Social, Musical and Historical Moments including memorable events, venues opening or closing, major changes to the landscape, or things that happened elsewhere in New Orleans/the world that were relevant.
This is very much a work in progress/living document, and is nowhere close to capturing all the countless moments, shows and interactions that have happened on the street! Please contact us at research@maccno.com with any additional timeline entries or if we’ve listed something incorrectly!
| YEAR | EVENT/MOMENT |
| 1832 | Building built at 534 Frenchmen St. |
| 1971 | A resurgence of interest in the Marigny in the 1960s, and a recognition of its value as a historic area, led to the creation of a special Zoning designation in 1971. The Historic Marigny district (sub-divided as Residential and Commercial, known as HMR and HMC) was passed so the City could regulate activity within the area. Borders: St. Claude (North), Franklin Avenue (East), Mississippi River (South) and Esplanade Avenue (West). Live music is a prohibited use. |
| 1976 | Dream Palace opened by Alan and Deborah Langhoff at 534 Frenchmen– first venue of the modern day Frenchmen Street |
| 1978 | Frenchmen Art and Books opens at 600 Frenchmen. |
| 1979 -1980 | 73 music venues existed in the French Quarter. [source: a typed list in the Lousiana archival Research Collection at Tulane] Real estate was very expensive, and the adjacent Marigny Triangle was much cheaper |
| April, 1980 | Brumike Inc opened a jazz club called the Faubourg at 626 Frenchmen. They usually had music from 1 to 5 am, which fit with the generally late-night character of the area at that time |
| 1981 | Apple Barrel opened at 609 Frenchmen |
| 1983 | George Brumat bought out the Faubourg club (626 Frenchmen), changed the name to Snug Harbor, and focused on modern jazz. |
| 1983 | Bicycle Michael’s opens on Royal Street in the FQ |
| 1984 | World’s Fair |
| Mid-1980s | Regular listing at the Dream Palace includes funk-rock band The Radiators on Fridays and soul family group The Neville Brothers on Saturdays. This is an example of Frenchmen acting as a musical incubator for some local greats. |
| Mid-1980s | Ellis Marsalis, jazz-family patriarch, begins weekly Friday gig at Snug Harbor |
| 1985 | Cafe Brasil opens at the corner of Frenchmen and Chartres. This club was listed most frequently at 2100 Chartres St., but also occasionally at 527 or 531 Frenchmen. This is the first example of a Frenchmen St. venue with a seemingly fluid street address. |
| Late 1980s | Dream Palace, Snug Harbor, Apple Barrel and Cafe Brasil anchor a block-and-a-half area of music. |
| July, 1990 | Suleyman Aydin opens Café Istanbul, in the former Dream Palace at 534 Frenchmen. It features ‘world-music’ and Latin types of music rather than the older funk, rock and soul at the earlier clubs. |
| April 1991 | ‘Frenchmen’ had become known as an entity, as described in the title of an article by Christopher Cooper: “Frenchmen’s Mystique is Rediscovered by Locals.” Times-Picayune [New Orleans] 14 April 1991, A1. |
| January, 1992 | The City cites Cafe Istanbul and Cafe Brasil for offering live music without a permit, led by City Council Member Jacquelyn Brechtel Clarkson. Historic Marigny Commercial zoning does not allow for live music, and so the owners could not get permits without a change in the zoning. |
| 1992 | Eight days after the initial shut-down, City Council Member Clarkson, saying she thought “the street is definitely worth saving” allows the two venues to have temporary permits, which let live music continue. |
| 1992 | Council-member Clarkson proposes an “Arts and Culture Zoning Overlay”, a zoning change more permissive than the underlying zoning of the Marigny neighborhood, which would legally allow live music in a specifically-designated area on Frenchmen. She hoped the change would go through in 3 months. (It would take 12 years). |
| 1994 | Checkpoint Charlie’s opens at 501 Esplanade, at the ‘base’ of Frenchmen by Esplanade. Features varied genres including rock, punk, rockabilly, blues, songwriter and others |
| 1995 | The Dragon’s Den opens at 435 Esplanade, on the other side of the firehouse from Checkpoint’s. Offers rock, punk, ska, DJs, brass bands and more, both upstairs and down. |
| 1990s | Faubourg Center (508 Frenchmen, modern-day Maison) was a hostel with raves (had “best acoustics” in town) |
| April, 1996 | Cafe Istanbul closes and the venue is briefly re-opened by another new lessee, under the name Dream Palace, but it only lasts a few months |
| August, 1996 | The Langhoffs, the original owners of the Dream Palace take it back over, renovating the building and operating it themselves again. Alan Langhoff, musing on the difference compared to the original iteration of the Dream Palace 20 years earlier, is quoted as saying “when we first started, it was ‘Where’s Frenchmen Street? Is that in Gentilly?” |
| 1996 | Frenchmen had already changed enormously. Alan Langhoff, musing on the difference compared to the original Dream Palace 20 years earlier, is quoted in the Times-Pic as saying “when we first started, it was ‘Where’s Frenchmen Street? Is that in Gentilly?” |
| 1997 | Checkpoint Charlie’s had Blues Jam Sundays and Open Mic on Tuesdays |
| 1999 | The Dream palace is sold to a group of investors led by traditional jazz clarinetist Jack Maheu. The Langhoffs choose to sell to those particular buyers partly because Maheu and co. are adamant about continuing to have live music in the space at 534 Frenchmen. |
| May, 2000 | Tin Roof Cafe opens at 534 Frenchmen, specializing in traditional jazz |
| 2000 | DBA opens at 618 Frenchmen (jazz, blues, funk, rock, zydeco, brass band, trad) |
| March, 2000 | Dragon’s Den closes due to Zoning violations. |
| November, 2000 | Dragon’s Den reopens as a “Social Aid and Pleasure Club” |
| July, 2001 | Tin Roof Cafe closes, despite high hopes |
| 2001 | Spotted Cat opens at 623 Frenchmen (trad jazz and other genres) |
| February, 2002 | Blue Nile opens in the old Dream Palace building at 532 (sometimes listed as 534) Frenchmen |
| 2003 | The owners of the PJs coffee at 632 Frenchmen open Cafe Rose Nicaud, which becomes a hub for daytime activity on the street. |
| 2004 | Marigny Brasserie, at the edge of the Frenchmen cluster, is allowed to obtain a Nightclub license, provided that they don’t actually operate as one for 10 years. |
| September, 2004 | Zoning case number ZD094-04 comes before the City Council for a vote, proposing to create an Arts and Cultural Overlay District which would include Frenchmen in the 400, 500 and 600 blocks, the 400 and 500 blocks of Esplanade on the non-quarter side, and the short final block of Decatur where it crosses Frenchmen. Under the Overlay, businesses who are Zoned as bars can have music, and Restaurants can have music, but only up to a trio, and unamplified. |
| August, 2005 | Hurricane Katrina devastates the city. |
| 2006 | Street-performer culture flourishes as the amount of foot-traffic audience expands slowly over the years. A particularly popular spot is the empty lot at the corner of Frenchmen and Chartres. |
| August, 2006 | Stevie Wonder sat in at DBA with Walter Wolfman Washington |
| December, 2006 | Ray’s Boom Boom Room at 508 Frenchmen is mentioned as a “brand new venue” in an Offbeat article. |
| November, 2007 | Cafe Negril agrees to allow an experimental jam session to be held on their otherwise closed Mondays |
| 2008 | A reggae scene flourishes on Frenchmen |
| April, 2009 | Maison opens 508 Frenchmen (formerly Ray’s Boom Boom Room) |
| Spring, 2009 | Spotted Cat temporarily closes |
| Summer, 2009 | Satchmo Summer Fest lists music events happening in at least 20 places on and around Frenchmen, including spaces that normally don’t have music. |
| October, 2009 | Spotted Cat reopens under new ownership |
| 2010 | Three Muses opens |
| April 2010 – Dec 2013 | Treme airs on HBO |
| 2011 | The Frenchmen cluster contains 13 venues within 2.5 blocks, a higher density of live music than anywhere else in the City, even Bourbon |
| November 25, 2011 | Coco Robichaux passes away at the Apple Barrel, where he was a regular |
| 2012 | Opening of Siberia on St. Claude reflected the ‘overspill’ of Frenchmen St./the continuous growth of new music-incubator spaces |
| October, 2013 | Bamboula’s opens at 514 Frenchmen |
| November, 2013 | newspaper article reports that Bamboula’s has upset their neighbors, reflecting an increasibly densely-crowded ecosystem. Questions arise about the legality of live music (beyond unamplified trios) in businesses which are technically zoned as restaurants |
| 2014 | The 10-year waiting period on Marigny Brasserie expires, and so it now functions as a “Nightclub”, with live music. This functions as the opening of a ‘new’ live music venue at 640 Frenchmen. |
| 2014 | A new building is built at 520 Frenchmen |
| 2014 | Dat Dog opens in the former empty lot at the corner of Chartres, pushing the street-performers and vendors out |
| 2015 | The Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance is revised. Language restricting type of music in Restaurants (only up to a trio and unamplified), is taken out. Music will be restricted only by Decibel level and hours. This removes a source of tension among venues, and between venues and the City. |
| 2015 | 30*90 opens at 520 Frenchmen |
| 2017 | Rare Form opens (formerly Miss Jeans) |
| May 2018 | Rare Form becomes The Yard |
| Early 2019 | Frenchmen Art and Books changes ownership. |
| June 8, 2019 | Street performer known as “Little Eugene” arrested for/while playing music with a brass band on the street, after the new owner of the bookstore at calls NOPD. |
| December, 2019 | Cafe Rose Nicaud closes as the owners decide to retire. |
| December, 2019 | Ellis Marsalis’ retired from his Friday residency at Snug Harbor after about 35 years |
| March, 2020 | Frenchmen shuttered due to COVID pandemic |
