1850 House Museum & Gift Shop — Attraction in New Orleans

This is such a unique historic gem. The house is displayed with furnishings and details from the 1850s, and show how various families that lived in the Pontalba Buildings through that decade lived, from the luxurious parlour to the spartan slave quarters. This museum changes with the seasons, showing Creole Christmas traditions in December, and the lighter furnishings and curtains in the summer. It doesn't shy away from slavery either. The servant/slave staircases that take you down from the family quarters are wicked steep, so be advised. They can be dangerous for people with balance issues. This is a must-see for people who want to be immersed in antebellum Creole New Orleans, and who are fascinated by material history. There's few historic houses compiled with such detail, especially those devoted to the middle and upper-middle class. It's absolutely worth the...

It's a fairly short, inexpensive visit. I personally found not much was said about the enslaved people who built it but I think that's because some of their signs were older and some were newer. I did learn about Irish indentured labour though. I felt like that got more play time and not in a bad way. Still, in an attempt to capture "what it was like in 1850" to paraphrase, it delivers what it was like to be white in 1850 in my opinion. Having been critical like that, I still enjoyed the experience and think it had a lot to offer. My hope is in future with funding they can reprint their materials and maybe contextualize what I'm seeing a little better for me. On the plus side, the lady at the register was super helpful offering me her time for free to help me figure out dates and indentured servitude. Almost a 5...

My wife and I took the walking tour through the French Quarter, offered by the 1850 House Museum. Our tour was conducted by Judy. The tour took a bit over two hours but it certainly didn't seem that long. Judy was not born in the area, but moved here because she liked New Orleans. She took the time to learn about the area and turned that knowledge into becoming a tour guide. Judy told us a great deal about The Quarter, the architecture, and a few local legends. Our tour was well worth the price and I would recommend the tour, and in particular tour guide Judy, if you would like to learn about the New Orleans...