Opening day at the Louisiana Cotton Exposition of 1884. The Pilcher organ, largest ever built by the Pilcher firm, is visible (top left) as backdrop to bandstand. When the fair closed, the organ went to the Jesuit Fathers for their church on Baronne Street. In 1928 the original Immaculate Conception Church was damaged by foundation work from the Pere Marquette Building and other large buildings in the area. The organ was stored in the Roosevelt (now Fairmont) Hotel, across the street, while the original church was demolished and the present church was constructed. The organ was reinstalled in the new church, with additions, by the Moller Company. The installation bore the Moller opus 3318. Although the instrument was abandoned in place some years ago, the images below indicate what remains of the organ today.
