1938 Famous New Orleans Drinks and how to mix'em (3rd printing) by Stanley Clisby Arthur

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" Thirty-five