Exchange Alley and Old Louisiana State Bank

Why is it significant?

Turn into the secluded flagstone passage of Exchange Alley, historically known as Passage de la Bourse.

Key Facts

Open the walk

Turn into the secluded flagstone passage of Exchange Alley, historically known as Passage de la Bourse. Cut through the city grid in the 1830s to link the French Quarter with the American financial exchanges along Canal Street, this tranquil pedestrian corridor was once the lively haunt of fencing masters, dueling champions, political schemers, and newspaper editors who debated in Parisian-style coffee houses.

Look at the monumental stuccoed building at the corner of Conti and Royal Streets: this is the Old Louisiana State Bank, designed in 1820 by Benjamin Henry Latrobe, the celebrated architect of the United States Capitol in Washington. Tragically, this was Latrobe's final completed architectural masterpiece; he died of yellow fever in New Orleans in September 1820 while supervising the city's municipal waterworks.

The bank's exterior features a refined domed rotunda, arched ground-floor windows, and exceptionally intricate wrought-iron balcony railings bearing Latrobe's initials and classical geometric motifs. In the nineteenth century, Exchange Alley was famous for its Salle d'Armes, where legendary fencing masters like Pepe Llulla and Basile Croquère taught Creole gentlemen the art of the rapier before dawn duels beneath the Dueling Oaks in City Park. These fencing masters were revered local celebrities whose strict honor codes dictated Creole social rituals throughout the nineteenth century. Looking up at the masonry cornices, you can still observe the decorative gas bracket lamps, heavy cypress carriage gates, and wrought-iron grilles designed to protect wine cellars and counting rooms from street flooding. Notice the heavy wooden batten shutters, original granite curbstones, and decorative gas lanterns that illuminate the narrow alley at twilight. Today, the alley houses boutique art galleries, vintage jewelers, and cozy bistro tables where visitors sip absinthe cocktails away from the louder thoroughfares.

The European intimacy of Exchange Alley captures the distinct Latin character that sets New Orleans apart from all other American cities. Behind these quiet stuccoed facades and fanlight doorways lies two centuries of intense Creole drama, romance, and artistic passion.

Walk east along St. Louis Street toward the grand civic forum of Jackson Square.