Lafayette Square is the second oldest park in New Orleans, Louisiana and was designed in 1788 by Charles Laveau Trudeau alias Don Carlos Trudeau (1743–1816), general surveyor of Louisiana under the spanish government. The Square was named after Gilbert du Motier, marquis de La Fayette, a French aristocrat and general who fought on the American side in the American Revolutionary War.[1]
The park has a bronze statue of Henry Clay in the center of the park, and statues of John McDonough and Benjamin Franklin on St. Charles Avenue and Camp Street.
Gallier Hall, the former City Hall of New Orleans faces the square on St. Charles Avenue. Although the city government has moved elsewhere, the square is still used for inaugurations and civic events. The square also often hosts live music.
Hurricane Katrina severely damaged the trees in the park, with broken glass and debris from nearby buildings making the park unsafe. A group of neighborhood residents and downtown workers formed a charitable organization, the Lafayette Square Conservancy, to transform it into a premier urban space.
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