Birthplace of jazz, home to the beignet, city of a thousand legends, New Orleans grew out of a unique blend of cultures. Its architecture and cuisine, born of Spanish, French, Caribbean, African, and other influences, created a city unlike any other in America. Its popular saying, laissez les bons temps rouler—"let the good times roll”—reflects the upbeat spirit of its citizens, a spirit that has at times been diminished by tragedy, but that can never be vanquished.

Remembering New Orleans celebrates that spirit in more than 100 striking, black-and-white photographs selected from local and national archives. With these fine historic images from her best-selling book, Historic Photos of New Orleans, Melissa Lee Smith provides a valuable and revealing historical retrospective on the growth and development of New Orleans.

Here are the grand buildings and the immigrant slums, the cast-iron corn fences and the open-air markets, Mardi Gras parades and scenes of daily life. From the French Quarter and the elegant Garden District to the infamous Storyville, the people and places of New Orleans tell their unique story through these beautiful, rarely seen images.