New Orleans, Orleans Parish story
A Name Reclaimed
Congo Square is more than just a park; it's a site of cultural survival and transformation. Originating in the late 1740s, it served as a vital social and meeting ground for ensla…
Read the story
Congo Square is more than just a park; it's a site of cultural survival and transformation. Originating in the late 1740s, it served as a vital social and meeting ground for enslaved African Americans, where they could gather for dancing and drumming on Sundays. It's widely considered the birthplace of New Orleans jazz and Creole music.
However, the square's identity was shifted in 1893 when it was renamed for Confederate General P.G.T. Beauregard. For over a century, that name stood, even as the square remained a place of deep ancestral meaning.
In 2011, the city finally revoked that name, officially returning the site to its original identity as Congo Square. It was a symbolic urban transformation, aligning the city's official map with the actual history of the people who made the square famous.
Updated June 2026