George Washington Cable House and Creole Literary Heritage
Why is it significant?
Arrive before the charming raised wooden veranda of the George Washington Cable House at 1313 Eighth Street.
Key Facts
| Place | George Washington Cable House and Creole Literary Heritage |
|---|---|
| Address | 1313 Eighth St, New Orleans, LA 70130, United States |
| Geo Coordinates | 29.92400, -90.08950 |
| Part of Walk | Garden District, Antebellum Mansions and St. Charles Streetcar: New Orleans' Gilded Avenues |
| Generated | Generated |
Arrive before the charming raised wooden veranda of the George Washington Cable House at 1313 Eighth Street. Built in 1874, this picturesque residence was the home of pioneer Southern author George Washington Cable during the height of his literary fame, when his groundbreaking stories introduced the romantic and complex culture of French-speaking Louisiana Creoles to national and international audiences.
Cable was a self-taught literary genius who worked as an accountant by day and wrote fiction by gaslight at night. His landmark 1879 collection Old Creole Days and his 1880 novel The Grandissimes earned him international acclaim, praised by contemporaries like Mark Twain, who considered Cable one of the finest prose stylists in the English language.
In the winter of 1884, Mark Twain stayed as Cable's guest in this very house, and the two literary giants embarked on their legendary four-month national reading tour, known as the "Twins of Genius" tour, performing to packed lecture halls across North America. Cable's writing was revolutionary: he was one of the very first Southern white writers to openly criticize racial prejudice and post-Civil War Jim Crow laws, advocating passionately for full civil rights and voting rights for African Americans in his controversial 1885 essay The Silent South. His progressive racial views outraged many conservative white New Orleanians, eventually compelling Cable to move his family north to Massachusetts in 1885. The house itself is a classic Southern raised cottage, elevated on brick piers to catch cooling breezes.
Standing in the shade of the live oaks outside this modest wooden cottage, you feel the profound moral courage of a writer who dared to speak truth to power. Cable used his literary artistry not merely to entertain, but to challenge America toward racial equality and justice.
Walk east along Jackson Avenue to the monumental gates of the Buckner Mansion.