Originally posted by Stompa
http://www.neworleanscvb.com/static/...ubsectionID/0/
"In 1718, when Sieur de la Bienville founded a strategic port city five feet below sea level near the juncture of the Mississippi and the Gulf of Mexico, it had to be reclaimed from a swamp. The new city, or ville, was named La Nouvelle Orléans for Philippe, Duc d’Orléans, and centered around the Place d’Armes (later known as Jackson Square). It was confined to the area we now call the French Quarter or Vieux Carré (Old Square)."
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