STORYVILLE

Storyville was the red-light district of New Orleans, Louisiana, from 1897 through 1917.
Locals usually simply referred to the area as The District. The nickname Storyville was in reference to city alderman Sidney Story, who wrote the legislation setting up the district. It was bounded by Iberville, Basin, St. Louis, and N. Robertson streets.
Most of this former district is now occupied by the Iberville Housing Projects, two blocks inland from the French Quarter.


Almost all the buildings in the former District were demolished in the 1930s to clear the land for the building of the Iberville Projects. While much of the area contained old and decayed buildings, the old mansions along Basin Street, some of the finest structures in the city, were also leveled. The city government wished to do all it could to blot the notorious district from memory. Basin Street was even renamed "North Saratoga" (although the historic name was restored some 20 years later).
A collection of photographs by E. J. Bellocq depicting Storyville prostitutes was published in 1971 under the title Storyville Portraits.
Films with fictional portrayals of Storyville have included New Orleans (1947), Pretty Baby (1978), and Storyville (1992).