New Orleans Red Light District Tour
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“When the noon hour chimes in the St. Louis Cathedral clock tower on Jackson Square every Friday, the court house shuts down, law offices close, the chefs at Galatoire's and the bartenders at the Old Absinthe House on Bourbon Street get busy. The ladies of the night are just waking up, starting to make appointments.” ― Glynn Wilson, The Southerner



Prostitution permeated the French Quarter of New Orleans nearly from its founding. In 1718 when Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne, sieur de Bienville settled on the future site on New Orleans, it was little more than a swamp, filled with snakes, alligators, and insects. The location attracted only the most hearty or the most savage of men.


With few women daring to make the long journey, Bienville wrote to Paris, "Send me women for my Canadians. They are running into the woods after Indian girls."


In 1721, eighty-eight women from a house of correction in Paris arrived in New Orleans. A few married, some disappeared to history, but the majority showed themselves to be "girls who could not be restrained."
Most of the girls simply fell back onto the skills and activities that had caused their incarceration in Paris. And thus, prostitution was born in New Orleans. Later, when a worried priest suggested that sending away all of the immoral women would improve the culture of the province, Lamothe Cadillac, then governor of Louisiana, replied, "If I send away all loose females, there will be no women left here at all, and this world would not suit the views of the King or the inclinations of the people."

DON'T END YOUR NEW ORLEANS VACATION WITHOUT JOINING ROYAL TOURS FOR A PERSONAL RED LIGHT DISTRICT TOUR IN THE FRENCH QUARTER! IT'S ONE OF THE COOLEST AND MOST FASCINATING TOURS AVAILABLE!
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Many of the women would work the areas near the river where the ships docked. But, many began to work from cheap "cribs" while several of the more entrepreneurial minded began to organize more lavish brothels. One Robert Tallant noted, "Women stood naked in doorways, behind drawn blinds, or sat in windows, calling out to passing men . . . . A few would even seize a man as he went by and try to argue him into doing business."

The city's first anti-prostitution ordinance was passed in 1857. Additional regulations were passed following the Civil War which eventually lead to an effort to create a confined area for prostitution. In 1897, Alderman Sidney Story wrote legislation that would create a sixteen block area just outside the French Quarter where prostitution, while not legalized, would be regulated and tolerated. This area became known ironically as Storyville.

At its height, about 2000 prostitutes were working Storyville daily with an assortment of bars and saloons opening in support of the brothels. When the US Navy, citing health and moral concerns, demanded that it be closed down in 1917, the New Orleans city government strongly protested. New Orleans Mayor Martin Behrman said, "You can make it illegal, but you can't make it unpopular."
All of it straight from the pages of history! Learn about the Queens of Storyville like Kate Townsend and Hattie Hamilton, and well-known brothels like Lulu White's Mahogany Hall and Emma Johnson's Studio. Learn about Briget Fury who had escaped from an Ohio penitentiary, where she had been incarcerated for manslaughter, only to turn up in New Orleans where she continued prostituting and murdering. Only her popularity with the local politicians at the time allowed her to avoid going back to the penitentiary! We will cover it all, from the origins of prostitution in New Orleans to recent history including The Canal Street Madam (you may recognize the names of some of her clients!).

You will also be surprised at the names of famous jazz musicians who had early careers entertaining the clients at many of Storyville's noted establishments: Louis Armstrong, Jelly Roll Morton, Buddy Bolden, to name a few. From luxurious bordellos, to dank cribs and dark alleys, prostitution was not only critical to the founding of early New Orleans, its aura of decadence and inhibition provided the French Quarter and surrounding area with the means to develop a thriving tourism industry and helped create the atmosphere of social freedom that writers such as Tennessee Williams, Truman Capote, and William Faulkner came to appreciate. Ready for the tour?

JOIN ROYAL TOURS ON THE RED LIGHT DISTRICT TOUR - ONE OF THE MOST INTERESTING FRENCH QUARTER TOURS YOU WILL EVER EXPERIENCE.

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This tour lasts about 1-1/2 hours and consists of about 1 mile in walking distance. Bring your curiosity and bring your camera, and you'll understand why...

BEING ON TOUR WITH ROYAL TOURS IS LIKE HAVING A NEW BEST FRIEND IN THE FRENCH QUARTER!
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