:''This article is about the New Orleans district. For other things named "Storyville" see  Storyville (disambiguation).''

'''Storyville''' was the prostitution 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 Robertson streets.<ref>{{cite book
|title=The French Quarter
|last=Asbury
|first=Herbert
|year=1938
}}</ref> Most of this former district is now occupied by the Iberville Housing Projects, two blocks inland from the French Quarter. 

thumb|250px|right|One of the few surviving buildings from Storyville, 2005 photograph. 100 years earlier, the "New Image Supermarket" building housed Frank Early's saloon, where [[Tony Jackson regularly played.]]

The District was set up to limit prostitution to one area of town where authorities could monitor and regulate the practice. In the late 1890s, the New Orleans city government studied the legalized red light districts of northern German and Dutch ports and set up Storyville based on such models. Between 1895 and 1915, "blue books" were published in Storyville. These books were guides to prostitution for visitors to the district's services including house descriptions, prices, particular services and the "stock" each house had to offer. The Storyville blue-books were inscribed with the motto: "Order of the Garter: Honi Soit Qui Mal Y Pense (Evil to Him Who Evil Thinks.)"

Establishments in Storyville ranged from cheap "cribs" to more expensive houses up to a row of elegant mansions along Basin Street for well-heeled customers (the term "crib" originated in San Francisco's red-light district). New Orleans' cribs were 50-cent joints, whereas the more expensive establishments could cost up to $10. Black and white brothels coexisted in Storyville; however, black men were barred from legally purchasing services rendered in either black or white brothels. Nonetheless, brothels with black prostitutes serving blacks openly flourished with the full knowledge of the police and other local authorities a short distance uptown from Storyville proper.

The District was adjacent to one of the main railway stations where travelers arrived in the city and became a noted attraction for many visitors.

Jazz did not originate in Storyville (it started off as a New Orleans style of music played all over town), but it flourished there as in the rest of the city; many out-of-town visitors first heard this style of music there before the music spread up north. Some early jazz writers suggested that Storyville was key in the development of jazz and that its closing was responsible for New Orleans musicians leaving for Chicago; but this is now regarded as inaccurate <ref>{{cite book
|title=Storyville, New Orleans
|last=Rose
|first=Al
|year=1978
}}</ref>. Some people from elsewhere continue to associate Storyville with the origins of jazz. It was tradition in the better Storyville establishments to hire a piano player and sometimes small bands.

The District was closed down by the federal government (over the strong objections of the New Orleans city government) during World War I in 1917. In regard to prostitution, New Orleans Mayor Martin Behrman pronounced that, "[y]ou can make it illegal, but you can't make it unpopular." After 1917, when Storyville was shut down, separate black and white underground dens of prostitution emerged around the city.

The District continued in a more subdued state as an entertainment center through the 1920s, with various dance halls, cabarets and restaurants. Speakeasies, gambling joints and prostitution were also regularly found in the area despite repeated police raids. 

thumb|Eines der wenigen erhaltenen Gebäude von Storyville. An der Stelle des "New Image Supermarket" befand sich früher Frank Early's Saloon, in dem [[Tony Jackson regelmäßig spielte-]]
'''Storyville''' war ein historisches Vergnügungsviertel von New Orleans. 

==Geschichte==
Seinen Spitznamen erhielt das Viertel vom Ratsherrn Sidney Story, der die Gesetze entworfen hatte, die 1897 seine Gründung ermöglichten. Mit der Gründung des Viertels nach dem Muster legalisierter Rotlichtviertel norddeutscher und holländischer Städte hoffte die Stadtverwaltung, die in der belebten Hafenstadt blühende Prostitution besser  kontrollieren zu können. 1917 wurde Storyville von den Bundesbehörden gegen den Widerstand der Stadtverwaltung geschlossen. Die behördliche Anordnung wurde damit begründet, dass Prostitution in der Nähe von Marinestützpunkten zu verbieten sei. In den 1940er Jahren wurden die meisten Gebäude eingerissen, um Platz für die ''Iberville''-Sozialwohnungssiedlung zu schaffen. 1949 versuchten Jazzhistoriker eines der letzten Bordell-Gebäude zu retten, Lulu White's ''Mahogany Hall'', das mit dem "Mahogany Hall Stomp,"  unsterblich gemacht worden war, einem Jazzstandard, der von Louis Armstrong und anderen aufgenommen worden war. Dieser Versuch scheiterte jedoch und heute erinnern nur drei Gebäudereste an das alte ''Storyville''.

===Jazz===
Storyville wird häufig als Ursprungsort des afroamerikanische Musiker aus der ganzen Stadt ein, um im Bordell zu spielen.

King Oliver und Manuel Perez gehörten zu den Musikern, die hier jede Nacht spielten. Louis Armstrong lieferte als Junge Kohlen an eines der Bordells und hörte so viele der berühmten Musiker. 

Der Grund, warum viele hochqualifizierte afroamerikanische Musiker in Storyville spielten lag auch in einer Amerikanischen Bürgerkriegs. Die verschärfte Segregation führte dazu, dass ausgebildete schwarze Musiker in ihren Auftrittsmöglichkeiten beschränkt wurden und die Beschäftigung in den Bordellen so hochwillkommen war.