March 21, 1788 The Great New Orleans Fire destroys most of the City.

The Great New Orleans Fire (1788) was a fire that destroyed 856 of the 1,100 structures in New Orleans, Louisiana on March 21, 1788, spanning the south central French Quarter from Burgundy to Chartres Street, almost to the riverfront buildings. An additional 212 buildings were destroyed in a later city-wide fire, on December 8, 1794.

The Good Friday fire started about 1:30 p.m. at the home of Army Treasurer Don Vincente Jose Nunez, 619 Chartres Street at Toulouse Street,[1] less than a block from Jackson Square (Plaza de Armas). Within five hours it had consumed almost the entire city as it was fed by a strong wind from the southeast. The fire destroyed the original Cabildo and virtually all major buildings in the French Quarter, including the city's main church, the municipal building, the army barracks, armory, and jail. Only two fire engines were operational, and they were destroyed by the fire. Louisiana Governor Esteban Rodríguez Miró set up tents for the homeless.[1]

The fire area stretched between Dauphine Street and the Mississippi River and between Conti Street in the south and St. Philip Street in the north. It spared the river-front buildings including the Customs House, the tobacco warehouses, the Governor's Building, the Royal Hospital and the Ursulines Convent.[1]

The Spanish were to replace the wooden buildings with structures with courtyards, thick brick walls, arcades, and wrought iron balconies.[1] Among the new buildings were the signature New Orleans buildings of St. Louis Cathedral, The Cabildo and the Presbytere.[1]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_New_Orleans_Fire_(1788)