Pharmacy Museum, New Orleans

Pharmacy Museum, New Orleans

What a find this museum is! It offers a well-rounded experience combining education, spookiness, a picture-perfect garden setting, and even a charming balcony. Whether you opt for a guided tour or prefer to explore at your own pace, you'll journey through the nation's first pharmacy, which weaves together the stories of its owners, including J. Dufilho, recognized as the first licensed pharmacist in the U.S. Along the way, you'll also delve into the intriguing tales of supposed hauntings that have been associated with the building.

The museum spans two floors, with the initial creaky wooden level faithfully replicating a functioning apothecary that includes a soda fountain from 1855. Here, you'll encounter displays featuring blood-letting equipment, microscopes, and 19th-century cosmetics elegantly housed in rosewood cabinets. At the prescription counter, you can gain insights into how pharmacists of the era prepared and filled vintage bottles with a wide range of substances, from voodoo potions and herbs to opium and cocaine-based medications.

Ascending to the second floor, you'll find an examination room replete with a hospital bed and an array of antiquated surgical instruments, including archaic child-birthing devices, vintage wheelchairs, primitive crutches, inhalers, and spectacles.

In the tranquil courtyard tucked behind the apothecary, away from the busy street, you'll encounter a variety of herbs and flowers that were once integral to the pharmacy trade. These plants served diverse medicinal purposes: Aloe was applied to soothe burns, jasmine was used to calm upset stomachs, foxglove acted as a potent heart stimulant, and Angel’s Trumpet offered relief from asthma symptoms.

All in all, a visit to the Pharmacy Museum is a rewarding investment of both your money and time.

Want to visit this sight? Check out these Self-Guided Walking Tours in New Orleans. Alternatively, you can download the mobile app "GPSmyCity: Walks in 1K+ Cities" from Apple App Store or Google Play Store. The app turns your mobile device to a personal tour guide and it works offline, so no data plan is needed when traveling abroad.

Download The GPSmyCity App

Pharmacy Museum on Map

Sight Name: Pharmacy Museum
Sight Location: New Orleans, USA (See walking tours in New Orleans)
Sight Type: Museum/Gallery
Guide(s) Containing This Sight:

Walking Tours in New Orleans, Louisiana

Create Your Own Walk in New Orleans

Create Your Own Walk in New Orleans

Creating your own self-guided walk in New Orleans is easy and fun. Choose the city attractions that you want to see and a walk route map will be created just for you. You can even set your hotel as the start point of the walk.
Voodoo Tour

Voodoo Tour

Voodoo is an ancient ritualistic practice brought by enslaved West Africans onto the American soil upon their arrival in the 18th century. This form of religion was most prominent in New Orleans from the 1820s through the 1860s, when it was introduced by the “Voodoo Queens”. Of these, Marie Laveau became more prominent as she overthrew other queens to become the sole oracle.

Your best...  view more

Tour Duration: 2 Hour(s)
Travel Distance: 2.6 Km or 1.6 Miles
French Quarter Walking Tour

French Quarter Walking Tour

The French Quarter, also known as the Old Square, is New Orleans' oldest and most popular neighborhood. Founded in 1718, it perfectly combines the tempting, noisy and nutty nightlife of Bourbon Street with important historical landmarks, art galleries, sophisticated cafés, and some of the city's oldest churches – all within walking distance, close to Mississippi River.

On this...  view more

Tour Duration: 2 Hour(s)
Travel Distance: 3.4 Km or 2.1 Miles
Garden District Walking Tour

Garden District Walking Tour

It may come as a surprise, but New Orleans’ Garden District is known for its architecture more than for its gardens. The city’s elite residential neighborhood since the 19th century, when wealthy newcomers built opulent structures, it is considered one of the best-preserved collections of historic mansions in the South, and certainly one of the most picturesque. You can see why this is the...  view more

Tour Duration: 1 Hour(s)
Travel Distance: 1.9 Km or 1.2 Miles
French Quarter Historical Buildings Walking Tour

French Quarter Historical Buildings Walking Tour

Widely known for its heritage sites with a variety of unique architectural styles, New Orleans has lots of beautiful buildings designed in the Greek Revival, American Colonial, or Victorian styles. Walking around the French Quarter, you'll enjoy these old historic buildings (some open to the public), their old ironwork gates and balcony railings, the antique brick- and stone-paved sidewalks...  view more

Tour Duration: 2 Hour(s)
Travel Distance: 2.5 Km or 1.6 Miles
African American Heritage Walking Tour

African American Heritage Walking Tour

For over 300 years, the African-American community has played an intrinsic role in creating authentic New Orleans that everyone loves today. The bedrock of the city's life is built on the African-American experience, a heritage both proud and tragic, yet strong enough to have preserved throughout centuries the many aspects of African culture, influencing everything from religion to vibrant...  view more

Tour Duration: 2 Hour(s)
Travel Distance: 3.6 Km or 2.2 Miles