HistoricSiteMarkers
Colonial AmericaEarly Republic

Town of Carrollton

New Orleans, Orleans Parish, Louisiana

Marker Inscription

Town of Carrollton. Laid out by Charles Zimpel in 1833 on site of Macarty Plantation, formerly uppermost part of Bienville's 1719 land grant. Jefferson Parish seat 1852-1874. Annexed 1874 by New Orleans. 1854 courthouse designed by Henry Howard.

Erected by Louisiana Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism

The Story

Surveyor Charles Zimpel laid out Carrollton in 1833 on the former Macarty Plantation, land that had once been the uppermost portion of Bienville's 1719 French grant. The town served as the seat of Jefferson Parish from 1852 to 1874, when it was annexed by a growing New Orleans. Its 1854 courthouse was designed by the noted architect Henry Howard.

Why it matters

Carrollton's rise and absorption trace how New Orleans expanded upriver in the 19th century, swallowing independent towns built on old plantation land.

Own a business near here? Add it to the map.

Related people

  • · Charles Zimpel
  • · Henry Howard

Themes & tags

Nearby & related markers

Bienville monument

New Orleans, LA

Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne, Sieur de Bienville, the French-Canadian colonizer who founded New Orleans in 1718, spent decades governing France's struggling Louisiana colony along the lower Mississippi. Erected in 1955 for the Louisiana Purchase Sesquicentennial, this statue offers the "homage of Louisiana, Canada, and France" to the man who chose the crescent bend in the river where the city still stands.

Jackson Square

New Orleans, LA

Laid out in 1721 by engineer Adrien de Pauger as the French colonial Place d'Armes, this square became the Spanish Plaza de Armas and, in 1803, the stage for the flag ceremonies transferring Louisiana from Spain to France and then to the United States. After the Pontalba buildings rose in 1851, the Baroness Pontalba had it redesigned and renamed for Andrew Jackson, whose equestrian statue was unveiled in 1856.

Republic of West Florida

St. Tammany Parish, LA

St. Tammany Parish lay within the Spanish-governed West Florida parishes and was not part of the 1803 Louisiana Purchase. In September 1810 residents revolted against Spanish rule and declared the Republic of West Florida, raising their own flag and electing a president. The republic lasted just 74 days before the United States annexed the territory by force in December 1810.