Cabildo and Pharmacy Museum

The Cabildo is one of the most beautiful buildings in New Orleans, and it is home to the Louisiana State Museum. It is situated in the heart of the French Quarter, in Jackson Square right next to the St. Louis Cathedral. It contains three floors, and each floor describes a different part of history of New Orleans and Louisiana in chronological order. The first floor of the Cabildo contains exhibits and artifacts from the very beginning of the state of Louisiana. It mostly focused on the indigenous population that lived in Louisiana prior to the arrival of the Europeans. It contains many artifacts that date back to the early 1700s and possibly even before. Another item on the first floor of the Cabildo is Napoleon's death mask. A mold of Napoleon's face was taken forty hours after his death, and this mold was used to cast a bronze mask.

Rosary from around 1700.

Napoleon's death mask.

The second floor of the museum focused on the Battle of New Orleans. There were various weapons on display, paintings, and most interesting was a frame containing a lock of Andrew Jackson's hair. Well, supposedly Andrew Jackson's hair. This floor also had a few interactive exhibits. This included lifting different cannonballs up to twenty-five pounds, a video about pirates, and becoming a part of art (this makes more sense in the picture below).

Me becoming a part of the art

Wall dedicated to Andrew Jackson

Possibly (but not likely) Andrew Jackson's hair

Lastly, the third floor of the Cabildo was dedicated to around the Civil War time period and a little before. This floor had a ton of information about life during that time period, especially concerning the life of slaves and slave trading. New Orleans and Louisiana had a huge market for slaves, therefore slaves were sold everywhere throughout the city.

Slave collar with bells. Some slaves would put mud in them to stop them from ringing.

Clothes and household items from the mid-1800s

The next stop of our day was the New Orleans Pharmacy Museum. Upon arriving in this shop, I was instantly reminded of something straight out of Harry Potter. Labeled glass containers full of different colored substances lined the walls of the room. There was a slightly musty smell, and the room itself was dimly lit when I first walked in. The first licensed pharmacist in the United States worked out of New Orleans, and his name was Louis J. Dufilho. Getting this license required extensive training, and a three hour oral examination.
I started on the second floor of the pharmacy museum, where there was plenty on display. The exhibits upstairs included midwifery, early vaccinations, dental tools, ophthalmology, and the use of alcohol in medicine.

Early vaccinations

Medicines used in midwifery

On the first floor of the pharmacy museum we were given a guided tour. A ton of interesting information was given, and the tour guide had a lot of energy and passion for what he was talking about. Many practices in early medicine included lead, arsenic, cocaine, heroine, gold and silver coated pills, and horrible hygiene practices. All of this was evidenced by the many artifacts found buried in the courtyard of the pharmacy (this means they were actually used), and from items that  were transferred to the pharmacy from the old location.