1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:01,920 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of I 2 00:00:02,040 --> 00:00:10,680 Speaker 1: Heart Radio. Hello and Welcome to This Day in History Class, 3 00:00:10,680 --> 00:00:13,280 Speaker 1: a show that shines a light on the ups and 4 00:00:13,440 --> 00:00:18,720 Speaker 1: downs of everyday history. I'm Gabe Louzier, and in this episode, 5 00:00:19,040 --> 00:00:22,000 Speaker 1: we're looking at an early disaster in New Orleans history 6 00:00:22,280 --> 00:00:26,079 Speaker 1: that left a lasting impression on both the city's infrastructure 7 00:00:26,400 --> 00:00:38,600 Speaker 1: and its character. The day was March one. A fire 8 00:00:38,760 --> 00:00:42,640 Speaker 1: sparked in the home of a Spanish military treasurer consumed 9 00:00:42,760 --> 00:00:47,199 Speaker 1: roughly eight percent of the city of New Orleans in 10 00:00:47,280 --> 00:00:51,320 Speaker 1: just five short hours. The blaze destroyed eight hundred and 11 00:00:51,400 --> 00:00:56,640 Speaker 1: fifty six out of approximately eleven hundred standing structures. In 12 00:00:56,680 --> 00:01:00,320 Speaker 1: the wake of the disaster, the city's oldest neighborhood, known 13 00:01:00,360 --> 00:01:04,360 Speaker 1: today as the French Quarter, was rebuilt with a decidedly 14 00:01:04,480 --> 00:01:09,560 Speaker 1: more Spanish look. New Orleans was founded in seventeen eighteen 15 00:01:09,880 --> 00:01:13,399 Speaker 1: by the French governor of Louisiana, a man named Jean 16 00:01:13,520 --> 00:01:16,679 Speaker 1: Baptiste Le Moyne, and was named for the French head 17 00:01:16,720 --> 00:01:20,880 Speaker 1: of state at the time, Philippe the Orleans. As the 18 00:01:20,920 --> 00:01:24,920 Speaker 1: city took shape under French rule, it gradually organized into 19 00:01:24,920 --> 00:01:28,640 Speaker 1: a rectangular community built on the highest patch of dry 20 00:01:28,760 --> 00:01:33,880 Speaker 1: land in the otherwise swampy area. This original site, which 21 00:01:33,959 --> 00:01:36,920 Speaker 1: was still only ten to fifteen feet above sea level, 22 00:01:37,440 --> 00:01:40,560 Speaker 1: later became what we call the French Quarter. So not 23 00:01:40,720 --> 00:01:44,200 Speaker 1: only was that famous neighborhood there from the beginning, at 24 00:01:44,240 --> 00:01:49,160 Speaker 1: one point it constituted the entire city. But France wasn't 25 00:01:49,200 --> 00:01:52,680 Speaker 1: the only European power to ever hold sway in New Orleans. 26 00:01:53,200 --> 00:01:58,120 Speaker 1: Following the Revolutionary War, France actually gave the Louisiana territory 27 00:01:58,280 --> 00:02:01,320 Speaker 1: to Spain, mostly as a way to keep England from 28 00:02:01,320 --> 00:02:05,080 Speaker 1: taking control of it at any rate. Spain took possession 29 00:02:05,120 --> 00:02:08,519 Speaker 1: of New Orleans in seventeen sixty two and held onto 30 00:02:08,560 --> 00:02:13,040 Speaker 1: it for just under fifty years. Eventually, in eighteen o one, 31 00:02:13,360 --> 00:02:17,799 Speaker 1: a different treaty placed Louisiana back under French rule until 32 00:02:17,919 --> 00:02:20,800 Speaker 1: two years later, when Napoleon sold the whole thing to 33 00:02:20,840 --> 00:02:25,200 Speaker 1: the United States as part of the Louisiana Purchase. Nearly 34 00:02:25,240 --> 00:02:28,640 Speaker 1: all of the original French colonial buildings in New Orleans 35 00:02:28,840 --> 00:02:32,720 Speaker 1: were destroyed during Spain's rule in the late seventeen hundreds, 36 00:02:33,360 --> 00:02:36,840 Speaker 1: but the change wasn't made due to national pride. The 37 00:02:36,919 --> 00:02:41,160 Speaker 1: buildings weren't knocked down on purpose or anything like that. Instead, 38 00:02:41,560 --> 00:02:45,680 Speaker 1: two massive fires laid waste to the French built city. 39 00:02:45,960 --> 00:02:50,680 Speaker 1: The first took place on March twenty one, seventeen. The 40 00:02:50,760 --> 00:02:54,400 Speaker 1: fire began in the Charles Street home of Don Vicente 41 00:02:54,560 --> 00:02:59,320 Speaker 1: Jose Nunez, the treasurer and paymaster of the Spanish Army. 42 00:02:59,600 --> 00:03:03,120 Speaker 1: The act causes a matter of debate, but the prevailing 43 00:03:03,160 --> 00:03:06,440 Speaker 1: theory is that an unattended candle caught the drapes on 44 00:03:06,560 --> 00:03:09,360 Speaker 1: fire and noon as his home, and because a strong 45 00:03:09,520 --> 00:03:12,600 Speaker 1: dry wind was blowing in from the south, the flames 46 00:03:12,680 --> 00:03:16,640 Speaker 1: quickly spread to the adjoining homes. It didn't help that 47 00:03:16,720 --> 00:03:19,840 Speaker 1: most of the city's buildings were made of wood, complete 48 00:03:19,840 --> 00:03:24,200 Speaker 1: with cross timbered walls and double pitched roofs. Even then, 49 00:03:24,480 --> 00:03:27,600 Speaker 1: the damage might not have been so bad except that 50 00:03:27,639 --> 00:03:31,480 Speaker 1: the fire happened to occur on Good Friday. The city 51 00:03:31,480 --> 00:03:34,720 Speaker 1: had switched from French to Spanish rule twenty years earlier, 52 00:03:34,920 --> 00:03:39,000 Speaker 1: but most of his residents were still devout Catholics. In fact, 53 00:03:39,240 --> 00:03:41,680 Speaker 1: the candle that's thought to have started the fire was 54 00:03:41,800 --> 00:03:44,720 Speaker 1: likely a votive lit by nun Yez as a way 55 00:03:44,760 --> 00:03:48,880 Speaker 1: to mark the religious holiday. However, it turned out to 56 00:03:48,920 --> 00:03:52,360 Speaker 1: be a very bad Friday that year, as the city's 57 00:03:52,400 --> 00:03:55,360 Speaker 1: priests would not allow the church bells to be rung 58 00:03:55,400 --> 00:03:59,080 Speaker 1: as fire alarms on such a sacred day. Without the 59 00:03:59,120 --> 00:04:01,200 Speaker 1: bells to alert the rest of the city to the 60 00:04:01,240 --> 00:04:05,120 Speaker 1: growing blaze, it was next to impossible to organize help 61 00:04:05,160 --> 00:04:09,920 Speaker 1: amidst the chaos. As a result, the fire burned unchecked, 62 00:04:10,160 --> 00:04:14,360 Speaker 1: and within five hours it had leveled practically the entire city, 63 00:04:14,600 --> 00:04:19,120 Speaker 1: including hundreds of homes and businesses, the town hospital, the jail, 64 00:04:19,440 --> 00:04:24,320 Speaker 1: and the military armory. The St. Louis Cathedral, the church 65 00:04:24,400 --> 00:04:27,320 Speaker 1: that wouldn't allow the bells to be rung, was also 66 00:04:27,440 --> 00:04:31,360 Speaker 1: destroyed in the fire. Many people died in the blaze, 67 00:04:31,640 --> 00:04:34,400 Speaker 1: including a number of prisoners who were left to burn 68 00:04:34,640 --> 00:04:38,880 Speaker 1: with no attempt at rescue. Countless others were left homeless, 69 00:04:38,920 --> 00:04:42,680 Speaker 1: prompting Governor Esteban Muro to set up tents and hand 70 00:04:42,680 --> 00:04:46,760 Speaker 1: out food to the survivors. The governor later recounted that 71 00:04:46,839 --> 00:04:51,680 Speaker 1: grave day, writing quote, if the imagination could describe what 72 00:04:51,760 --> 00:04:54,920 Speaker 1: our senses enable us to feel from sight and touch, 73 00:04:55,520 --> 00:04:59,039 Speaker 1: reason itself would recoil in horror. And it is no 74 00:04:59,160 --> 00:05:02,680 Speaker 1: easy mattered say whether the sight of an entire city 75 00:05:02,720 --> 00:05:06,479 Speaker 1: in flames was more horrible to behold than the suffering 76 00:05:06,600 --> 00:05:11,160 Speaker 1: and pitiable condition in which everyone was involved. The tears, 77 00:05:11,400 --> 00:05:15,359 Speaker 1: the heartbreaking sobs, and the pallid faces of these wretched 78 00:05:15,440 --> 00:05:19,520 Speaker 1: people mirrored the dire fatality that had overcome a city 79 00:05:19,800 --> 00:05:23,960 Speaker 1: now in ruins, transformed within the space of five hours 80 00:05:24,240 --> 00:05:28,560 Speaker 1: into an arid and fearful desert. But even in the 81 00:05:28,600 --> 00:05:31,520 Speaker 1: midst of that suffering, there were early signs of the 82 00:05:31,600 --> 00:05:36,440 Speaker 1: resiliency and generosity that would later come to characterize the city. 83 00:05:36,600 --> 00:05:39,760 Speaker 1: The governor described one man who sold his stores of 84 00:05:39,880 --> 00:05:43,280 Speaker 1: rice and tobacco to the army at market price, so 85 00:05:43,320 --> 00:05:46,599 Speaker 1: that they could be distributed to the survivors. He also 86 00:05:46,680 --> 00:05:49,800 Speaker 1: remarked on how lucky citizens who were spared from the 87 00:05:49,839 --> 00:05:53,960 Speaker 1: flames quickly opened their homes to those less fortunate. As 88 00:05:54,000 --> 00:05:57,839 Speaker 1: he put it, quote, many have taken temporary lodgings with 89 00:05:57,920 --> 00:06:01,560 Speaker 1: families that were so fortunate as to escape unscathed, and 90 00:06:01,640 --> 00:06:04,440 Speaker 1: to such an extent have the compassionate feelings of the 91 00:06:04,520 --> 00:06:07,839 Speaker 1: latter shown forth that on the following day there was 92 00:06:07,880 --> 00:06:13,360 Speaker 1: not a single human being without shelter. Tragically, though, this 93 00:06:13,480 --> 00:06:16,880 Speaker 1: dark chapter in the city's history would be repeated just 94 00:06:16,960 --> 00:06:20,880 Speaker 1: a few years later, after six years of rebuilding, a 95 00:06:21,040 --> 00:06:26,560 Speaker 1: second Great Fire broke out in sevent Thankfully that one 96 00:06:26,720 --> 00:06:29,800 Speaker 1: didn't occur on Good Friday and was therefore able to 97 00:06:29,839 --> 00:06:33,520 Speaker 1: be extinguished before it did too much damage. There were 98 00:06:33,560 --> 00:06:37,120 Speaker 1: still some two hundred and twelve buildings that burned that day, 99 00:06:37,160 --> 00:06:39,960 Speaker 1: to say nothing of all the people killed or left homeless, 100 00:06:40,240 --> 00:06:43,719 Speaker 1: but compared to the fire of New Orleans fared much 101 00:06:43,760 --> 00:06:48,360 Speaker 1: better the second time around. After the second fire, the 102 00:06:48,400 --> 00:06:52,320 Speaker 1: Spanish government started handing out loans for citizens to rebuild 103 00:06:52,320 --> 00:06:55,400 Speaker 1: their houses. The only catch was that in order to 104 00:06:55,440 --> 00:06:58,159 Speaker 1: get the money, you had to agree to build according 105 00:06:58,200 --> 00:07:02,360 Speaker 1: to the government's newly developed sidelines. These included all kinds 106 00:07:02,360 --> 00:07:05,920 Speaker 1: of rules aimed at making the city more fireproof, including 107 00:07:05,920 --> 00:07:08,960 Speaker 1: the switch to brick and plaster town homes instead of 108 00:07:08,960 --> 00:07:12,480 Speaker 1: the wooden cottages that had characterized the city under French rule. 109 00:07:13,000 --> 00:07:15,400 Speaker 1: And as you may have guessed, this is when the 110 00:07:15,440 --> 00:07:19,520 Speaker 1: French quarters started to look decidedly more Spanish, even if 111 00:07:19,560 --> 00:07:23,480 Speaker 1: the streets themselves were still named for French royals and nobles. 112 00:07:24,440 --> 00:07:27,760 Speaker 1: This transformation proved to be a real turning point in 113 00:07:27,800 --> 00:07:32,120 Speaker 1: New Orleans history. As author Lyle Saxon explained in his 114 00:07:32,200 --> 00:07:36,360 Speaker 1: book Fabulous New Orleans. Quote the city that fell before 115 00:07:36,400 --> 00:07:40,240 Speaker 1: the flames was a congested French community of wooden houses, 116 00:07:40,600 --> 00:07:45,560 Speaker 1: badly arranged and irregular. A stately Spanish city rose in 117 00:07:45,560 --> 00:07:50,080 Speaker 1: its stead. Large fan shaped windows looked down into courtyards 118 00:07:50,160 --> 00:07:54,040 Speaker 1: which held banana trees and oleanders and balconies railed with 119 00:07:54,200 --> 00:07:58,840 Speaker 1: delicate wrought iron overhung the streets from the fires of 120 00:07:58,920 --> 00:08:04,480 Speaker 1: seventeen eighty eight and sev It's a Hurricane Katrina and beyond. 121 00:08:05,040 --> 00:08:08,280 Speaker 1: New Orleans is a city that's no stranger to tragedy, 122 00:08:08,720 --> 00:08:12,200 Speaker 1: but it's also a place of continuous renewal, a city 123 00:08:12,280 --> 00:08:16,880 Speaker 1: where people respond to the worst disasters imaginable by pulling together, 124 00:08:17,200 --> 00:08:21,000 Speaker 1: picking up the pieces, and moving forward, ready to face 125 00:08:21,160 --> 00:08:27,360 Speaker 1: whatever life throws at them next. I'm Gay Lousier and 126 00:08:27,440 --> 00:08:31,320 Speaker 1: hopefully you now know a little more about history today 127 00:08:31,440 --> 00:08:35,520 Speaker 1: than you did yesterday. If you enjoyed today's show, consider 128 00:08:35,600 --> 00:08:39,199 Speaker 1: following us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at t D 129 00:08:39,360 --> 00:08:43,240 Speaker 1: I HC Show, and if you have any comments for 130 00:08:43,240 --> 00:08:46,200 Speaker 1: your suggestions, you can send them my way at this 131 00:08:46,360 --> 00:08:50,280 Speaker 1: day at I heart media dot com. Thanks to Chandler 132 00:08:50,320 --> 00:08:53,360 Speaker 1: Mays for producing the show, and thanks to you for listening. 133 00:08:53,800 --> 00:08:56,880 Speaker 1: I'll see you back here again. Tomorrow for another day 134 00:08:57,040 --> 00:09:02,040 Speaker 1: in history class. It is expected to the