page_title: Saint Malo, Louisiana
section_title: Dwellings
hierarchical_section_title: Saint Malo, Louisiana / Description / Dwellings
caption_attribution_description: English: Drawing of St. Malo settlement in St. Bernard Parish, the first permanent Filipino settlement in the United States.
context_page_description: Saint Malo was a small fishing village that existed along the shore of Lake Borgne in St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana as early as the mid-eighteenth century until it was destroyed by the 1915 New Orleans hurricane. Located along Bayou Saint Malo, about 6 miles east of the Isleño fishing village of Shell Beach, it was the first permanent settlement of Filipinos and perhaps the first Asian-American settlement in the United States.
  The exact date of the establishment of Saint Malo is disputed. The settlement may have been formed as early as 1763 or 1765 by Filipino deserters and escaped slaves of the Spanish Manila galleon trade. The members of the community were commonly referred to as Manila men, or Manilamen, and later Tagalas.
  Filipino-Americans residing the in the region were recruited by local pirate Jean Lafitte to join his "Baratarians", a group of privately-recruited soldiers serving under the American forces under the command of Andrew Jackson, in the defense of New Orleans. They played a decisive role in securing the American victory, firing barrage after barrage of well-aimed artillery fire.
context_section_description: The Manilamen lived in small houses supported above the water by stilts in a similar style to the nipa huts of the Philippines. Wood needed to construct dwellings had to be acquired elsewhere as it could not be easily found in the swamps. The palmetto and woven-cane construction often did not withstand the harsh climate of marsh and had to be repaired or replaced frequently. Windows were draped with netting to protect from mosquitoes and other biting insects. Dwellings lacked furniture including tables, chairs, and bed frames. Mattresses were stuffed with dried Spanish moss which had been a common practice in the region and had even been used to upholster the Ford Model T. The mattresses were laid upon a series of shelves mounted against the walls. According to Hearn, the fishermen slept at night “among barrels of flour and folded sails and smoked fish.”
caption: Depictions of the houses and scenery of Saint Malo.
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