Departures of note

After the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, land owners just upriver from the Vieux Carré hired Barthélemy Lafon to subdivide their property and create an American suburb. From 1806 to 1809, he served as deputy surveyor of Orleans Parish and prepared elaborate plans for what is today the Lower Garden District, crossing the boundaries of five plantations. A lover of the classics, Lafon named his streets after the nine muses of Greek mythology and designed tree-lined canals, fountains, churches, markets, a grand classical school, and a coliseum. Although few of these features were ever realized, the grid pattern of streets survives, along with the parks and some street names leading to Coliseum Square.

Lafon was born in Villepinte, France, and traveled to New Orleans around 1790. He designed several public buildings, including public baths (plans submitted in 1797, but the bath house was never built) and a lighthouse, as well as numerous private homes, including the Benachi cotton brokers' house and the Vincent Rillieux house. His professional services also included mapmaking, designing the plan for Donaldsonville in 1806, and surveying and recommending improvements to the fortifications of New Orleans during the War of 1812. Parts of the Bywater and Bayou St. John neighborhoods were also planned by him.

Lafon had a long-term relationship with Modeste Foucher, a free woman of color. When he wrote his will in 1809, he acknowledged two mixed-race children he had with her, Pierre Barthélemy and Carmélite. Thomy Lafon, a Creole of color who was the son of Modeste Foucher, was likely named after Barthélemy Lafon, although Thomy's father was Pierre Larande. As a businessman and investor, Lafon became a rich man and was noted for his philanthropy.

After the Battle of New Orleans early in 1815, Lafon did not resume his architectural career. Instead, he turned to piracy and smuggling, working in league with the notorious brothers Pierre and Jean Lafitte. His association with piracy became public knowledge in later life. Lafon died of yellow fever in New Orleans on September 29, 1820, and was buried in Saint Louis Cemetery Number 1.