Little-Known Black History Fact: New Orleans' Faubourg Treme District

Some men in Faubourg Tremé in New Orleans are shown in this vintage photograph.

Faubourg Tremé in New Orleans was home to the largest community of free black and Creole people in the Deep South during slavery. By the way, the word "faubourg" is French for suburb.
Located on the northern border of the French Quarter above Rampart Street, Tremé was integrated with French Créoles during the 1800’s, many of whom fled Haiti during the Haitian Revolution. The area became home to prominent people like Jelly Roll Morton and Louis Armstrong.

In the city of Tremé, the free black residents were fighting for property rights in the Louisiana courts in the early 1800’s when most black were still bonded in slavery. The citizens were in a league of their own. Even during Abraham Lincoln’s administration, blacks from Tremé sent a delegation to meet with the president in the middle of the Civil War to demand voting rights.

Tremé was a mix of culture and status. There were huge mansions on Esplanade Avenue, 17th-century Creole Cottages, and, of course, there were shacks. The area is home to the famous St. Augustine Church of 1842 and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers.

In 1898, Tremé developed a “red light district” called Storyville. The area would develop the greatest jazz sounds known to music history. It would thrive until its demolition in 1917.

Tremé is now home to the famous Louis Armstrong Park, where the famous Congo Square is located; that’s the place were free and enslaved blacks were allowed to dance and congregate one day a week. Most recently, Treme is the centerpiece for the HBO original series, “Treme,” starring Wendell Pierce. The show focuses on the jazz heritage and culture of this historic part of the Big Easy.