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Old Absinthe House
Of all the ancient buildings in New Orleans' famed
Vieux Carr6, none has been more glorified in story and
picture than a square, plastered-brick building at the
corner of Bourbon and Bienville streets, known as "The
Old Absinthe House."
Hoary legend has long set forth that the building was
erected in 1752, 1774, 1786, 1792, but as a matter of fact
it was actually built in 1806 for the importing and com
mission firm of Juncadella & Font, Catalonians from
Barcelona, Spain. In 1820, after Francisco Juncadella
died and Pedro Font returned to his native land, the
place continued as a commission house for the barter of
foodstuffs, tobacco, shoes, clothing, as well as liquids
in bulk from Spain, and was conducted by relatives of
the builders. Later it became an epicerie, or grocery
shop; for several years it was a cordonnerie, or boot and
shoe store, and not until 1846 did the ground floor corner
room become a coffee-house, as saloons were then called.
This initial liquid-refreshment establishment was run
by Jacinto Aleix, a nephew of Senora Juncadella, and
was known as "Aleix's Coffee-House." In 1869, Caye-
tano Ferrer, a Catalan from Barcelona, who had been
a bar-keeper at the French Opera House, transferred his
talents to the old Juncadella casa and became principal
drink-mixer for the Aleix brothers. In 1874, Cayetano
himself leased the place, calling it the "Absinthe Room"
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