Karpeles Manuscript Library - Shreveport, LA (The Mysterious Musical Chairs)

3201 Centenary Blvd.

Shreveport, LA 71104

32.480633,-93.733764

www.karpeles.org  

            Before I go any further, I would like to take this time to give massive props to my Northern Chapter. Led by John Combs and Bess Maxwell, this chapter is definitely my hardest working portion of Louisiana Spirits. I jokingly tell them that there are some small towns in the northern portion of the state where I think they have investigated every single house in the town. The chapter conducts an investigation almost every weekend. When they aren’t investigating they are conducting preliminary interviews, researching, or reviewing evidence. Their years of experience and wisdom has garnered them almost every historical location in the Shreveport and Bossier City area.  Our next location has gotten so much attention and activity, our Northern Chapter decided to set up shop there, turning the basement into a makeshift office.
            The Karpeles Manuscript Library Museum in Shreveport is one of twelve museums established by David and Marsha Karpeles across the United States. Founded in 1983, these museums collectively contain the world’s largest private collection of original manuscripts and documents. Relics such as stones containing Egyptian hieroglyphics and Civil War documents can be found at the Shreveport installation. The museum is open to the general public daily for free of charge. Construction on the building began in the 1920's. Due to the Great Depression, finances held up completion until 1938. This was the home of Shreveport's First Church of Science. The church moved into the building and held services in the basement while the building was undergoing construction. The building has been home to the Karpeles Manuscript Library Museum for about the last ten years.

Presbytere Museum - New Orleans,LA

751 Chartres St.

New Orleans, LA 70116

29.958131,-90.063434 

            Located between the St. Louis Cathedral, Muriel’s and the Place d’Armes Hotel, sits a building that is a mirror image of the previously mentioned Cabildo. The Presbytere was purposely built to mimic the older Cabildo and is also currently operated as a museum. While the Cabildo may focus on military relics, the Presbytere features exhibits such as Mardi Gras memorabilia and depictions of some of the city’s most devastating storms.
            Construction of the Spanish Colonial structure began in 1791 and was known as Casa Curial, or the Ecclesiastical House. The building was designed by Gilberto Guillemard, a French architect and was intended to serve as the rectory for the St. Louis Cathedral. By 1813, the second floor was added, although the Presbytere was never used for its intended purpose. The building was then used for several commercial purposes until the 1830’s, when it was used as a courthouse. By 1911, the ownership was transferred to the State of Louisiana to use the Presbytere as the present-day museum.

Old U.S. Mint - New Orleans, LA (From Fort to Fed)

400 Esplanade Ave.

New Orleans, LA 70116

29.961401,-90.057825

            Money: it’s what makes the world go round. They say money cannot buy happiness but I sure as hell would like to test out that hypothesis! Along with millions of other Americans stuck in this purgatory we like to call middle-class, I make just enough to pay the bills and not much to do anything else. I really hate it when I am grocery shopping and I have to buy all the off-brand items such as Dr. Thunder instead of Dr. Pepper and Skillet Partner instead of Hamburger Helper. Don’t you just love those cheesy imitation names? As I stand in the checkout line, meticulously adding up my expenses to make sure I stay within my budget, I look on and see a pregnant twenty year old who already has three kids and is gleefully checking out two carts full of name brand products. Instead of paying, she simply swipes her food stamp card. Sure, there are many people that legitimately need assistance but I think we can all agree that many take advantage of it. I cannot tell you how much this makes my blood boil. This, my friends, is the true fleecing of America! As I’ve always said, “If you can’t feed them, don’t breed them!” Sorry, just had to get that off my chest.
            Apparently, we are not alone, as money shortage was also felt by the government in the early 1800’s. With a rapidly growing nation, the amount of coins grew smaller and smaller. To try and alleviate this problem, President Andrew Jackson signed a bill on March 3, 1835 that would authorize the United States Treasury to establish a mint in Louisiana. It was decided that the mint be constructed in New Orleans so a prime piece of land was needed.

Pharmacy Museum - New Orleans, LA (The Evil Experimenting Doctor)

514 Chartres St.

New Orleans, LA 70130

29.956071,-90.064963

www.pharmacymuseum.org  

            Call me morbid, but I have always been fascinated with antique medical instruments and the near-medieval practices carried out by eighteenth and nineteenth century doctors. Fortunately, we all

This will only hurt a bit!

live in the present day where, despite the outlandish cost of health care, advancements in the medical field have made the practice a lot more successful and less painful! If anyone has ever read up on some of these past poor attempts at curing various ailments, it’s no wonder so many people often died at such an early age. I truly have sympathy for those who lived during these times, as the medical instruments used on patients often looked like torture devices used during the Spanish Inquisition. In addition to the plethora of jagged, oblong tools that were inserted into every orifice imaginable, endless variants of special potions and elixirs were made more for the reason of making a quick dollar than actually causing any relief.

            Travelling salesmen from all around would travel from town to town, in the hopes of peddling the latest magic cure-all. Sure this sludge may taste like the rear end of a rotten skunk but, by God, if the salesman said it cured an ailment, you could bet people were lined up for miles to guzzle it down. I’ve always found great humor in the labels of these liquids, as they always had a funny name such as “Pappy O’Flattery’s Cure All” or “Fat Momma’s Love Juice”. Ok, that last one sounded bad!

Madame John's Legacy - New Orleans, LA (Claudia's Blood Feast)

632 Dumaine St.

New Orleans, LA 70116

29.959437,-90.063075

www.thelmf.org  

            One of my favorite movies of all time is Interview with the Vampire. Not only because the movie is primarily shot in Louisiana, but I have always been enthralled with the vampire lifestyle. I’m not talking about the teenie-bopper vampires with sparkling skin of today, but those said to have existed in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The movie truly stylized the genre and paved the way for similar movies for many years to come. The morbid dark humor in the film is unforgettable. In one of my favorite scenes, Kirsten Dunst’s character, Claudia, is taking piano lessons from a strict instructor. At this point, Claudia has just transformed into a vampire and is having a difficult time controlling her insatiable appetite for blood and will not always kill at the most opportune of times. In this case, she kills her instructor to feed her need. The following scene shows individuals carrying out the coffin containing the instructor from a large French Colonial townhouse with a very distinctive elevated from porch. I would soon learn that the home used for this scene is none other than the landmark known as Madame John’s Legacy.

Hermann-Grima House - New Orleans, LA (A Ghost Friendlier than Casper)

Photo courtesy of www.hgghh.org

820 Saint Louis St.

New Orleans, LA 70156

29.957144,-90.067366

www.hgghh.org

            People will often ask me about the different temperaments of spirits. Of course, if you were to base your beliefs on any given paranormal “reality” show (I use that term very loosely), you would think that every other haunted home is possessed by a full-blown demon. Such cannot be any further from the truth, as a demonic haunting is actually a very rare encounter. My theory on spiritual behavior is quite simple. You have friendly people and you have assholes! When these people die, not much change and their personalities remain the same, leaving you with friendly spirits and not so friendly ones. A true ill-tempered spirit can often be easily confused with an entity much more serious than what it is. Fortunately, this is also not a very common thing to encounter as majorities of the hauntings we have encountered have been friendly or simply residual energy etched in time. Our next location contains what many feel is a very friendly spirit.
            The Hermann-Grima House now sits as a historical museum on Saint Louis Street and has been meticulously restored to its original appearance. The home was built in 1831 by William Brand for Samuel Hermann. He lived there for several years until financial hardships due to the crash of the English cotton market caused him to sell the home. In 1840, the house was sold to civic leader Judge Felix Grima and his wife Adelaide. Adelaide died shortly thereafter in the home. The home was handed down to several generations of the Grima family until 1921. In 1922, the home was purchased by the Christian Women's Exchange, a local non-profit group. They operated the home as a boarding house, tea room and consignment shop for young woman until the 1970’s, when the home was turned into the present day museum.

Cabildo Museum - New Orleans, LA (The Napoleon Death Mask)

701 Chartres St.

New Orleans, LA 70130

29.957564,-90.063751

            Strolling through Jackson Square and your attention is immediately drawn to the famous St. Louis Cathedral. Walking nearby to admire the intrauterine architecture, you can't help but notice the two large buildings that sit to the left and right of the cathedral. The building to the right is the Presbytere, which we will get to later. The other older and more significant building is the historical Cabildo.
            The present Cabildo was built in 1795 to house the legislative and administrative council which ruled Spanish Louisiana. Two earlier government buildings sat on this spot and had been destroyed during both fires in 1788 and 1794. The Cabildo was designed by Gilberto Guillemard, who also would design the St. Louis Cathedral and the Presbytere. The building took the name of the council for whose use it was built and continued as the seat of the government of Louisiana for the eight remaining years of Spanish rule. During the brief period of French rule, the building was given the French variant of its name, Maison de Ville.