The truth is out there … on a plaque
The poorly named Old Spanish Stables were only very briefly used as stables and were never Spanish at all. Designed by Henry Latrobe, the building has transferred ownership 15 times since 1804. When Francis Gallier Preval bought it, he finally converted the first floor into a small stable in 1835, more than 30 years after Spanish rule left New Orleans.
In 1962, Clay Shaw purchased the historic property. Shaw was a highly decorated war hero, who was known locally for following his passion to restore French Quarter architecture, including the French Market. Despite his good standing in the community, Shaw became the unwitting victim of the city’s then district attorney, Jim Garrison, who, were there ever such a competition, would be a top contender for the worst person in New Orleans’ history.
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Address 724 Governor Nicholls Street, New Orleans, LA 70116 | Hours Not open to the public; viewable from the outside only| Tip Before Garrison’s made-up case, New Orleans’ biggest liar was John Law. The convicted murderer and gambler sought immigrant workers to increase the value of his Louisiana land holdings and lured them to New Orleans with exaggerated claims of an idyllic setting rather than the humid, snake-infested swamp it was.
Garrison wanted to challenge the Warren Commission’s report on JFK’s assassination, largely because he saw an opportunity to make himself a national name. He was intrigued by Lee Harvey Oswald’s connections to New Orleans and cynically chose Shaw as his prosecutorial target. To tie Shaw to the crime, Garrison’s office bullied witnesses into providing false testimony. Behind the scenes, Garrison slipped concocted lies to journalists, for instance that he thought the crime was a “homosexual thrill killing.”
After dragging Shaw through the mud, Garrison’s case ended in an acquittal after less than one hour of deliberation, or “long enough for them to take a bathroom break,” as the daughter of one of Shaw’s attorneys put it years later. The plaque affixed to the non-Spanish non-Stables remains the one true testimony to Clay Shaw. It reads, “Pioneer in the renovation of the Vieux Carré … Clay Shaw was a patron of the humanities and lived his life with the utmost grace; an invaluable citizen, he was respected, admired, and loved by many.”
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