Our Story
The New Orleans Storyville Museum was created to provide visitors with an educational and entertaining account of the city’s unique and rich history — from its founding as a French colonial settlement in 1718, through its golden age of economic growth, culture and vice in the 1800s, to the early 1900s, when Storyville reigned as the largest and most ostentatious quasi-legal red-light district the United States has ever known—offering patrons from around the world live music, entertainment, gambling, and wide-open prostitution.
The museum is the passion project of its founder and CEO, Claus Sadlier, a sixth-generation New Orleanian and French Quarter resident. After a successful business career, Sadlier devoted several years to researching and developing the museum’s historical narrative, while also studying innovations in museum design by visiting highly ranked institutions around the world to gather ideas for how best to lay out the new museum. With a plan in place, he secured the necessary financing, began collecting artifacts, found an ideal building in the French Quarter — just two blocks from the historic Storyville district — and assembled a team of local professionals to bring the museum’s vision to life.
The New Orleans Storyville Museum first opened its doors to the public in August 2024, and continues to expand by adding new exhibits, multimedia features and artifacts to enhance the visitor experience.
