Now a tavern, Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop, located in the heart of the French Quarter on Bourbon Street, remains one of the oldest buildings in New Orleans. Built by the privateers and pirates Jean and Pierre Lafitte between 1772 and 1791, it provided cover for their illegal trade in smuggled goods and slaves. Some say Lafitte lost his life in a hurricane around 1826, though others say he lived on. Still others claim to have seen or heard his ghost in the shop or in nearby alleys.
