abandon the Freedmen's Cemetery. The site is now memorialized by a historical marker located near the entrance to Chalmette National Cemetery. Chalmette Monuments and Visitors' Center In 1840, a cornerstone was laid for a proposed monument commemorating the American victory in the Battle of New Orleans, but completion of that monument's construction was delayed due to budget issues. Frustrated by the federal government's lack of progress, members of the Louisiana Society of the United States Daughters of 1776 and 1812 began lobbying elected officials for help during the 1890s, finally securing the support necessary from the administration of President Theodore Roosevelt for the monument's erection. Known as the Chalmette Monument, the one-hundred-foot-tall obelisk was completed in 1908. Closed for repairs after parts of the Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve were damaged or destroyed by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, it was reopened to the public during a rededication ceremony on National Public Lands Day on September 28, 2013. The monument features an observation deck which offers visitors views of the battlefield and City of New Orleans. In February 1874, members of the Grand Army of the Republic's Joseph Mower Post in New Orleans secured permission to erect a G.A.R. monument on the grounds of the national cemetery to pay tribute to deceased Union Army soldiers. Although implementation of this project was also delayed due to funding problems, construction was able to be finished more quickly than it was for the proposed obelisk. Completed in 1882, the G.A.R. monument was inscribed with the Latin phrase, "Dum Tacent Clamant" ("While They Are Silent, They Cry Aloud"), and has served as "a focal point" for Memorial Day ceremonies since that time. The present-day visitors' center located near the battleground obelisk offers information and exhibits. Rebuilt after it was destroyed in 2005 by Hurricane Katrina, this new center reopened in 2010. Special events held at the Chalmette National Battlefield and Cemetery each year include commemoration ceremonies related to the Battle of New Orleans and Memorial Day, living history demonstrations, and wreath-laying ceremonies. New Orleans unit The park operates a French Quarter Visitor Center at 419 Decatur Street (New Orleans), in the historic French Quarter. It interprets more generally the history of New Orleans and the diverse cultures of Louisiana's Mississippi River Delta region. The headquarters of Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve are located in New Orleans. Administrative history Chalmette Monument and