A Louisiana artist filled a former gas station with 50,000 discarded objects; it became a bizarre museum with animated displays

A disused gas station in Abita Springs, Louisiana, has become a distinctive roadside attraction filled with thousands of found and recycled objects. The museum says the Abita Mystery House, also known as the UCM Museum, contains more than 50,000 such objects, assembled by Louisiana artist and inventor John Preble. Visitors can press buttons to activate animated displays depicting scenes associated with Southern life, including a Mardi Gras parade, a New Orleans jazz funeral and a rhythm and blues dance hall. The attraction sits in Abita Springs, a historic small town on Louisiana's Northshore, near the Tammany Trace and about 40 minutes north of New Orleans. Explore Louisiana also describes the museum as containing more than 50,000 found and recycled objects.Abita Mystery House, also known as the UCM Museum: Louisiana's eccentric roadside attractionThe attraction was originally known as the UCM Museum before it grew into what is now called the Abita Mystery House in 2007. The property includes the original gas station, an exhibition hall, a Creole cottage and the House of Shards, alongside numerous displays and collections assembled by Preble. The House of Shards is covered with pieces of broken pottery, glass and other materials, giving its exterior a mosaic-like appearance. The museum's homepage quotes John Bullard, former director of the New Orleans Museum of Art, as calling it “the most intriguing and provocative museum in Louisiana.” The attraction has also appeared on the television series American Pickers, which featured the unusual collection and its creator.John Preble's folk-art world: over 50,000 found objects turned into animated Southern scenesThe scale of the collection is central to the Abita Mystery House experience. The museum says it contains more than 50,000 found and recycled objects, while Explore Louisiana gives the same figure in its description of the attraction. Preble has used concrete, glass, wood, water, vision and invention to construct the displays, according to the museum. The resulting installations combine salvaged materials with handmade scenes and interactive elements that visitors can activate with buttons. Among the attractions is a 32-foot alligator, according to the museum's website. , one of the many unusual objects spread throughout the property. The museum also contains working vintage arcade machines, collections of memorabilia and miniature environments built from objects gathered and repurposed over the years. Its displays include scenes such as a Mardi Gras parade, a New Orleans jazz funeral and a rhythm and blues dance hall, giving visitors a moving, interactive look at Preble's distinctive approach to folk art.Visiting Abita Mystery House today: location, hours and what to expect insideThe Abita Mystery House is located on Louisiana Highway 36 in Abita Springs, about one block from the town's traffic circle and within its historic district. The attraction is also close to the Tammany Trace, a roughly 30-mile recreational trail running through St. Tammany Parish. Its location puts it about 40 minutes north of New Orleans, making it a relatively short trip for visitors exploring Louisiana's Northshore. The museum currently lists its regular hours as 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day except major holidays. Its homepage currently lists admission at $5 for visitors over the age of 5. Inside, visitors encounter animated folk-art scenes, salvaged objects, handmade installations, memorabilia and collections that have accumulated around Preble's original gas-station museum. What began as a roadside curiosity has grown into an unusual Louisiana attraction built around the idea that discarded objects can be given another life through art and imagination.You use AI every day. Now get your AI Quotient. Take the AIQ test.