Pontalba Buildings aka: Pontalba Apartments

I have always loved the story of the woman who built these apartment buildings that flank Jackson Square: The Baroness Pontalba. I probably first learned of her when I was quite young at the visit I took to the Musée Conti Wax Museum in the company of Mam’ella, my grandmother who lived across the river in Algiers. I was probably about 7 years old. The part of Pontalba’s story that had the most immediate appeal to me at that age was the episode in which her father-in-law shot her with four rounds from his dueling pistols. I stood staring in awed admiration at the wax figure of this woman, who went on to live to a ripe old age with the lead still lodged in her chest. Later, Mam’ella and I stood just outside the apartment buildings that bear her name, peering up closely at the wrought iron to see if we could spot her initials A. (maiden name Almonester) and P. (married name Pontalba) that formed part of the design. An adequate little bio appears at http://www.frenchquarter.com/history/BaronessPontalba.php.