HNOC in the News
WVUE: HNOC Curator Explores the History of Shotgun Houses
May 22, 2026
WVUE Fox 8 New Orleans spoke with Lydia Blackmore to discuss the history, features, and legacy of one of New Orleans’s most iconic building styles.
“You see the first shotgun houses in New Orleans in the early 1800s, which are very much associated with the wave of refugees and immigrants coming after the Haitian Revolution. They show the influences of Caribbean colonization and the huge impact that people of color have made here in New Orleans. Many of the first builders of shotgun houses were free people of color.”
Lydia Blackmore, HNOC curator
Shotgun Style: A Look at the History of Shotgun Houses
Related Stories
First Draft
Beyond Nottoway
The mansion at Nottoway Plantation burned to the ground, but related sites survive across the South.
Related Collection Highlights
Mother St. Croix Photographs of Ursuline Convent
The ebullient nun documented her cloisters, sisters, and pupils with care and skill. In doing so she became the earliest known woman to photographically record daily life in New Orleans
Clarence John Laughlin Archive
Through his dreamlike black-and-white images, the surrealist Louisiana photographer explored, amplified, and commented on the mystique of the South.
Related presentations
Presentations
Vieux Carré Survey Case Study
This case study uses HNOC’s Vieux Carré Survey to trace the evolution of the Ursuline Convent and its surroundings.
Related Books
Spanish New Orleans and the Caribbean / La Nueva Orleans y el Caribe españoles
edited by Alfred E. Lemmon
Furnishing Louisiana: Creole and Acadian Furniture, 1735–1835
by Jack D. Holden, H. Parrott Bacot, and Cybèle T. Gontar, with Brian J. Costello and Francis J. Puig
edited by Jessica Dorman and Sarah R. Doerries
Related News
HNOC in the News
NOLA.com Features HNOC’s Paul Prudhomme Building Among 19 Award-Winning Historic Renovation Projects
May 30, 2026
HNOC’s renovation of 416 Chartres Street received a Louisiana Landmarks Society 2026 Award for Excellence in Historic Preservation.
HNOC in the News
NOLA.com: Former K-Paul’s Louisiana Kitchen Gets a New Life and a New Name
December 8, 2025
The historic renovation marks an important milestone for HNOC, where the building will be used for operations, exhibition fabrication, and more.
Stay Connected
Subscribe to Our Newsletter
