The Birthplace of American Jazz Hides Within This Small New Orleans National Park

New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park

The New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park opened in 1994 to celebrate jazz music. You’ll find the right in the busy French Quarter at 916 North Peters Street. Here’s why it’s a must-visit when you visit New Orleans.

Hidden Compartments and High Stakes

Back in the 1920s, the park’s main building was a secret gambling spot called The Royal Flush, run by the Baptiste family. Famous musicians like Kid Ory and Jelly Roll Morton played here while people bet huge amounts of money – sometimes up to $10,000 in a single game – in back rooms.

The old brick walls have seven hiding spots where people stashed their gambling gear during police raids. One fake chimney could hold 50 decks of cards. Now, you can see these secret spots through clear plastic walls and imagine the jazz pioneers who played for tips between police raids.

Jazz Rangers

The park has special park rangers who are also jazz musicians, and they’re called Jazz Rangers. To get this job, they must train as regular rangers for 12 weeks and pass tough music tests judged by local jazz experts.

These talented rangers give three concerts every day at 11am, 1pm, and 3pm. The program started with rangers Michael White and Gregory Davis in 1996 but now has eight rangers who speak four languages and play 24 different instruments.

Preservation Hall

Inside the park, you’ll find Preservation Hall, the last old-time jazz recording studio still standing in New Orleans.

The studio looks just like it did when it recorded some of the first jazz songs between 1923 and 1925, with the same cork walls and old Western Electric recording equipment that captured songs like King Oliver’s ‘Dipper Mouth Blues.’

You can still see worn spots on the wooden floor where musicians stood to play and touch the same brass doorknobs that Louis Armstrong once used.

Archive of America’s Music

The park keeps 2,347 band arrangements, 583 recorded stories from jazz musicians, and 12,000 pieces of sheet music dating back to 1891 in a special temperature-controlled room. They have rare treasures like the only known photo of Buddy Bolden and music written by Jelly Roll Morton himself.

Through the Scholar-in-Residence program, students and researchers can study these materials and 150 old instruments, including Sidney Bechet’s soprano saxophone and Kid Ory’s first trombone.

The Brass Memorial

After Hurricane Katrina, master artist John T. Scott made a special 12-foot bench using 137 broken musical instruments from the storm. They melted down trumpets, trombones, and saxophones found in flooded homes and music schools.

Preserving the Second Line

The park protects a 1.2-mile parade route that’s the same path jazz funeral processions took between 1895 and 1910. This historic path passes by 15 key sites, including the former homes of Louis Armstrong and Sidney Bechet.

On the first Saturday of each month, the Jazz Rangers lead a parade on this route with traditional brass band music and stories about its history. Bronze circles in the sidewalk mark the route, each showing the name and instrument of a famous jazz musician who once played here.

Walk Among the Greats

Along Decatur Street, you’ll find 52 markers in the ground honoring important jazz musicians. These unique plaques have codes you can scan with your phone to hear 30 seconds of the musicians playing.

During the Satchmo SummerFest celebration each year, they add two new markers that cost $5,000 each, paid for by donations.

Freedom’s Hidden Passages

Between 1850 and 1861, the park building was known as Station 17 on the Underground Railroad, run by Marie Laveau, a free person of color. The same seven hiding spots later used for gambling originally helped at least 62 people escape slavery.

Records show that several early jazz musicians had grandparents who passed through this very building on their way to freedom.

Wisdom of the Ages

The Living Legends program, started in 1998, invites four older jazz musicians to stay at the park each year for a month. These guests, many over 80 years old, receive $5,000 and a place to stay while they teach visitors about traditional jazz.

They’ve recorded more than 400 hours of stories about jazz history. Famous guests like Harold ‘Duke’ Dejan shared unknown stories about the Olympia Brass Band, and Emma Barrett taught visitors real piano techniques from the 1920s.

Garden of Sound

Sound expert Mark Holden designed a special 1,200-square-foot garden in 1997 with curved walls that create echoes matching famous old jazz clubs like the Funky Butt Hall and Preservation Hall.

The garden uses the same math principles that made old New Orleans dance halls sound amazing.

Music for the Future

Every ten years since 1994, the park buries a special box filled with jazz items chosen by musicians, historians, and community members. These sealed boxes contain recordings, photos, and small instruments that show how jazz music has changed.

The first box, buried on October 15, 1994, holds digital recordings of local jazz, photos of French Quarter music venues, and a trumpet mouthpiece used by Kermit Ruffins.