New Orleans Pharmacy Museum, New Orleans, Guía del visitante y qué hacer cerca

The New Orleans Pharmacy Museum is a small museum at 514 Chartres Street in the French Quarter of New Orleans. It occupies the former shop of Louis J. Dufilho Jr., generally called the first licensed pharmacist in the United States. It shows what medicine looked like in the early 1800s, from leeches to opium, in the building where an apothecary actually worked.

The story behind it

Before Louisiana became a state, pharmacy was loosely regulated. Apothecaries were trained informally, often through a short apprenticeship, and after that they faced almost no oversight. The result was a run of dangerous situations, from patient overdoses to life-threatening drug reactions. Once Louisiana joined the Union, new rules called for a formal exam, and Dufilho was the first person to pass it, in 1816. That is why his shop is regarded as the first official apothecary in the country. The Creole townhouse at 514 Chartres was built for him in the early 1820s, and he worked below while living above.

Dufilho sold the property in 1855 to a physician named Dupas, and a ghost story has clung to the building ever since. You may hear it told on the pavement outside, with grim tales about experiments and rites. None of it is documented, so treat it as local legend rather than history. The real story, of how risky and improvised early medicine could be, is more than enough.

What to look for

• The street front of the 1820s Creole townhouse, which still reads as a shop with a home above it, as Dufilho intended.
• The amputation set and the other surgical instruments, which make plain how little separated a pharmacist from a surgeon in those days.
• The leech jar, a reminder that bloodletting with leeches was an ordinary remedy in the 1800s.
• The displays of old remedies, including opium, which look startling set beside modern medicine.

Tips for your visit

• Allow about an hour inside if you like reading the displays, less if you just want a look at the main rooms.
• It is a working museum, so you can go in. Check current opening hours and admission before you set out.
• Chartres Street is easy to stroll, and Jackson Square and the Cabildo, where Louisiana's early history unfolds, are only a short walk away.
• Go earlier in the day if you prefer a quieter visit, and save the evening for the street outside, when the ghost tours gather.

See it on a quest

New Orleans French Quarter: The Lost Treasure is a self-guided treasure hunt through the Quarter. You reach the Pharmacy Museum on foot as one stop on a longer route, the app tells you about each place as you arrive, and you solve a puzzle in front of you. One ticket covers the whole group.

The Hunt in 1862, New Orleans takes the same approach with a historical theme. You walk between stops, hear the story of each place when you get there and work out a puzzle on the spot. One ticket covers the whole group.

Christmas Operation: Sleigh Down in New Orleans is a festive route through the city. You pass the museum on foot, learn about it in the app and solve a puzzle there, with one ticket covering the whole group.