Hilton New Orleans :
The Hilton New Orleans/St. Charles Avenue hotel in Louisiana is located in the heart of the New Orleans Central Business District, three blocks off Canal Street and blocks from the world famous French Quarter and Bourbon Street. This landmark building was originally built in 1926 as the Masonic Temple and was the second high-rise to be built in the Central Business District. The Hilton New Orleans hotel on St. Charles Avenue has undergone an $11 million renovation and has re-emerged as the newest Crescent City, upscale, premier hotel experience. The architecture, exquisite woodwork and other design detail from the artisans of the 1920's is evident throughout the hotel and highlighted by the original chandeliers at the main entrance, original marble floors and walls, and the elaborate, hand-crafted inlay tile ceiling in the Grand Entry Hall. Walk into the Hilton New Orleans hotel and take a step back in time to luxury hotels of the past - hotels that made New Orleans famous. Uniquely sophisticated and elegantly designed our hotel boasts 250 superior guest rooms including 25 dignitary suites and the five bedroom Grand Suite. Our world-class restaurant and lounge offer breakfast, lunch and dinner selections as well as in-room dining options that include 24-hour, limited in-room dining menu. Our French Quarter area hotel on St. Charles Avenue in Louisiana has 12,000 square feet of flexible function space including multiple break-out rooms with the same attention to detail and preserved or restored to reflect their most opulent past glory. From weddings to corporate board meetings to anything in between, our hotel is one of the favorite gathering places in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Source: http://www1.hilton.com

History of New Orleans - The Beginning
La Nouvelle-Orléans (New Orleans) was founded in 1718 by the French Mississippi Company, under the direction of Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville. It was named for Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, who was Regent of France at the time; his title came from the French City of Orleans. In 1763, the French colony was ceded to the Spanish Empire and remained under Spanish control for 40 years. Most of the surviving architecture of the Vieux Carré (French Quarter) dates from this Spanish period. Louisiana reverted to French control in 1801, but Napoleon sold it to the United States in the Louisiana Purchase two years later. The city grew rapidly with influxes of Americans, French, and Creole French.

During the War of 1812 the British sent a force to conquer the city. The Americans decisively defeated the British troops led by Sir Edward Pakenham in the Battle of New Orleans on January 8, 1815. As a principal port, New Orleans had a leading role in the slave trade, while at the same time having the most prosperous community of free persons of colour in the South.

The population of the city doubled in the 1830s, and, by 1840, New Orleans had become the wealthiest and third most populous city in the nation. The Union captured New Orleans early in the American Civil War. This action spared the city the destruction suffered by many other cities of the American South.

Twentieth century
In the early 20th century, New Orleans was a progressive major city whose most portentous development was a drainage plan devised by engineer and inventor A. Baldwin Wood. Urban development until then was largely limited to higher ground along natural river levees and bayous. Wood's pump system allowed the city to expand into low-lying areas. Over the 20th century, rapid subsidence, both natural and human-induced, left these newly-populated areas several feet below sea level.

New Orleans was vulnerable to flooding even before the age of negative elevation. In the late 20th century, however, scientists and New Orleans residents gradually became aware of the city's increased vulnerability. Hurricane Betsy in 1965 had killed dozens of residents even though the majority of the city remained dry. The rain-induced 1995 flood demonstrated the weakness of the pumping system.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Orleans