The Historic Bar Where a Future President Met a Pirate
What Happened
The Old Absinthe House on Bourbon Street in New Orleans claims to be the site where Andrew Jackson, then a general defending the city, met with the pirate Jean Lafitte in late 1814 or early 1815. While the specific meeting location remains more legend than documented fact, the collaboration between Jackson and Lafitte during the Battle of New Orleans is historically verified.
Built in 1807, the Old Absinthe House operated as Aleix’s Coffee House during the War of 1812 period. The building’s upstairs rooms would have provided the perfect discreet venue for sensitive negotiations between the American general and the pirate leader who controlled much of the Gulf of Mexico.