Faulkner House
New Orleans, Orleans Parish, Louisiana
Marker Inscription
Faulkner House. Here in 1925, William Faulkner, Nobel Laureate, wrote his first novel "Soldiers Pay." The building was erected in 1840 by the widow of Jean Baptiste LaBranche on a site formerly occupied by part of the yard and buildings of the French colonial prison.
Erected by Orleans Parish Landmarks Commission
The Story
In 1925 the young William Faulkner, later a Nobel laureate, lived here in the French Quarter and wrote his first novel, Soldiers' Pay. The building itself dates to 1840, raised by the widow of Jean Baptiste LaBranche on ground that once held part of the yard and buildings of the French colonial prison. The address marks an early, formative chapter in one of America's greatest literary careers.
Why it matters
It captures the moment a future giant of American letters found his footing as a novelist, amid the layered colonial history of the New Orleans French Quarter.
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Related people
- · William Faulkner
- · Jean Baptiste LaBranche
Themes & tags
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