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 livestock. Pigs, chickens and beef cattle were raised in…

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 United States Public Health Service (PHS) took…

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. Notice the flat roof. Originally canopies had been…

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 the 1920s to dispose of all waste. Remember that…

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 buildings as fireproof as possible. Fire was…

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 causative agent, was first identified under the…

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 disrepair. Hansen's Disease (HD) has never been easy to study…