
The park itself has a long and agitated history. The ugliness began way back in 1893, when civic leaders rechristened the square, burying its African heritage by naming it after P. G. T. Beauregard, New Orleans’ only Confederate general. (The name “Congo Square” wasn’t officially restored until 2011). But the real mire started after legendary jazz artist and favorite son Louis Armstrong passed away, in 1971. A citizens’ committee formed to discuss plans for a permanent tribute. Disagreements arose between those who wanted to draw in tourists’ dollars versus those who favored enriching the lives of locals. The city dismissed several design proposals for the park as too “Disneyfied.” Architect Robin Riley eventually won the job. He created a meditative park on 32 acres, which includes statues of jazz greats. The Louis Armstrong statue was sculpted by artist Elizabeth Catlett.
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Address 835 N Rampart Street, New Orleans, LA 70116 | Hours Daily 8am–6pm| Tip Two blocks from the park is St. Louis Cemetery No. 1, the oldest aboveground cemetery in New Orleans (1789). Marie Laveau, the famous Voodoo queen, is buried there. After a decree by the Roman Catholic archdiocese in 2015, you can only enter the cemetery with a tour guide.
Louis Armstrong Park finally opened in 1980. Today, it hosts Jazz in the Park, a free weekly live music event in the spring and fall, and the annual Tremé Creole Gumbo Festival, celebrating the two things New Orleans does best: music and food.
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