Historic Site· Garden District

Kingsley House — The South's First Settlement House

Kingsley House opened in 1896 on Constance Street in the Irish Channel — the first settlement house in the South, modeled on Jane Addams' Hull House in Chicago. Its founders offered immigrant families English lessons, health clinics, and kindergarten in a neighborhood the city otherwise ignored. The institution is still operating, still at the same address, still doing the same work 130 years later. Few nonprofits in America have a longer continuous run.

Quick facts

·Kingsley House opened in 1896 on Constance Street in the Irish Channel.
·It was the first settlement house in the South, modeled on Jane Addams' Hull House in Chicago.
·Founders offered English lessons, health clinics, and kindergarten to immigrant families.
·Still operating at the same address 130 years later — few American nonprofits have a longer continuous run.
·Visitor tip: not a museum, but the exterior and historic marker are worth the walk through the Irish Channel.