Congo Square

Congo Square is a historic open space in Louis Armstrong Park, near the corner of North Rampart and St. Ann streets in the Treme neighbourhood of New Orleans, Louisiana. It is widely regarded as one of the most important sites in the history of African American culture. In the 18th century the ground outside the colonial town's ramparts was used as a marketplace where enslaved and free Africans sold produce and goods. Under Spanish and later American rule, and especially after a city ordinance of 1817 limited the public gatherings of enslaved people to this location on Sundays, thousands gathered here to trade, sing, dance and play drums and other instruments. These gatherings preserved West and Central African musical traditions in a way rare in the United States, and scholars connect the rhythms and call-and-response forms heard here with the later development of jazz, blues and Mardi Gras Indian traditions. After the Civil War the space was renamed Beauregard Square and later became part of a municipal park; the name Congo Square was formally restored in 2011. Louis Armstrong Park opened in 1980 and today the square sits near the park's arched entrance, with a circular design echoing the historic plaza, inscribed in the paving. The site has no building or exhibition; interpretation comes through plaques and markers, and the surrounding Treme neighbourhood, with its churches, music venues and cultural institutions, provides context. Weekly drum circles take place on Sundays in the park, and the square hosts the Congo Square Rhythms Festival and other cultural events. The park has been renovated several times, with landscaping, lighting and path work after Hurricane Katrina. A visit takes 20 to 40 minutes alone, longer when combined with the Backstreet Cultural Museum and the Treme historic district.