Free previewStop 2 of Haunted French Quarter Walking Tour
The Pharmacist, the Doctor, and the Rumor
You're on Chartres Street in the heart of the French Quarter, standing in front of number 514, the New Orleans Pharmacy Museum. Take in the building itself: a classic two-level Creole townhouse, shop below, home above. It went up in 1822 and 1823, and for more than thirty years a pharmacist named Louis Dufilho lived upstairs and mixed medicines downstairs.
Louis J. Dufilho Jr. holds an unusual title. In 1816 he became licensed in pharmacy, and he's remembered as America's first licensed pharmacist. That mattered more than it sounds. New Orleans in those years was a city with very little public health to speak of, and almost anyone could sell you a remedy. Dufilho's license meant somebody had actually checked that he knew what he was doing. He grew herbs for his medicines, and the museum's courtyard still grows plants like the ones he used.
Dufilho stayed until 1855.
That's the opening. The rest plays at stop 2 of Haunted French Quarter Walking Tour (3 min in all). Unlock the tour to hear it all, or try stop 1 free first.
