Great New Orleans Fire

Date: March 21, 1788 • Location: New Orleans, United States

A large fire destroyed 856 of the 1,100 structures in New Orleans.

The Great New Orleans Fire (1788) was a fire that destroyed 856 of the 1,100 structures in New Orleans, Louisiana, on March 21, 1788, spanning the south central Vieux Carré from Burgundy to Chartres Street, almost to the Mississippi River front buildings. An additional 212 buildings were destroyed in a later citywide fire on December 8, 1794.