Some bars serve drinks. The Old Absinthe House serves history.
At 240 Bourbon Street, tucked between the neon and the noise, stands one of the oldest and most storied bars in America. The Old Absinthe House has been pouring drinks on this corner since before the Civil War, and the building itself dates back to the early 1800s. In a city where history lives in the walls, this place has more stories per square foot than just about anywhere in the French Quarter.
A Building Older Than Most American Cities
The structure at 240 Bourbon Street was built in 1806 — three years after the Louisiana Purchase — as a combined residence and commercial space. It originally served as an importing firm and commission house run by Francisco Juncadella, a Spanish merchant. The ground floor operated as a booterie and later an epicerie before the building found its true calling.
In 1874, a bartender named Cayetano Ferrer leased the ground floor and opened what he called the Absinthe Room. Ferrer had come to New Orleans from Barcelona, and he brought with him a particular talent for mixing absinthe — the potent, anise-flavored spirit that was wildly popular in 19th-century New Orleans. His signature drink, the Absinthe Frappé, became an instant sensation and put the bar on the map permanently.
The Green Fairy on Bourbon Street
Absinthe was the drink of the era. Artists, writers, and bohemians across Europe and America were devoted to the green spirit, which was rumored to inspire creativity and, in excess, madness. New Orleans — a city that has never been shy about its pleasures — embraced absinthe with particular enthusiasm, and the Absinthe Room became the epicenter of the city's love affair with the drink.
The bar's original marble-topped absinthe fountains, ornate fixtures, and old-world atmosphere made it feel like a piece of Paris transplanted to the French Quarter. Patrons would sit at the long cypress bar and watch as water slowly dripped through sugar cubes into their glasses of absinthe, turning the clear green liquid a milky, opalescent white. It was equal parts cocktail and ritual.
The bar attracted an extraordinary roster of patrons over the decades. Mark Twain drank here. So did Oscar Wilde, William Thackeray, and Walt Whitman. General P.G.T. Beauregard was a regular. Franklin Roosevelt reportedly stopped in. The business cards and calling cards left by visitors were pinned to the walls and ceiling by the thousands, creating a dense tapestry of names that became one of the bar's most distinctive features.
Prohibition and the Great Divide
When Prohibition arrived in 1920, it didn't just close the bar — it split the Old Absinthe House into two separate stories that persist to this day. The bar's fixtures, including the famous marble fountains and the cypress bar, were secretly removed from 240 Bourbon Street and relocated to 400 Bourbon Street, where a speakeasy called the Absinthe Bar continued to operate under the radar.
Meanwhile, the original building at 240 Bourbon sat empty of its famous furnishings but remained standing. After Prohibition ended in 1933, a legal battle erupted over which location had the right to the Old Absinthe House name. The original building at 240 Bourbon eventually reclaimed the name, though the fixtures remained at 400 Bourbon for decades. The two locations operated under different names, creating a confusion that has delighted bar historians and frustrated tourists ever since.
The 1960s Threat
In the 1960s, the building at 240 Bourbon faced a genuine threat of demolition. Plans were drawn up to tear down the historic structure as part of various development proposals. Preservationists rallied to save it, and the building survived — though the scare reinforced just how fragile even the French Quarter's most historic structures can be when money and progress come knocking.
The original 1806 building still stands today, making it one of the oldest surviving structures on Bourbon Street and one of the oldest continuously operating bar locations in the United States. The walls that have soaked up over two centuries of conversation, music, and spirits are the real thing — not a reproduction.
Absinthe Returns
For most of the 20th century, absinthe itself was banned in the United States. The spirit had been outlawed in 1912 amid overblown fears about its psychoactive properties — the famous "green fairy" was blamed for everything from insanity to social decay. The Old Absinthe House continued operating without its namesake drink, serving other cocktails while keeping the legend alive.
In 2007, the ban on absinthe was finally lifted, and the green spirit returned to American bars. For the Old Absinthe House, it was a homecoming. Once again, patrons could order the drink that had made the bar famous over a century earlier, prepared with the same slow-drip ritual that Cayetano Ferrer had perfected in the 1870s.
The Bar Today
The Old Absinthe House still operates at 240 Bourbon Street, drawing a mix of tourists who've read about its history and locals who appreciate a bar with substance behind the spectacle. The atmosphere is dark, the walls are thick with accumulated character, and the drinks are strong. It's not the flashiest spot on Bourbon Street — and that's precisely the point.
In a stretch of real estate that has been almost entirely given over to tourist-oriented bars and souvenir shops, the Old Absinthe House endures as something rarer: a place where the history isn't manufactured, where the building is original, and where you can drink essentially the same cocktail that Mark Twain ordered at the same bar over 150 years ago.
New Orleans is full of places that claim to be historic. The Old Absinthe House doesn't need to claim anything. The walls speak for themselves.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the Old Absinthe House the original building?
Yes. The building at 240 Bourbon Street dates to 1806 and is the original structure. While it faced a demolition threat in the 1960s, preservationists successfully saved it. It is one of the oldest surviving buildings on Bourbon Street.
When did the Old Absinthe House open as a bar?
The bar opened in 1874 when Cayetano Ferrer, a bartender from Barcelona, leased the ground floor and established the Absinthe Room. His signature Absinthe Frappé made the bar famous almost immediately.
Can you still get absinthe at the Old Absinthe House?
Yes. Absinthe was banned in the United States from 1912 to 2007. Since the ban was lifted, the Old Absinthe House once again serves absinthe cocktails, including the classic Absinthe Frappé that made the bar famous.
What famous people drank at the Old Absinthe House?
The bar's guest list over the decades has included Mark Twain, Oscar Wilde, William Thackeray, Walt Whitman, General P.G.T. Beauregard, and Franklin Roosevelt, among many others. Visitors historically pinned their business cards to the walls and ceiling.
What is the difference between the Old Absinthe House and the Absinthe Bar?
During Prohibition, the original bar's fixtures were moved from 240 Bourbon to 400 Bourbon Street. After Prohibition, both locations operated under different names. The Old Absinthe House at 240 Bourbon is the original building and reclaimed the historic name.
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