Algiers Point

This guide to Algiers Point in New Orleans opens with a puzzle: how can the twin-towered brick courthouse in front of you, finished only in 1896, call itself the third oldest in continuous use in the whole state of Louisiana. It traces the ground beneath it back to the old Duverje family plantation house, pressed into government service on this same spot sometime in the 1860s and used as a courthouse for thirty-odd years. You'll hear about the disaster that struck that earlier building on a Sunday morning in October 1895, and about the engineers and builder brought in afterward. Look for where the old foundation meets the new brick as you walk the block.