The Historic New Orleans Collection is now open outside, with new interpretative displays in its courtyards. This informative outdoor experience is offered in addition to its free downloadable app French Quarter Tours, which allows visitors to explore the history, people, and architecture of the city’s oldest neighborhood, the Vieux Carré, from the convenience of their own mobile devices.
“The French Quarter street grid is New Orleans’s original historical artifact,” said THNOC President and CEO Daniel Hammer. “And it’s seldom been more accessible for local residents wishing to explore the stories it tells. Our courtyards, rich in history themselves, are a perfect place to dive in.”
Café Cour, THNOC's museum café, is also open at 520 Royal Street with a limited menu during the same hours, with online ordering available.
Both the courtyard experiences—featuring new explanatory displays detailing each space’s history—and the app are free and available to the public. For this first phase, the visitor experience will be limited to the outdoor courtyards. THNOC’s interior galleries and museum shop will reopen at later dates. All staff and guests are required to wear masks on the premises and remain six feet apart to maintain social distancing. Similar safety measures will be in place when the other aspects of the museum reopen to the public.
About the courtyard displays
THNOC’s interpretative displays are located in the beautiful courtyards of the historic Merieult House at 533 Royal Street; the former residence of the institution’s founders at 718 and 722 Toulouse Street; and the Seignouret-Brulatour Building at 520 Royal Street. Each courtyard explores different aspects of history, including the construction and architecture of the various sites; the lives of each building’s occupants, including free and enslaved people; notable events; and the later efforts of preservationists who have restored the properties to their current condition.
About the app for free tours
The French Quarter Tours app, designed in partnership with Ideum interactive-display company, features eight themed tours exploring sites linked to New Orleans literature and music, the history of free people of color in the Quarter, landmarks of the slave trade, and more. Content featured in the tours draws from Collins C. Diboll Digital Vieux Carré Survey, an extensive study of the properties within the French Quarter referencing essential historical, architectural, legal, and sociological data on individual lots and structures from the French colonial period to the present. Housed at THNOC since 1966, the Vieux Carré Survey references materials from multiple local, national, and international repositories.
Additional activities
THNOC joins its fellow members of the French Quarter Museum Association as well as several local businesses, shops, and restaurants reinvigorating the Vieux Carré for locals and visitors alike. As one of the most historic neighborhoods in the world, the French Quarter offers locals and visitors an opportunity to connect with the history of their city, their state, and the Gulf South. Those planning day trips or long weekends are encouraged to visit NewOrleans.com for the latest list of reopened restaurants, businesses, and attractions to make the most of their experience. And, THNOC encourages visitors to share their experiences on social media using the hashtags #THNOC, #FQMA, and #YourFrenchQuarterYourHistory.