Read more about New Orleans: New Orleans, Louisiana — Overview for travelers
or: New Orleans, Louisiana — Sightseeing & Attractions
New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park
New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park was established to celebrate the origins and evolution of America’s most widely recognized indigenous musical art form. 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.
Most historical parks in the national park system are created to commemorate a battle, a place, or a person that played an important role in our nation’s history. In 1994, Congress authorized a new and different park in New Orleans as a national tribute to the uniquely American invention – jazz. The park’s purpose is to preserve information and resources associated with the origins and development of jazz in the city widely recognized as its birthplace. The Future Site of the New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park will be in Armstrong Park.
Address: 916 St. Peter St., New Orleans
Louis Armstrong Park
The mission is to serve the nation as a global leader in the promulgation of New Orleans jazz by enhancing and instilling a public appreciation and understanding of the origins, early history, development and progression of this uniquely American music art form – jazz. To preserve unimpaired this cultural resource and it’s core values for the enjoyment, education, and inspiration of this and future generations.
The following statements describe the primary reasons why the park was created. They influence management priorities and are central to decisions about how the park should be developed and managed. The purpose of New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park is to:
- preserve resources and information that are associated with the origins and early development of jazz in New Orleans
- enhance opportunities for visitors to experience and appreciate the sights and sounds of early jazz and the places where early jazz evolved
- interpret the origins, history, and progression of jazz
- promote and assist the education of students in various forms of jazz in order to perpetuate its continued evolution as a true American art form
The New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park is significant because:
- New Orleans is widely recognized as the birthplace of jazz and the sites and structures associated with the early history of jazz remain in the city.
- Jazz is America’s most widely recognized indigenous music art form; performance and appreciation of jazz is worldwide.
- Many distinctive social and traditional practices associated with the origins of jazz continue in New Orleans today.
Website (NPS): New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov)
Read more: History of Music in New Orleans
Read more: Louis ‘Satchmo’ Armstrong – his story
