Starting Point of the First Traditional New Orleans Mardi Gras P
From this corner on February 24, 1857, the Mistick Krewe of Comus began its first parade, heading up Julia Street toward St. Charles Avenue. With that parade, Mardi Gras was solidified as a New Orleans tradition that ultimately influnced Carnival celebrations throughout the continent. Comus would introduce the continuing custom of "krewes" staging annual parades and would influence the New Orleans style of Carnival, including floats,the word "krewe" and the playful element of mystery.
" At 9:00 o'clock, or thereabout, the glare of the torchlights shattered the darkness of Magazine and Julia Streets, bands burst into symphony, and the Mistick Krewe... revealed a company of demons, rich and realistic, moving in a procession that seemed to blaze from some secret chamber of the earth."
Perry Young, The Mystick Krewe: Chronicles of Comus and His Kin - 1931
Marker is at the intersection of Julia Street and Magazine Street, on the right when traveling west on Julia Street.
Courtesy hmdb.org
