Carville: The National Leprosarium
Listen to this nine stop audio tour as you drive through the Carville Historic District, site of leprosy (Hansen's disease) quarantine hospital and treatment center from 1894-1999.
This hospital-community was designed to be self-sustainable. Quarantine laws dictated the development of the site into separate staff and patient areas. The tour covers the original sugar plantation (Indian Camp), the State of Louisiana's development of the Louisiana Leper Home, Daughters of Charity (a Catholic nursing order), patient life, leprosy/Hansen's disease treatment, US Public Health Service administration of the National Leprosarium (1921-1999), and current treatment and research.
Access: Driving
Distance: ~2 miles, ~20 minutes (not accounting for audio)
Tips: If you are planning to drive this route, be aware Carville, LA is located a little over an hour outside of New Orleans. This tour is intended to be experienced by car, with audio versions of each stop that include specific driving directions. Listen as you drive or read about the history at each stop.
Stories 9
Indian Camp Plantation / Louisiana Leper Home
In the 1700s, Europeans settled this area known as Indian Camp and developed a plantation economy along the Mississippi River. Robert Camp, a planter from Virginia, began purchasing land here in the…
Federal Staff Housing, Site Utilities, The National Leprosarium
The State of Louisiana ran this 450 acre site as the Louisiana Leper Home from 1894 to 1921. In 1921, the Federal Government purchased the site for $35,000; the patient census was about 300. The…
Hansen's Disease
Leprosy, also known as Hansen’s disease (HD), is a chronic disease of the skin and peripheral nerves. 95% of the world’s population is naturally immune to the disease. Mycobacterium leprae, the…
Infirmary, National Leprosarium, Carville, Louisiana.
The infirmary, built in 1933, had 68 beds in two open wards--men upstairs and women downstairs. Architects provided screened porches across the front of the building to allow patients fresh air.…
Carville, The National Leprosarium: Patient Life
In 1940, the patient population was between 400 and 450 and a massive renovation was underway. The improved hospital created individual rooms for 450 patients and the 13” thick concrete walls made the…
Lake Johansen, Station Farm, and Sports & Leisure at the National Leprosarium, Carville, Louisiana
Up until the 1950s, the 80 or so acres ahead and to the left of you were farmed by about 30 laborers who grew fruits and vegetables to feed the staff and patients. Corn was grown to feed…
Carville Jail and Cottage Grove
Like any small town, Carville offered various services to its inhabitants. A one room school house educated the people quarantined at the site. Sacred Heart Chapel hosted Catholic services…
Carville Patients' Cemetery, National Leprosarium.
The Carville cemetery is the only stop on the tour where you may exit your vehicle and take photographs. Just beyond the cemetery is a hospital incinerator with a driving ramp and tower built in…
Carville: Silos for Dairy Barn & Armadillo Research
The two silos and barns in front of you were built for a dairy herd in the 1920s. By the mid-1950s, an outside vendor was supplying milk to the Leprosarium and the barn fell into…Tour curated by: Elizabeth Schexnyder, Curator, National Hansen's Disease Museum