The French Quarter's gas-lit corridors have carried spectral rumors since 1718, when Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville platted the original thirteen blocks along the Mississippi crescent. By the 1790s, fire had twice consumed wooden Creole cottages; the Spanish colonial rebuilding gave the Vieux Carré its iron-lace galleries and stucco facades, and those same balconies became the stage for two centuries of tragedy, duels, fever epidemics, and unresolved deaths. The limestone cobbles of Royal Street, laid in the 1830s, still bear the grooves worn by carriage wheels, and the mule-drawn vehicles that traverse them tonight follow routes unchanged since the steamboat era. A New Orleans carriage ride ghost tour departs from the heart of this preserved district, where architecture and lore converge. The French Quarter's narrow passageways—some barely wide enough for a single carriage—amplify the effect of lantern light on wrought iron, and the rhythmic clop of mule hooves against stone creates an acoustic signature that has remained constant for nearly two hundred years. The St. Louis Cathedral's triple spires anchor Jackson Square, the site of public executions until 1852; the Cabildo and Presbytere flank it, their Mansard roofs added after the 1788 fire. These structures form the visual and narrative spine of most evening rides. The most persistent legends center on the LaLaurie Mansion at 1140 Royal Street, a three-story Italianate residence completed in 1832. Madame Delphine LaLaurie's household became the subject of sensational press coverage after an 1834 fire revealed chained individuals in the attic, and the building has carried a reputation for paranormal activity ever since. The Gardette-LePretre House on Dauphine Street, with its Moorish fretwork, is linked to an 1863 massacre; the Sultan's Palace legend persists despite scant archival evidence. The Old Ursuline Convent, erected in 1752, is the oldest structure in the Mississippi Valley and a frequent stop on ghost-focused routes. Evening departures between 8 p.m. and midnight offer practical advantages: reduced foot traffic, cooler temperatures in the warmer months, and the interplay of modern streetlights with nineteenth-century facades. The mule-drawn format preserves authenticity—motorized vehicles were banned from many French Quarter streets in the 1960s to protect the historic paving—and the slower pace allows narrators to match story beats to specific doorways, courtyards, and cast-iron gates. The tours operate year-round, adapting their routes to accommodate Mardi Gras parades in February and March and Jazz Fest crowds in late April.