New Orleans Museum dedicated to City’s Infamous Red-Light District Now Open in French Quarter

New 7,000 square foot museum a must-see for tourists

NEW ORLEANS, April 8, 2025 /PRNewswire/ —  With ideal weather and renowned festivals, April and May are the most popular months for travel to New Orleans. Awaiting visitors this year is the new, interactive New Orleans Storyville Museum. Located at 1010 Conti Street in the French Quarter just steps from Jackson Square and Bourbon Street, the new tourist attraction gives unique insight into the rich cultural heritage of New Orleans and its infamous red-light district Storyville.

Storyville was a raucous neighborhood of music, entertainment, gambling, and prostitution that operated from 1897 until 1917. Conceived by New Orleans City Councilman Sidney Story to confine city-wide vice it to a single district for easier containment and control, Storyville was shut down by the US Navy at the beginning of World War I to keep soldiers on the straight-and-narrow before shipping out to Europe. 

The 7,000 square feet of captivating exhibits showcase New Orleans’ fascinating and storied history, including the city’s:

• founding as a French colonial city in 1718 when it was originally populated with prostitutes from Paris jails,
• reign as the nation’s gambling capital, with more than 500 licensed casinos and where both poker and craps were invented in the early 1800s,
• establishment of Storyville, the country’s largest and most notorious red-light district and birthplace of jazz.

The New Orleans Storyville Museum is a passion project for founder and lead curator Claus Sadlier, New Orleans native and entrepreneur. After graduating from the University of New Orleans, Sadlier left the city in the early 1990s to pursue his fortune in San Francisco. Among his accomplishments, he invented and commercialized the world’s first insulated paper coffee cup which he ultimately sold to Dixie Cup. But Sadlier’s heart was always in New Orleans. In 2013, he moved home and set up residence in the French Quarter. 

“When I moved home, I read a lot of books about Storyville and the sinful history of New Orleans,” says Sadlier. “That is when I got the idea to create a museum dedicated to telling visitors this incredible story as it unfolded,” he said.

Museum highlights include immersive sets, engaging videos and hyper-realistic holograms created by local artists and theater professionals. A dedicated section on the early history of early jazz and a gallery featuring E.J. Bellocq’s poignant photographs of the prostitutes that worked in Storyville illustrate the complex narratives that shaped this extraordinary era.

“At the New Orleans Storyville Museum, we are committed to entertaining educating and informing,” said Sadlier. “Our exhibits not only shine light on the social and economic impacts of the Storyville District but also celebrate the cultural heritage that makes New Orleans unique.”

The museum is now open to the public Thursday through Sunday, from 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM. Admission is $31.50, and you must be 18 or older to enter. For tickets and information, please visit nolastoryville.com.

Contact: Ellie Rand, [email protected], 504.343.6551

SOURCE New Orleans Storyville Museum