The demolition of the St. Louis Hotel came in 1917. The Rotunda was the building’s standout feature. The perfectly round room extended from the ground to the top of the building and was covered with beautiful frescoes painted by Italian-born New Orleans artist Dominico Canova. At demolition, the frescos were removed and purchased by the French government. The property was left undeveloped until the 1950s and now is the site of the Omni Royal Orleans.
The St. Louis Hotel, located on the 600 block of St. Louis Street, had a long and influential history in New Orleans. Rising from the ashes of The City Exchange Hotel – built in 1838 and felled by fire two years later – the St. Louis Hotel was the center of Creole and European social life.
The hotel flourished until the Civil War, during which time it served as a military hospital. In 1874, it was sold to the state of Louisiana and served as the de facto state capitol until 1882, when it became a hotel again for a short while.
Empty since about 1897, the state sold the property in 1901 to a real estate company that hoped to return it to its former glory. It remained unused and within the decade, the building started visibly crumbling as bricks tumbled from walls and floors collapsed. The decision to demolish was made when a bubonic plague outbreak in 1914 triggered a mandatory rat-proofing project with an exorbitant price tag. The 1915 hurricane delivered the fatal blow, collapsing the kitchen. The building was purchased by the Samuel House Wrecking Company three weeks later in October, 1915, and demolition was completed in early 1917. A short pause during Carnival 1916 allowed visitors to tour the building and buy souvenirs like roofing tiles and carved wood.
During demolition, about 100 Springfield rifles, c1870, were discovered hidden underneath the floor, presumably placed there by Governor William Kellogg in anticipation of threatening political upheaval. While most of the guns were sold to an antique shop, a few of them were donated to the Louisiana State Museum, as was the inscribed cornerstone unearthed by the crew.
Pieces of the St. Louis Hotel found new life in other projects. The columns and stone front were used to construct the Louisiana Railway and Navigation Company Edenborn Station, built on the corner of Girod and Rampart Streets the following year. Many of the remaining stones were added to the jetties being built at South Pass in Plaquemines Parish to provide safe passage at one of the main points of entry to the Mississippi River.
