December 20, 2003 11 a.m. (tentative - please call to confirm) Louisiana Purchase Transfer Reenactment

As the culminating event of the Louisiana Purchase Bicentennial celebration, United States President George W. Bush, the Prime Minister of France and the King of Spain are scheduled to view a reenactment of the Purchase Transfer. The reenactment will be held in the Sala Capitular, the room in the Louisiana State Museum's Cabildo in which the Louisiana Purchase was transferred from Spain to France and from France to the United States on December 20, 1803.
Year-Long Events

January 2003 - December 2003 The Real Louisiana Purchase Experience

Friends of the Cabildo walking tour guides will be offering special tours celebrating the Bicentennial of the Louisiana Purchase. Visitors will learn the history and culture of Louisiana in 1803 as they stroll through the Place d'Armes, today's Jackson Square, and the Cabildo, site of the signing of the Louisiana Purchase transfers. This is certain to be a highlight of any visitor's trip to New Orleans. Tours will leave from the 1850 House, another historic property of the Louisiana State Museum located in the Lower Pontalba building. Please call (504) 523-3939 for more information.

January 2003 - December 2003 Cabildo Tours for Students The Louisiana Purchase - It Happened Here

A special guided tour focusing on the fundamental transformation faced by Americans during the time of the Louisiana Purchase Transfer has been especially designed for students and will be conducted by Louisiana State Museum Education Department docents. Along with discussing the profound significance of the Purchase and its far-reaching ramifications, the tour will also center around the explorations into this new territory. The vast open spaces of the Louisiana territory drew immigrants from all over Europe, changing the character of the nation by increasing its social diversity. The push to settle the new territory shifted the eyes of the country westward, making further expansion almost inevitable and giving birth, if not to the term, at least to the forces behind, "manifest destiny." Tours will commence in the Jackson House located at 619 St. Peter Street (left rear side of Cabildo). Please call (504) 568-8788 for reservations.