Jean Lafitte (1780-1826), a well-known pirate in the Gulf of Mexico, established
his own “kingdom” of Barataria in the swamps and bayous south of New Orleans.
He and his many troops assisted Andrew Jackson in defending the City of New
Orleans during the War of 1812. Lafitte was run out of New Orleans around 1817.
His name has been associated with the Creole cottage and St. Philip Streets, known as Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop. The building dates backto the French and Spanish Period of the Late 1700s.on the corner of Bourbon and St. Philip Streets, known as Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop. The building dates backto the French and Spanish Period of the Late 1700s.