The Cabildo, one of the monumental buildings flanking St. Louis Cathedral, is an important historic building in the United States and undoubtedly the most important surviving monument of the period of Spanish domination in Louisiana. This volume traces the history of the Cabildo, from its construction in 1769 and reconstruction in 1795 to its restoration in 1969. Originally written and published in 1970, the book is divided into two sections: one dealing with the Colonial Period (1723-1803), written by Samuel Wilson, Jr., and one on the American Period (1803-present), written by Leonard V. Huber. In the Colonial Period, Wilson describes the original Cabildo's destruction by fire in 1788 and its reconstruction in 1795. It also traces the handing over of the Cabildo from the Spanish to the French on November 30, 1803, and then to the Americans less than three weeks later. In the American Period, Huber examines the Cabildo as the Louisiana State Museum, the days during the Depression, and the sesquicentennial celebration of the Louisiana transfer in 1953.