 eep walking down Carondelet Street, once called Wall Street South, toward the building on your left with the cupola on the top. The - Hibernia Bank Building has been a downtown landmark ever since it was built in 1921. Designed by Favrot and Livaudais, this beautiful 23-story structure has been the home of one of New Orleans' oldest banks since it was built, and was the city's tallest skyscraper for 43 years. Constructed of a steel skeleton with light-gray Indiana limestone sheathing, the base of the building is lined with massive Corinthian columns, and the top is crowned with a lovely
white-columned belvedere that is flood-lit at night. Officially considered a sailor's beacon, the belvedere used to be open as an public observatory, and is lit today in various colors according to the time of year and the different holidays. For instance, during the Mardi Gras season it is illuminated with gold, green, and purple lighting; for Christmas it is lit in green and red. The interior is grand, withe polished floors and fluted travertine Corinthian columns on all four sides of its great lobby. Walk to the corner of Carondelet and Gravier. Across Gravier you will see the:
- Old New Orleans Cotton Exchange, 231 Carondelet. Another building designed by the architectural firm Favrot and Livaudais, the 7-story Cotton Exchange was built in 1922, the year after
the Hibernia Bank Building across the street was completed. It too was constructed of steel and limestone, and is the third Cotton Exchange to be built on this site, replacing a beautiful Second-Empire-style building constructed in 1883. The statues that once adorned this former cotton exchange were relocated to a building on City Park Avenue, upon the building's demolition. The exchange operated here until 1962, and was finally closed in 1964, ending New Orleans' important role in the business of cotton trading.irectly across Carondelet Street from the Cotton Exchange Building, at number 226, is the:
 Old Southern Trust and Banking building. A relatively plain structure, this classically-designed 13-story Edwardian office building was designed by Chicago architect Daniel Burnham,
and built in 1903 for the Southern Trust and Banking Company. The year before, Hibernia Bank merged with Southern Trust, then moved into its brand new headquarters at 313 Carondelet in 1921. In 1994 the building was converted into the Hampton Inn Downtown, another in a series of CBD high-rises turned into hotels. Continuing your view in a clockwise direction from this corner, you will see the building directly across the street from where you're standing, the former:- Jamison Building, now the Hibernia Homestead Association, 300 Carondelet. This rather plain 4-story multi-bay plastered-brick building was designed from plans by James Freret, and built circa 1866 for owner Samuel Jamison. The cast-iron balconies were added
by Jules de la Vergne in 1962, giving the building a more New Orleans character. The structure is at present the only remaining one on this side of the block, the rest, including the ornate New Orleans Stock Exchange, having been demolished in the name of "progress", or in this case, for a parking lot. From here, cross Carondelet and head south on Gravier toward the river until you get to St Charles Avenue. On this side of St Charles, on the right, running from 301 to 317 St Charles, is a row of buildings that stretch from Gravier to Union Streets.
- Touro Row was named for Judah Touro, Jewish benefactor of both Newport, Rhode Island and New Orleans. He had Thomas Murray build this row of six stores for him in 1851, one of the best examples of a commercial row left in the city.
The original wraparound cast-iron balcony that once adorned the front of all six buildings has thankfully been reinstalled, along with the ornate canopy that once covered it, but only for three-quarters of the original length. The section of the row at 317, on the Union Street end, has been restored to its former appearance, with the removal of the terra cotta facade added to it near the turn of the century, and now blends more easily with the rest of the row. Directly across St Charles is the old:
- Bank of Louisiana, at 300 St Charles, a pair of 4-story Italianate-designed brick-and-stucco buildings erected in 1855 for Charles Mason. The twin buildings have cast-iron piers along the ground floor, with wide openings between them with folding door-windows.
The whole structure is painted brown, with white round-headed cast-iron lintels over the windows providing accents. The whole effect is rather pleasing. Catty-corner from the corner you are standing on, at 228 St Charles, is the:
- Whitney National Bank building, with its trademark clock projecting over the sidewalk at the corner of St Charles and Gravier. Chartered in 1883, the Whitney Bank moved into its new quarters from 619 Gravier (covered later in the tour) after the completion of this 14-story highrise in 1911. Designed by New York architects Clinton and Russell, in association with Emile Weil of New Orleans, the $1.5 million structure was built with a steel skeleton covered with pale-pink granite and Bedford stone.
The 14-story tower on the Gravier Street side is linked to a 5-story wing on the St Charles side to form the complex.
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