History of Orleans Parish

The Incorporated city limits of New Orleans is the same as the boundaries of Orleans Parish.

Unincorporated areas of interest in the parish include Algiers, Chef Menteur, Green Ditch, Lake Catherine, Little Woods, Recovery, Rigolets, Stanton and Venetian Isles.

1805: When the Territory of Orleans is divided into counties the present-day Washington Parish is part of Spanish West Florida.
 
1811: (Nov. 4) Representatives from the County of Orleans to the Constitutional Convention that adjourns January 28, 1812 - J. D. Degoutin Bellechasse, J. Blanque, T. J. LeBreton D'Orgenois, Mgre. Guichard, Stephen Henderson, Denis Delaronde, F. Livaudais. Bernard Marigny, Thomas Urquhart, Jacques Philippe Villere, John Watkins, Samuel Winter.  At this time The County of Orleans included areas of present day parishes Jefferson, Plaquemines and St. Bernard.
 
1828: Fort Pike is completed near Slidell to defend Rigolets Pass, approach through Lake Pontchartrain to New Orleans. Named after Brigadier General Zebulon Montgomery Pike.

Facts about the Louisiana Purchase

The Territory: 828,000 square miles including New Orleans and parts of what would become 13 states west of the Mississippi River
 
The Price: $15 million
 
The Buyer: The United States of America
 
The Seller: France
 
The International Principals: Thomas Jefferson, Napoleon Bonaparte, James Monroe, Robert Livingston, Francois de Barbe-Marbois
 
The Deal: Negotiated in Paris during 1802 and 1803
 
Signing Agreement: April 30, 1803 in Paris
 
Ratified: By the United States Senate in October, 1803
 
Retrocession: From Spain to France November 30, 1803 in New Orleans
 
New Orleans, Louisiana Territory Principals: Pierre Clement de Laussat, William Charles Cole Claiborne, General James Wilkinson
 
Transfer from France to the United States: December 20, 1803 in the Sala Capitular in the Cabildo located in the historic French Quarter on Jackson Square in New Orleans