Storyville, New Orleans

Street plan to the former Red Light District of New Orleans.

“The map of Storyville, depicting the actual block-by-block location of buildings in the heart of New Orleans’ tenderloin district, may well serve as an introduction to a panoramic view. Careful inspection of the map will reveal that side by side with the honky-tonks, saloons, cribs, cabarets, theaters and houses of assignation were cemeteries, churches, hospitals, business establishments, pawn-shops, restaurants, tailoring and pressing shops, drug-stores, grocery stores, private homes, barber-shops and music publishing houses…

Only a city imbedded in Old World Traditions could have produced it: the psycho-religious philosophy that Man, creature of Sin, needs and must have intermittent outbursts of indulgence – when steam can be blown off at a time and in a place proscribed by the authorities. Storyville was such a place and the Mardi Gras was such a time.” [pg. 100 Esquire’s Jazz Book].

This phenomenal plan of the Storyville neighborhood in New Orleans was first created in 1944 by Paul Eduard Miller and Richard M. Jones for inclusion in Esquire’s Jazz Book (this example comes from the 1947 edition). The approximately 11 by 8 block grid labels dozens of buildings that were part of the city’s official Red Light District from 1897 to 1917, when it was closed as a distraction to troops preparing for deployment in WWI. .

Of particular interest is Lulu White’s Mansion (Mahogany Hall) on Basin Street. The upscale brothel allegedly employed as many as 40 women across fifteen lavishly decorated bedrooms – all with attached bathrooms that supplied hot and cold water! (Note the courthouse and prison are only a few blocks down the street).

Storyville also plays a pivotal role in the history of jazz. Pianists like Jelly Roll Morton were employed in saloons, mansions parlors, and dance halls. Pete Lala’s Cafe, on the corner of Marais and Iberville, regularly hosted some of the finest local musicians like Louis Armstrong and “Big Eye” Louis Nelson. The check marks scattered throughout the image indicate the various spots these ‘old timers’ played.

Source: Storyville;