![gay bar new orleans burned down gay bar new orleans burned down](https://img.buzzfeed.com/buzzfeed-static/static/2018-05/31/12/campaign_images/buzzfeed-prod-web-01/this-mass-murder-of-gay-people-sparked-a-movement-2-23977-1527783447-3_dblbig.jpg)
In 1842, Henriette DeLille founded the Sisters of the Holy Family, America’s first and oldest order of Black nuns. Mary’s and the Sisters of the Holy Family Saint Mary’s convent in 1900. Rumor has it that Andrew Jackson announced his bid for the presidency in the building. In 1828, a fire burned down the old Capitol building, forcing the state legislature to move their operations into the ballroom. They attended the ball in secret to hide the fact that they were chasing women of color. Wealthy and influential Creole men would attend the ball in search of love affairs with Quadroon women, or women of partial African ancestry. The venue hosted numerous festivities, including the infamous Quadroon Ball. In 1819, the Orleans Theatre and Ballroom was complete. This time, Davis wanted to add a ballroom. The fun came to an end in 1816 when a fire destroyed the building, but entrepreneur John Davis was set on keeping the fire alive (pun very much intended).ĭavis bought the land under the burnt building and hired architect Henry Latrobe, the man who designed the US Capitol building, to construct his theatre. The Orleans Theatre was an exclusive club meant for the high society of Louisiana Creole. The Orleans Theatre was one of the most important opera houses in the city in the 19th century. Construction on the theatre began in 1806, but the War of 1812 stalled its construction. Tabary then envisioned another, more grandiose theatre nearby, the Theatre d’Orleans. Unfortunately, structural issues forced St. Louis Tabary was the theatre manager for the nearby Theatre St. Rumors also say that a nun committed suicide in Room 644, and her tortured screams can still be heard to this day. There’s also the ghost of a Confederate soldier who walks the halls of the hotel, as well as a woman seen dancing under the chandeliers of the Orleans Ballroom. A view of the French Quarter, a balcony over Bourbon Street, and of course, ghosts! The Bourbon Orleans is said to be home to nearly 20 spirits, many of them children who died of Yellow Fever back when the building was a convent. Today, the hotel provides guests with all the modern luxuries they could ask for while giving them a taste of the real New Orleans. They sold the hotel in 1964, and the Bourbon Orleans was born. By the 1960s, the Sisters of the Holy Family had grown to several hundred members and had begun to outgrow the building. It was during this time that one of the worst outbreaks of Yellow Fever took the lives of several children and nuns. The building then served as a school and orphanage for young Black girls called St. The Orleans Ballroom and Theatre was later bought out by the Sisters of the Holy Family, the first Black order of nuns. It was known for the occasional Quadroon Balls, where wealthy Creole men would engage in secretive affairs with Quadroons, or women of partial African ancestry. First opening as the Orleans Ballroom and Theatre in 1815, it was a place for the socialites of Louisiana Creole society to have their luxurious ballroom dances. The Bourbon Orleans hotel is exactly that, but also offers a dose of luxury along with the haunts. After two hundred years, a blazing fire, a suicide, and a deadly Yellow Fever epidemic, one wouldn’t expect anything less than a haunted nightmare.