Augustin de Macarty
Augustin de Macarty (sometimes anglicized, as McCarty or McCarthy) was the mayor of New Orleans from September 7, 1815, to May 1, 1820. He was a member of an influential Creole family that was allied by marriage to Esteban Rodríguez Miró, one of the last Spanish Governors of Louisiana. He was brought to the mayoralty following the resignation of the previous mayor, Nicolas Girod, but subsequently served two full terms, to which he was elected by landslide majorities; after which he declined further terms.
Augustin de Macarty | |
|---|---|
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| Mayor of New Orleans | |
| In office September 4, 1815 – May 13, 1820 | |
| Preceded by | Nicholas Girod |
| Succeeded by | Louis Philippe de Roffignac |
| Personal details | |
| Born | January 10, 1774 New Orleans, Louisiana |
| Died | October 16, 1844 (aged 70) New Orleans, Louisiana |
| Political party | Democratic-Republican |
His tenure was chiefly marked by the first officially recorded outbreak of yellow fever, and the subsequent creation of the city's first Board of Health in 1817. It initiated systematic garbage removal and the institution of a port quarantine. In 1816, a comprehensive ordinance regulated theaters. In 1817, house numbering was instituted. In 1818, the city limits were expanded to include what is now the Eighth Ward. In 1819, the city's first public waterworks system was begun; its execution was entrusted to Benjamin Henry Latrobe, who succumbed to yellow fever there himself, the following year.
During Macarty's tenure, the population of New Orleans grew from 33,000 to 41,000; and commerce, measured by Mississippi boat traffic and receipts, doubled. The expansion of New Orleans into the "American Quarter" took place under Macarty's tenure and that of the next mayor, Roffignac.
Macarty was a cousin of Delphine LaLaurie, née Macarty, alleged to be a killer of slaves and a serial killer.