THE HISTORIC NEW ORLEANS COLLECTION

This museum was founded in 1966 by General L. Kemper Williams and his wife Leila to preserve the history of the French Quarter and New Orleans. It includes several historical sites and, in particular, all the original archives of the city's creation. It contains over 400,000 manuscripts, prints, paintings, photographs, letters and other materials. Among these documents are the valuable 1803 Louisiana Purchase signed by Napoleon, old maps of the city and the portrait of Bienville (the city's founder), and the April 9, 1682 report of René Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, declaring Louisiana a French territory. They can be seen at the Williams Research Center and many of the documents are in French. The museum is divided into two "campuses" consisting of several restored houses and buildings in the Vieux Carré, Royal Street and Chartres Street. These include:

Mérieult House, survivor of the great fire of 1794, the oldest house on Royal Street, dates from 1792. Built by the merchant Jean-François Mérieult, it served as both a home (second floor) and an office (first floor).^Mme Mérieult's beautiful red hair was famous from New Orleans to France, where she often traveled with her husband. At that time, Napoleon heard that the Sultan of Constantinople, with whom he was about to sign a treaty, was looking for a light-colored wig for one of his wives, and offered^Mme Mérieult a handsome sum in exchange for her hair. He stubbornly refused to be "scalped" in spite of the outbids. "Everything can not be bought," said Napoleon.

Seignouret-Brulatour Building and Tricentennial, a new exhibition center created for the tricentennial (but finally opened in April 2019 after several years of renovation). A French wine merchant, François Seignouret, built this magnificent house in 1816. He was a well-known carpenter in the South of France and created beautiful furniture.

If for the moment the guided tours are temporarily suspended, it is possible to download the French Quarters Tours application. You can even create your own tour according to the chosen theme (literature, music, slave trade, etc.). And to take a break between two visits, we go to the Café Cour (520 Royal Street).