New Orleans Pharmacy Museum

The New Orleans Pharmacy Museum, at 514 Chartres Street in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana, occupies an 1820s Greek Revival building that was the apothecary of Louis J. Dufilho Jr., recognised as one of the first licensed pharmacists in the United States after Louisiana introduced pharmacy licensing in 1816. Dufilho opened his shop around 1823, and the building contained his dispensary on the ground floor and living quarters above, with a rear courtyard garden. The property later passed through other hands before the Louisiana Pharmacy Museum was established in 1950, and the museum has preserved the original shop fixtures, which were largely intact. The dark wood cabinets, with their hand-blown apothecary jars, and the marble soda fountain showcase the period of 19th-century medicine. The museum's exhibits cover patent medicines, glass bottles, mortars and pestles, surgical instruments, leech jars, cupping devices, and gris-gris and Voodoo remedies used in Creole New Orleans. A reconstructed physician's office and a second-floor display of the sickroom address yellow fever epidemics, the limits of medical knowledge, and the dangerous ingredients in common cures, including opium, mercury and arsenic. Dufilho's courtyard has been replanted with medicinal herbs, and the building's architecture, with a brick facade, arched openings, a mezzanine and cast-iron details, is typical of the Quarter's post-fire reconstruction. The curatorial approach is thematic, with room-by-room displays and an optional guided tour, which brings the objects and stories to life. Restoration over the years has conserved the cabinets, floors and display cases, and the museum is run by a nonprofit. A visit takes about 45 to 60 minutes. Visitors should check the website for schedule changes.