Reviews of The Historic New Orleans Collection (Museum)

Ariana Angert

Free Free Free...you cant beat that. Worth going even if you had to pay. Beautiful historic artifacts from day one of NO existence. Take pictures of everything, bring the history home with you.

Belinda Franklin

Wonderful hidden gem in the quarter. Over 300 years of history in multiple sites, and it's free too! Great place to duck inside and cool off of an hot day!

Jenny X Chan

This place/places is a great place to spend an afternoon. The two free exhibition spaces are free and full of amazing artifacts of history. I can tell that everyone that works here is very passionate about the history of NO! Talk to one of them and ask them questions; they are full of information about everything. If I had more time I would have taken their tour of the house.

Jennifer Urbanek

Excellent art collection. For $5 you can choose from various tours. They are currently offering the Same Macabre Tour. It is free to visit the museum. There is a cafe in the courthouse. Unfortunately, one of the security guards was not very nice. He yelled at me for sitting outside the museum - a few minutes before my tour was scheduled to start. If you have ever been to NOLA, you know how unusual this is. I was actually shocked. When I explained I had a ticket and was just organizing my bag and looking for said ticket. He did not apologize

Michael Corley

It was interesting to see a home, and a rich home, in the French quarter.

Geneva Brice

Wonderful place to visit

Miriam Naranjo

Nice free museum

Eli Navarre

Beautiful museum space, knowledgeable guides, & wonderful architecture!

Harold Hernandez

The Williams Residence guided and self-guided tours each provided fantastic views into the lifestyle of the rich which was truly fabulous for its time. When in that house, after having seen a few movies from the era, you can easily imagine how everything would have worked and the comings and goings of staff as they attended to the Williams family and their guests. The tour felt well coordinated and our guide was knowledgeable and happy to answer the questions that came up. Please note that this is not a museum where everything is protected in display cases. You will in some cases be walking through and around the actual artifacts they have no issue reminding you that certain things can not be touched. I highly recommend a visit when you are in New Orleans.

Thanh Tran

This free museum is small, but has a lot of interesting pieces from New Orleans' past that you can go through in an hour. There are museum guides sitting in various rooms to give you tidbits of information. Too bad it did not have more items on slavery, considering the city was such a major center for human trafficking. It is worth your time!

Guillaume Schlaepfer

Nice little museum to visit. Historical maps, letters, posters, paintings and objects illustrating the history of the city and its connections since colonization. The house itself is also worth the visit. It is free

Brandon Foltz

A great free curated museum that is well researched, staffed, and authentic. This is a gem.

Julie M

Great place to learn and explore the history in New Orleans. Wonderful staff, super friendly. One of my favorite spots in all of the French Quarter

Carolyn Mcgee

One of the best places to find history. The staff amazing

Alan Steinberg

Free museum with super nice people working there (or volunteering?... I'm not sure). From the outside you could easily walk by and miss this place, in fact I almost did. I walked in just out of curiosity (not quite sure if it was a gift shop, art gallery, or what) and I found what seemed to be a tiny two room museum/gift shop. I was greeted by a friendly lady who told me to check out the collection upstairs first as they were closing soon. So I go upstairs and wow... it's a whole museum, not just a little room or two. Sure it's a lot of paper products (maps, paintings, and the like) but it's well laid out with tablets full of information. I only had about 20 minutes so I rushed through it, but you could easily spend at hour in here. If you are looking to do New Orleans on a budget, or just want some culture before you start drinking, check this place out!

Tim Arbour

Great place to visit!

Eduardo Ramirez

Nice museum with free admission right in the middle of the French Quarter. Lots of originals items depicting the history of New Orleans.

Shellie n Wes Storie

Pretty cool place. We picked up some Art from here

John P Jr

Not much here, but since they don't charge to see their small collection of historical paintings and duck decoys... well worth 20 minutes of your life in Nola.

Sacred Ghost Records

So much history!

R C N

Take the guided tour, it is absolutely worth it! We had a very knowledgeable historian walk us through the history of New Orleans using the fine collection of artifacts at the museum to bring to life key milestones and details. The tour made the history much more understandable.

ratnesh kumbhkar

This museum showcases the rich and turbulent history of New Orleans all the way from 15 century (I think?) to the present day. I was surprised that there were so few people on a weekend during the Jazz festival when the admission is completely free. Well worth your time if you are somewhat interested in history.

Stephanie Morge

Amazing collection of artifacts as well as NOLA and American history. Great self paced tour that is layed out chronologically. Highly recommend!

Benjamin Williams

Lots of information, more than can be taken in in one trip. Tour guide seemed bored.

A Dupre

Free museum! Well kept and knowledgeable people

Robert Hodes

The preeminent historical institution in New Orleans. The Galleries and exhibitions are fabulous. At the Williams Research Center, you can request to see any of a million items in the collection and there's no charge for this service! New visit to New Orleans is complete without a stop at the Historic New Orleans Collection.

Vaughn Glapion

A must visit for anyone interested in the history, or who just loves NOLA.

Camila Pombo

Lovely volunteers who have been through so much and are glad to share their experience and knowledge.

mary ann rueger

Learned a lot about the history

Jason Dimopoulos

A fascinating insight into the history of New Orleans.

J Park

Great museum with so many interesting artifacts documenting the history of New Orleans.

vera anikina

Informative, interesting. Learned about new Orleans history in a fast way. Not very long. Main points. Recommend. And it's free.

Rolonda Mayer

Wonderful tour and gift shoppe.

Thomas Kay

Well endowed with extremely knowledgeable docents.

Lilly K

Good historical overview of New Orleans in an lovely old and renovated building - and there is no charge for entry!

Holly Howard

I try to get to the collection when I visit NOLA. It is a quiet moment to reflect on the beauty of the area and its influence on the artists on exhibit. Upstairs is a beautiful library, sssh.

Ronald Rivera

Go here. See and learn about the real and significant history of New Orleans. The NOHC concerts are fun (often free or minimal cost). The special exhibits never fail to fascinate and educate.

Johnny Wallace

We had a great time celebrating the Easter parade.

David Dahl

Ask for the guided tour. I had a personal (and free!) guide that was fantastic in describing the rich history of NO and the area.

Joe V

Great place for some historic facts of the area.

Ty Provosty

Every now and again they offer unique first showings. They also offer a beautiful courtyard. Original art showing the history of New Orleans over 300 years.

Trish Cakora

A detailed history of New Orleans presented with a fabulous mixture of portraits, hand written documents, furniture, artwork and artifacts in two separate buildings across the street from one another. Admission is free!

Stuart Morrell

Been visiting New Orleans for many years and finally visited this museum....glad we did. It was a fun place with a ton of history. We also purchased a tour of one of the houses they offer and was very glad we did. Wonderful few hours.

Steve Marsden

Awesome original documents, tucked in an easy to miss place.

Stian Jakobsen

Free entrance, helpful staff and a lot of cool history.

Andrea Scarano

A quick tour but well worth the time, a great piece of local history.

Lynne Holmquist

Yum. Cafe du Monde's chicory coffee and beignets. What can I say?

Rex Michael Dillon

History! See a copy of the Louisiana Purchase!

Alex Story

Small free museum with a good variety of historical objects from and about the local area.

Lisa Cooley

Awesome

Will Juntunen

Write well in New Orleans. Live well in New Orleans. Defend well the ethos in New Orleans. And if you are fortunate, might your papers dwell forever in the vaults of the Historic New Orleans Collection. Tennessee Williams allowed his papers to find many homes in the south. However, be sure that his papers are shared with the curious with total hospitality at the Collection.

Michael Cohn

Best historical museum and research center in New Orleans

Beck Roy

Great museum, really really helpful passionate staff who were so keen to tell you even more, and free entry! I learnt so much about the rich history of New Orleans. An idea to improve - I feel it could probably do section about Hurricane Katrina, given the enormous impact that had on the city. But they're pretty limited in space!

Amy Y

This collection is housed in a beautiful historic home. They are in the process of restoring and renovating in time for the tricentinial of New Orleans. That will open at the end of February. There are many knowledgeable guides positioned through out the home to give information on the family that lived there and donated the home.

Joe Fisher

If you are looking to learn of New Orleans' history, definitely go here.

George Mydland

It was very interesting and people were qwesome.

Bonnie Gusland

Very good museum! Great historical information on the city

Brad Vance

Much of the collection was closed when we visited as they were changing exhibits... However, this is a quality free attraction in the French quarter

Ashlay Da Madame

They need to change the name. Boring tour!!

Ben Slightom

An excellent, FREE museum that lays out a brief history of New Orleans. The entire collection is contained in beautifully preserved historic buildings connected by a gorgeous courtyard. The docents are very knowledgeable and friendly, and the entire museum takes between a half-hour and an hour-and-a-half depending on how much you like to read.

Smallwood T

I loved every aspect of the museum

Jiacheng Yang

Free art and history museum. Worth a visit.

Joshua Moe

Nice little free museum if you're interested in nolas European beginnings. Lots of maps.

Joseph Nicholson

We really enjoyed learning the history of New Orleans. We knew the city had history but this museum really made the city that much more of a gem. This place is a must when visiting New Orleans.

Samuel Bel

The museum is rich with artifacts from New Orleans and Louisiana. My favorite was the Rex memorabilia

Gary Griffith

Great museum for learning area history. Well worth the time spent. Very nice exhibits.

Vicky Tusken

Too many people walk right by this gem of a museum, located on Royal Street. Devoted to celebrating and preserving the history and cultural roots of New Orleans, this museum provides visitors with an intimate view of this city. Put this on your must see list.

Gordon Latcham

This place had a lot of information and some nice inhibits to look at

Erica Kane

Good overview of New orleans & LA history but heavy reliance on using iPad exhibits for interpretation so the walls are bare of anything but the images/items. If you dont want to stand & poke at an iPad it can feel scant. Also the absurdly often request to scan your ticket are obnoxious. Literally 5 people in the 3rd floor scanned my ticket!

Michel Laferriere

Nice collection providing several interesting facts about New Orleans

Gayle Barlow

Great time!

Larry

Very cool museum. Great displays, and helpful guides.

Al Aw-Ga-Chew

I was looking forward to this but only got through due timing, great staff, very educational.

Martin Pecikonis

Love thé live musical in orleans

Albert Dumas

It's the best place to experience the history, culture, and a splash of color of the city and Louisiana as a whole!

Travis Pace

Very nice to visit...don't miss the theater on the 3rd floor!

Eva hsu

Learned a lot from its exhibitions. A brief history lesson is given. Don't miss the Louisiana purchase docs and the blue book.

kelly stewart

Incredible and everyone is so nice! The history of New Orleans is unbelievable!

Barbara Melton

Traffic insane, but the beauty intrigues by the old buildings, the shops, the people,,but poor parking!!!

Gary McKenzie

A don't miss!

lostprairiedog

Great museum that I didn't even know existed until this past week. Definitely worth the time if you're in the area.

Daniel Hunter-Jacobs

Pretty neat stuff.

Chadwick X

Incredible place and it just had a major expansion

Michelle Bushey

What a real treasure this wonderful museum is, and the collection is very unique.

Mohammad alqallaf

Love it every single time

O S

As we were waking and trying time find some place to spend some time, we stumbled upon this exhibit that was free. We were welcomed in and thru a series of rooms plotted the life of Andrew Jackson and the history of New Orleans. This is a must stop. Once you get some history here you are set for the information given on the plantation tours on River Road on the Mississippi River. These curators worked hard and are very knowledgeable of the areas history.

Molly O'Connor

Its a great little slice of the history of the area. Its a fairly small museum which is great, its not overwhelming. However its a source with a lot of good historical information. I really enjoyed it.

Kaira Taylor

Wasn't what I expected but nice and educational

John76 Carl

Neat place, full of history

Dan Weishuhn

The best free museum!

Deborah Schwartz

Great eclectic collections. Perfect mix of art and history. NOLA's cultural institutions have come a long way. This is really a must visit museum.

Izabel Alvarenga

It was the best museum about New Orleans’ history that we visited in the French Quarter. It has a good art collection and is a well preserved building too. Organized, clean, and the staff was extremely friendly.

Paul L. Camardelle

Beautiful New Look More space to roam and check out our history

Lorenz Mitterwenger-Fessl

Nice exhibition. Some stuff like the letters and maps are very cool. Also the location itself is beautiful. If you have been to the museums at Place d'Arms it's not gonna feel that special anymore though.

Jessica Jimenez

Randomly found this spot in google searches and popped in!. The staff were very kind, knowledgeable, and proud of the New Orleans history. Can’t believe it was a free museum; I learned so much and it was a wonderful way to escape the heat. Definitely recommend!

M Pendleton

Excellent museum/research center/publisher, focused on New Orleans and Gulf Coast history.

Mere B

I love going to the Historic Collection and I recommend it to all my friends who come into town. Kurt and Malinda are especially wonderful, enthusiastic tour guides who are passionate about the history and development of New Orleans.

Amayak Urumyan

It's a nice place to take a small history tour.

Carol Hutchison

This is a fantastic free museum! In the heart of the French Quarter it takes you through the ages in a fantastic journey of New Orleans and its history. You will absolutely enjoy this museum. Brand new building on Royal St. but they also have a great collection on Chartres St.

Christian M

Extremely friendly staff that shows you around and provides interesting facts of the building and it's exhibits. Free admission!

Michal Bruck

Amazing and forthcoming staff. Good introduction to New Orleans

Kathleen Berry

Well preserved, beautiful, great exhibit.

LizB

Original exhibits with digital interaction as well as very knowledgeable and approachable staff.

Peter Jameson

Well worth a visit. Our guide was superb and very interesting.

Zac Cramer

Fantastic exhibition and gorgeous structure!

Ron S

Nice exhibits with passionate and helpful staff. A must stop in New Orleans for some interesting history!

Vin Man

I'm giving the exhibit a 4 star rating because Art is in the eye of the beholder. I enjoyed the exhibit as an opportunity to experience the artistic inspiration of many New Orleanean artists. Their impressions and inspiration from significant moments, people, textures, spaces, and time itself in the history of this city are on display. The museum has free admission and that should invite everyone to visit and consider making a contribution to keep these types of cultural centers alive.

Sergiy Pavlov

Came in and explored the history of New Orleans. The volunteers did great job answering questions.

Katie Castaldi

Very cool. Awesome history upstairs. Extra $5 architectural tour was fascinating as well!

Claudia Fulbright

Excellent, a beautiful space, with wonderful collections of art, and biographies of historic people!

Alealeja Gonzalez

History, culture tradition

Linsey Rose

Awesome FREE Museum! There's always so much to learn here and the staff is knowledgeable and welcoming. They have new exhibits often so there's always a reason to visit!

Addie K Martin

A great place to visit to learn more about New Orleans history. They have an extensive collection of historic maps, paintings, drawings and artifacts. It's the most extensive private collection of New Orleans history. Most impressive.

Joanne Drummond

They have really stepped up their game for the 300th anniversary. The home is so interesting and provides an interesting view of the life of the rich in the mid-1900s. The courtyard is a great site for a party.

Kurt Reinebach

Free museum with lots of curators around to help make the exhibits interesting. One of my favorite museums in New Orleans

emmett hummel

Our tour guide was great!

Alma J Scott

A true treasure to see

Kim Welan

Hard to believe this is free! It's top-notch museum with immaculate displays of a wealth of history from New Orleans' storied past. Brand-new facility too! Cafe' Cour in the courtyard has historic food even.

Iria Williams-lowe

Love it beautiful place full of La. History

Mohammed Alabdali

Very lovely place to see and visit specially on festival times.

GunjanArtClasses

Must visit once.

Carolyn Foland

Excellent collection, incredible attraction

Oleg Gordynchuk

Awesome yard

Jeff Aguero

Surprisingly interesting and well run. The Williams house is a bit strange as it is decorated in 1930s/1940s style, but an informative tour

Michael Washington

Excellent collection, docents extremely friendly and knowledgeable.

Glenn Carnell

Thanks for the tour and the very knowledgeable staff!

Lauren Johnson

Such a good museum that I'm surprised I hadn't heard about it earlier. Such a hidden gem. Very creative exhibits.

Christopher Watts

A wonderful snapshot of New Orleans history. Well curated and not overwhelming, the exhibits upstairs are in chronological order and the museum guide was impressively well informed. So much history in the breadbox of the city-blocks from the chaos lays this highly recommended experience.

Guy Tsror

Everyone should visit this place! Must do on a rainy day, and dedicate more than an hour, this is surprisingly well done and with guides in each room! Plus, did I mention it's free?

Callistus Asirvtham

What an amazing place and completely free, there are great volunteers happy to help and answer your questions. Thoroughly recommend this place on your travels if you can make time. Great historical pieces and there apparently is more to come. I will definitely be back to see this place

Matt Smith

Very interesting. The architecture is amazing as it changes from one are to another, showcasing New Orlean's unique heritage.

Myrtle Bradley

Interesting. Lot of historical information here. Souvenirs available. Lovely court.

Michel Thouati

Best local museum in NOLA, extraordinary collections housed in several buildings. The tour is interesting although not compelling. Gift shop is the best we found in French Quarter.

J. B. Van Wely

Great museum! Ties the development of New Orleans to the French colonization of the Caribbean. Free!

mary lou Sinclair

Well designed and staffed.

resul çağatay

personnel are very helpful and nice.

Amie Winn

I love all the things that are on display to see. And a wonderful historical building

Scott Cowling

Ok if you like history

Peter Söderberg

Great place to learn more about the history of New Orleans and Louisiana! Well worth your time. No entrance fee.

Catherine Cela

A must see for all visitors to New Orleans! Lots of original documents, artwork, and artifacts that showcase hundreds of years of history. The docents are friendly and well informed, plus it's free! Can't beat that with a stick!

Robin Hero

Fantastic collection!

Rocío Alvarado

Took a guided tour which explained the architectural choices of the different buildings in the location. I would not have appreciated as much about it otherwise. Worth it.

Danielle Bradford

Great museum!!!

Matt Deitz

The best museum in the city!

Henrique Barbosa

Very good museum that goes unnoticed by most tourists. Not big, you can see it in 30-60min.

Gail Harrington

I don't know what the interests were of the people who gave this museum and it's staff anything less than 5 stars. The staff is extremely knowledgeable and interested in NO and it's history. They brought to life the maps, pictures and artifacts in the exhibit. If you have only a passing interest in NO and American history, visit this museum. You will love it!

Raymond Jett

Fabulous displays and we'll rounded descriptions.

Javier Kohen

This museum is hosted in an old New Orleans house. The permanent collection contains many maps, letters and pictures of New Orleans and its battles since the times of the French colony. The volunteers were all very helpful and shared interesting stories about New Orleans and some about their curious lives as well. The entrance is free and the museum is in a great location, so there's no reason to skip this one!

Jill Gladnick

I learned a lot. Thank you.

Edward B Arroyo

Great research resources

Whitney Sutherland

Incredible experience & free!!

Magali Barreto

Great tur, great Staff!

Rory Smith

Excellent special exhibition on earliest New Orleans history. A window into the intrepid life of the settler. The galleries were too cold so do take a sweater.

Kimberly Wilson

Put this on your list of places to visit.

Louis Clemente

Very cool museum with amazing historic documents of the Louisiana Purchase, etc...well worth the time!

Robin Cole-Jett

This is a really authentic New Orleans experience. The exhibits were informative and designed for mature, educated people (but it's not snooty, just meaning it doesn't 'dumb down' the content). The museum is located in an house built in 1792, so going in (for free, no admission!) Allows access to the beautiful and really New Orleans style inner courtyard.

Tiffany Hammond

You need a full day to visit! Very informative and inspirational...

Rolita Goodrich

I've lived in new Orleans since 2005I so love this city and have been dying to go to this museum had lunch with friends afterwards did a tour to museum extremely informative and amazing building