New Orleans Cotton Exchange

New Orleans

LoginSave

For much of its history, the economy of New Orleans was built on cotton and slavery. The former industry was largely brokered out of this building, where the city's Cotton Exchange was founded in 1871. In its heyday, thousands of cotton contracts were traded at this site, but, in time, Dallas replaced New Orleans as the nation's most important cotton-trading center. The building here, dating from the 1920s, is the third Cotton Exchange to occupy this site.

Today, the building hosts a bank, offices and parts of a hotel.

Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

  • The statue in front of the grand St Louis Cathedral, built in 1794, at one end of Jackson Square in the French Quarter - New Orleans, Louisiana

    Jackson Square

    0.62 MILES

    Whatever happens in the French Quarter usually begins here in Jackson Square, at Decatur and St Peter Streets. It's a gentle, carnivalesque scene,…

  • City Park, New Orleans

    City Park

    2.47 MILES

    Live oaks, Spanish moss and lazy bayous frame this masterpiece of urban planning. Three miles long and 1 mile wide, dotted with gardens, waterways and…

  • NEW ORLEANS, USA - JULY 17, 2013: houses in historic building in the French Quarter in New Orleans, USA. Tourism provides a large source of revenue after the 2005 devastation of Hurricane Katrina.; Shutterstock ID 206700100; Your name (First / Last): Lauren Gillmore; GL account no.: 56530; Netsuite department name: Online-Design; Full Product or Project name including edition: 65050/ Online Design /LaurenGillmore/POI

    Cabildo

    0.58 MILES

    The former seat of government in colonial Louisiana now serves as the gateway to exploring the history of the state in general, and New Orleans in…

  • Old above-ground graves in Lafayette Cemetery Number 1, Garden District.

    Lafayette Cemetery No 1

    1.81 MILES

    Of all the cemeteries in New Orleans, Lafayette exudes the strongest sense of subtropical Southern Gothic. The stark contrast of moldering crypts and…

  • High angle view of St. Louis Cathedral and Jackson Square in French Quarter, New Orleans, LA, USA

    St Louis Cathedral

    0.6 MILES

    One of the best examples of French architecture in the country, this triple-spired 18th-century cathedral is dedicated to Louis IX, the French king…

  • A crowd on Royal Street in the French Quarter of New Orleans.

    Royal Street

    0.16 MILES

    Royal Street, with its rows of high-end antique shops, galleries and potted ferns hanging from cast-iron balconies, is the elegant yin to well known…

  • Civil War Museum & Ogden Museum of Southern Art

    Ogden Museum of Southern Art

    0.59 MILES

    The South has one of the most distinctive aesthetic cultures in the US artistic universe, a creative vision indelibly influenced by the region's…

  • "The Sun" sculpture by Ugo Rondinone, located in the Sydney and Walda Besthoff Sculpture Garden in New Orleans.

    Sydney & Walda Besthoff Sculpture Garden

    2.71 MILES

    The sculpture garden that sits just outside the New Orleans Museum of Art in City Park is a wooded quilt of streams, pathways, lovers' benches and, of…

View more attractions

Nearby New Orleans attractions

1. United Fruit Company

0.09 MILES

A cornucopia of tropical produce graces the entrance to this building. The United Fruit Company, infamous for neocolonial practices in Central America,…

2. Upper Bourbon Street

0.15 MILES

Like Vegas and Cancun, the main stretch of Bourbon St is where the great id of the repressed American psyche is let loose into a seething mass of karaoke,…

3. Royal Street

0.16 MILES

Royal Street, with its rows of high-end antique shops, galleries and potted ferns hanging from cast-iron balconies, is the elegant yin to well known…

4. Gallier Hall

0.25 MILES

Architect James Gallier Sr designed this Greek-Revival structure, dedicated in 1853. It served as New Orleans’ city hall until the 1950s and far…

5. Museum of Death

0.27 MILES

If death is your thing, or you have an interest in serial killers, the Museum of Death will not disappoint. Starting with skulls (both animal and human)…

6. Insectarium

0.3 MILES

We'll be honest: if you're not a fan of bugs and creepy-crawlies, you may be happier elsewhere, because at this lively museum, you'll do more than stare…

7. A Gallery for Fine Photography

0.3 MILES

This impressive gallery usually has prints such as William Henry Jackson’s early-20th-century views of New Orleans and EJ Bellocq’s rare images of…

8. Musical Legends Park

0.31 MILES

This pleasant little public square is peppered with statues of some of New Orleans’ great musical heroes: Louis Prima, Chris Owens, Pete Fountain, Al Hirt…