Old U.S. Mint - Coins, Then Jazz

Photo: Carnaval.com Studios, CC BY 2.0 (cropped)

A stop on New Orleans French Quarter Walk, a free self-guided tour.

At the edge of the Quarter on wide Esplanade Avenue stands this big Greek Revival building with tall columns. It was designed by the architect William Strickland and built in 1835 as a branch of the United States Mint, on ground that was once part of the city's old fortifications.

For decades, gold and silver flowed in through the port and went out as coins. The mint struck coins from 1838 to 1861 and again from 1879 to 1909, more than 427 million in all. In 1861, after Louisiana left the Union, the Confederacy took over the building and briefly made coins here too.

Since 1981 it has been part of the Louisiana State Museum, and today it is home to the New Orleans Jazz Museum, with instruments, photographs and recordings from the city's great musicians. It is a fitting place to connect the drums of Congo Square to the music that went around the world. Check the website for current hours and free concerts.

Getting here: Continue down Chartres Street three blocks to Esplanade Avenue. The Mint fills the block on your right.

Did you know?: It is the oldest surviving building in the United States to have served as a U.S. Mint, and only four of the special half dollars the Confederacy struck here are known to survive.

Photo op: Stand on the wide neutral ground in the middle of Esplanade Avenue to fit the Mint's columned front and its long wings into one shot.

More on Wikipedia: New Orleans Mint · William Strickland · New Orleans Jazz Museum

Old U.S. Mint - Coins, Then Jazz

Stops on this tour