The Pontalba Buildings are often called the oldest apartment buildings in the United States — which is wrong. They were built as row houses in 1849 and converted to apartments by the WPA in the 1930s.
Baroness Micaela Almonester was born in this square. Her father rebuilt the Cathedral, the Cabildo, and the Presbytere after the great fire of 1788. At fifteen, she married Celestin de Pontalba — the son of a French baron who wanted her money.
On October 19, 1834, in a chateau outside Paris, her father-in-law shot her four times in the chest. Two fingers were destroyed. She had epileptic seizures for three weeks. The bullets were never removed. The baron rewrote his will and shot himself the same evening.
Her husband Celestin nursed her through recovery — then sued her. She won a legal separation and her fortune. Came home to New Orleans and personally supervised the $300,000 construction. Rode horseback. Wore men's pants. Designed the AP monogram on the cast-iron railings. Threatened
the mayor with a shotgun when he objected to her removing trees.
Jenny Lind was one of the first tenants in 1851. The Paris mansion Micaela also built — 41 Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honore — has been the U.S. Ambassador to France's residence since 1971.
— From the tour: The French Quarter Cheat Code
