Treme New Orleans History: A Neighborhood That Made Culture

Tremé (spelled Treme just as often) is the neighborhood just lakeside of the French Quarter, across Rampart Street, and it's often described as one of the oldest Black neighborhoods in America. Its history runs from the free people of color who made their homes here in the early 1800s to the highway that was dropped on top of its main street in the 1960s, with Congo Square and the brass bands in between. A lot of what the world thinks of as New Orleans culture was made and passed down here.

If you came here looking for Treme New Orleans history, we want to tell it carefully. Tremé isn't ours. It belongs to the families who've lived there for generations and the culture bearers who keep its traditions going. What follows is history we can verify, pointed toward the people and places who can tell you more.

Where Is Tremé?

The City Planning Commission puts Tremé between Esplanade Avenue, North Rampart Street, St. Louis Street and North Broad, according to Wikipedia. Older maps run it all the way to Canal Street. Either way, it sits right next to the French Quarter, an easy walk from Jackson Square.

Is Tremé the Oldest Black Neighborhood in America?

You'll see that claim a lot. It's worth being precise about it. Some sources call Tremé the oldest Black-majority neighborhood in the United States, and it's commonly cited as one of the oldest. Historians define "oldest" in different ways, so we'd put it this way: Tremé is one of the oldest Black neighborhoods in the country, and among the most important.

What's clear is the early history. Claude Tremé bought the land near the end of the 1700s, and the Faubourg Tremé was laid out on it in 1810. In its early years, it was the main neighborhood of the city's free people of color, a large community of Black and Creole New Orleanians who made lives here while slavery was still the law of the land.

St. Augustine Church is part of that story. It's described as the oldest African American Catholic parish in the United States.

Congo Square

Congo Square sits inside Louis Armstrong Park on North Rampart Street, and its history matters far beyond New Orleans.

Under the French colonial Code Noir of 1724, Sundays were nonwork days, even for the enslaved, though no law guaranteed them the right to gather. Enslaved Africans gathered anyway, on levees and in open squares, to make music and trade goods. Free people of color came too. In 1817, a city ordinance restricted those gatherings to a single site, and that site became Congo Square. 64 Parishes has the full history.

Many scholars believe the rhythms played there helped give rise to jazz. You can still hear them in the brass bands and second lines, and in Black Masking Indian music.

The city renamed it Beauregard Square in 1893, after a Confederate general. People kept calling it Congo Square anyway. In 2011, the City Council made Congo Square the official name.

Claiborne Avenue and the Overpass

North Claiborne Avenue used to be the heart of Black commercial life downtown. The neutral ground was wide and planted with oaks, big enough for kids to play football and baseball. On Carnival day, Black Mardi Gras happened on Claiborne, with Zulu and the Black Masking Indians, at a time when Black residents weren't welcome on Canal Street or St. Charles.

Then came the interstate. In 1968, the Claiborne section of the I-10 overpass went up right on top of that neutral ground. The Historic New Orleans Collection's Tripod reports that the state cleared more than 200 oak trees and acquired 155 properties along the route. In 1950, that section of Claiborne had 123 businesses. Almost fifty years later, it had 44.

Anyone who remembers the oaks will tell you what was lost.

Earlier in the 1960s, an urban renewal project tore down a large part of central Tremé. Louis Armstrong Park was built on that land in the 1970s.

Brass Bands and the Music That Never Left

Tremé is still one of the centers of the brass band tradition. Back in the 1800s, Creole of color brass and symphonic bands played concerts here, groundwork for the improvised style that became jazz. The old Joe's Cozy Corner is often called the birthplace of the Rebirth Brass Band.

You'll hear brass bands at second lines on Sunday afternoons during the season, when social aid and pleasure clubs parade through the neighborhood. If you've never been, read what a second line actually is first, and check the club's route before you go. The book Dancing in the Streets: Social Aid and Pleasure Clubs of New Orleans is a beautiful place to learn more. Our Brass Band Enamel Pin was made to honor the musicians.

The Backstreet Cultural Museum

If you visit one place in Tremé, make it the Backstreet Cultural Museum. Sylvester Francis founded it in 1999 to preserve the suits of Black Masking Indians and Baby Dolls, along with the photographs and artifacts of second line culture. After he passed in 2020, his daughter Dominique Dilling-Francis took over. Axios reported in 2025 that the museum had moved to St. Philip Street and was expanding.

Go see the suits up close. Every bead was sewn on by hand. And if you're in town in March, read up on Super Sunday, when the Indians take to the streets in their suits.

Tremé Today

Tremé had minor to moderate flooding in Katrina, less than many parts of the city. What's hit the neighborhood harder in recent years is change of a different kind. Rising rents and short-term rentals have pushed out long-time families, a problem we've written about in Short-Term Rentals: The Pest That's Eating New Orleans Neighborhoods.

If you visit, be a good guest. Support Black-owned businesses in the neighborhood. Tip the musicians. Don't treat a funeral or a second line like a show staged for your camera. People live here.

For more neighborhood history, our older Neighborhood: Tremé profile is still up.

Treme New Orleans History: FAQ

Is Tremé the oldest Black neighborhood in America?

It's commonly cited as one of the oldest, and some sources call it the oldest Black-majority neighborhood in the United States. It was laid out in 1810 and was home to a large community of free people of color in the early 1800s.

What happened at Congo Square?

Enslaved Africans and free people of color gathered there on Sundays to make music and trade, especially after an 1817 ordinance limited such gatherings to that site. Many scholars see it as one of the roots of jazz.

Why is there a highway over Claiborne Avenue?

The I-10 overpass was built over North Claiborne Avenue in 1968. It replaced a wide, oak-lined neutral ground that had been the center of Black commercial and Carnival life, and businesses along the corridor declined sharply afterward.