Built around 1898, 740 Barracks Street is a classic two-bay shotgun house tucked into the French Quarter. It may be simple and modest, but homes like this tell an important part of the everyday story of New Orleans. Shotgun houses began appearing throughout the city during the 19th century, influenced by Caribbean building traditions that arrived with people fleeing the Haitian Revolution and further shaped by the skill and craftsmanship of New Orleans’ free people of color. Their long, narrow design was perfectly suited to small city lots and helped move air naturally through the house during those famously hot New Orleans summers. Before long, shotguns became one of the most familiar homes of working-class families across the city. More than a century later, 740 Barracks is still a wonderful example of this distinctly New Orleans style, carrying with it the story of the cultures, craftspeople, and everyday people who helped make the city what it is.