Old Ursuline Convent - New Orleans

The Old Ursuline Convent is located on Chartres Street in New Orleans, Louisiana.  The current structure dates to 1751 when construction was completed on what was then the second home for the Ursuline nuns.  They came from Rouen, France in 1727 to set up facilities to educate and care for young girls.  The first convent was erected in 1734 and lay directly adjacent to the current structure.  When the first building began to show signs of disrepair it was decided to move the nuns into a newer facility.  The French neoclassical building, housing a Catholic school for girls and an orphanage, contained dorms, classrooms, and an infirmary.  The Ursulines lived here until 1824, when they moved to newer quarters on Dauphine Street.  From 1824 to 1899 it was used as a home for the Bishop of New Orleans.  In later years the convent housed the offices of the Archdiocese.  New Orleans lore claims that vampires live in the upper floor, in caskets, smuggled in by young French girls who came to help in the convent.  It is also claimed that the top floor is locked, the windows sealed shut with screws and nails blessed by the pope, to keep the creatures from getting out.  The Old Ursuline Convent was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1966 and designated a National Historic Landmark in 1968.

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