Carville in Iberville Parish, Louisiana — The American South (West South Central)
Triumph At Carville: A Tale of Leprosy in America
The Story of the Triumph over Leprosy; Mankind's most Historically Feared Disease
Photographed by Cajun Scrambler, September 23, 2016
1. Triumph At Carville: A Tale of Leprosy in America Marker
In 1894, The Louisiana Leper Home was established at an abandoned plantation south of Baton Rouge, near a town eventually known as Carville. That November, the first seven patients, transferred from a "pest house" in New Orleans, arrived on a coal barge towed up the Mississippi River. The laws of the day forbade passengers with quarantinable diseases use of public transportation.
The old plantation would eventually become a refuge for leprosy patients from all over the world. The National Leprosy Act of 1917 required patients diagnosed with leprosy in the U.S. to be quarantined at Carville. In its early years, Carville was more prison than hospital. Families, sometimes horrified by the stigma of leprosy, left their infected relatives at the front gate. Patients routinely changed their names to hide their identities. In 1921, when the U.S.Public Health Service took over the hospital from the state of Louisiana, "Carville" became known as U.S. Marine Hospital #66, The National Leprosarium.
As the decades passed, greater understanding about leprosy emerged from studies at Carville. Researchers partnered with Daughters of Charity
this page online
As Carville evolved from leprosarium to hospital - and eventually became a home for patients who lived out the balance of their lives on the grounds - the plantation fostered an incredible sense of community. This exhibit, and the recent PBS documentary of the same name, highlights a few of the amazing stories and characters that vividly tell the story of this unique place.
Erected by National Hansen's Disease Museum.
Topics. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: Science & Medicine.
Location. 30° 11.79′ N, 91° 7.578′ W. Marker is in Carville, Louisiana, in Iberville Parish. It is on Point Clair Road (State Highway 141) one mile north of Martin Luther King Parkway (State Highway 75), on the right when traveling north. Marker is located in front of the Hansen's Disease Museum, on the grounds of the Louisiana National Guard Carville site. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address:
Photographed by Cajun Scrambler, September 23, 2016
2. Triumph At Carville: A Tale of Leprosy in America Marker
Regionally, this marker is in Louisiana’s River Parishes, in Acadiana Cajun Country, and in Greater Baton Rouge. It is also in the American South, specifically in the Deep South, on the Gulf Coast, and in the Great River Road Region. Globally, it is in North America, a Gulf of Mexico state, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once New Spain, the Viceroyalty of New France, the territory of the Mississippian Culture, the Louisiana Purchase, one of the Confederate States of America, and the Antebellum South.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 3 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: The Daughters of Charity (here, next to this marker); The STAR (a few steps from this marker); Cage Door of Harry T. Chimpanzee (a few steps from this marker); Staff Housing, U.S. Public Health Service Hospital, Carville (within shouting distance of this marker); Administration Building, U.S. Public Health Service Hospital, Carville (about 300 feet away, measured in a direct line); Indian Camp Plantation (about 300 feet away); Belle Grove Plantation (approx. 0.8 miles away); Mayor S. J. "Blue" Guercio, III (approx. 2.2 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Carville.
More about this marker. Marker is located inside the National Guard Site, but is part of the Museum's self driving tour. No photography is permitted except markers and site cemetery. This is currently an active Military base so check before visiting, and for other regulations which may apply.
Also see . . .
1. National Hansen's Disease Museum. (Submitted on June 10, 2017.)
2. History of the National Hansen's Disease (Leprosy) Program. (Submitted on January 28, 2018, by Kenneth Ramagost of Louisiana, USA.)
3. Carville: The National Leprosarium. Tour, 9 stops (Submitted on January 28, 2018, by Kenneth Ramagost of Louisiana, USA.)
4. True Facts About The Armadillo zefrank1 6M views 5:37 5 Infectious Facts A. Video (Submitted on January 28, 2018, by Kenneth Ramagost of Louisiana, USA.)
5. BOOK: Carville's cure : leprosy, stigma, and the fight for justice. Genre: History
Summary:"The unknown story of the only leprosy colony in the continental United States, and the thousands of Americans who were exiled--hidden away with their "shameful" disease. Between Baton Rouge and New Orleans, the Mississippi River curls around an old plantation thick with trees, with a stately white manor house at its heart. Locals knew it as Carville--the site of the only leprosarium in the continental United States from 1894 until 1999, where generations of afflicted Americans were isolated, often until death. While experts today know that leprosy is not nearly as contagious as once feared, there remains a virulent stigma around those who suffer from it. Pam Fessler tells the story of Carville's patients against the backdrop of America's slowly shifting attitudes toward those cast aside as "others." She also reveals how patients rallied together with an unlikely team of nuns, researchers, and doctors to find a cure for the disease, and to fight the insidious stigma that surrounded it. With original interviews and newly discovered archival material, Fessler presents an essential history of one of America's most shameful secrets"(Submitted on May 26, 2025, by Luci j Baker Johnson of Seattle, Washington.)
6. BOOK: Historical Fiction The Second life of Mirielle West.
BOOK(Fiction, based on facts)(Submitted on May 26, 2025, by Luci j Baker Johnson of Seattle, Washington.)
Summary:Based on the true story of America's only leper colony, the Louisiana institution known as Carville, where thousands of people were stripped of their civil rights, branded as lepers, and forcibly quarantined throughout the entire 20th century. For Mirielle West, a 1920's socialite married to a silent film star, the isolation and powerlessness of the Louisiana Leper Home is an unimaginable fall from her intoxicatingly chic life of bootlegged champagne and the star-studded parties of Hollywood's Golden Age. At first she hopes her exile will be brief, but those sent to Carville are more prisoners than patients and their disease has no cure. Instead she must find community and purpose within its walls, struggling to redefine her self-worth while fighting an unchosen fate
Credits. This page was last revised on June 1, 2025. It was originally submitted on June 10, 2017, by Cajun Scrambler of Assumption, Louisiana. This page has been viewed 1,498 times since then and 82 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on June 10, 2017.
