New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park

419 Decatur Street
New Orleans, LA 70130

Phone
Visitor Information (Monday - Friday)
(504) 589-4806
Visitor Information (Tuesday - Saturday)
(504) 589-4841

WELCOME to New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park

New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park is a National Historical Park in the Treme neighborhood of New Orleans, Louisiana, near the French Quarter. It was created in 1994 to celebrate the origins and evolution of jazz, America’s most widely-recognized indigenous music.

The park consists of 4 acres within Louis Armstrong Park leased by the National Park Service. The park has an office, visitors center, and concert venue several blocks away in the French Quarter. 

It provides a setting to share the cultural history of the people and places that helped shape the development and progression of jazz in New Orleans. 

The park preserves information and resources associated with the origins and early development of jazz through interpretive techniques designed to educate and entertain.

Perseverance Hall No. 4

The centerpiece of the site is Perseverance Hall No. 4 (not to be confused with Preservation Hall). Originally a Masonic Lodge, it was built between 1819 and 1820, making it the oldest Masonic temple in Louisiana.

Its historic significance is based on its use for dances, where black jazz performers and bands reportedly played for black or white audiences. Various organizations, both black and white, rented Perseverance Hall for dances, concerts, Monday night banquets, and recitals.

During the early 1900s some bands, such as the Golden Rule Band, were barred from appearing at Perseverance Hall, apparently because management considered them too undignified for the place. 

The building also served as a terminal point for Labor Day parades involving white and black bands. During the 1920s and 1930s, well past the formative years of jazz, various jazz bands played there.

Perseverance Hall was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 2, 1973. The entire National Historical Park was administratively listed on the Register on the date of its authorization, October 31, 1994.

A story rich with innovation, experimentation, controversy and emotion, the park provides an ideal setting to share the cultural history of the people and places that helped shape the development and progression of jazz in New Orleans.

People of Traditional New Orleans Jazz
Numerous musicians were key players in the development and progression of New Orleans jazz. Culture, ethnicity, neighborhoods, and families all played a role in shaping each performers contribution to the music. Explore these short profiles of New Orleans jazz pioneers and learn how each one shaped the music.

Jazz History Walking Tours
Explore six New Orleans neighborhoods and their connection to jazz history. These self-guided maps highlight venues, businesses and homes of New Orleans music history.

Oral History Project
The New Orleans Jazz Commission has collected oral histories from over 130 New Orleans musicians, and the work continues...

Did You Know?
Louis “Satchmo” Armstrong claimed to be born on July 4th, 1900, but a baptismal record was recently found which states his birthday as August 4th, 1901. (We celebrate both days!)