Dumaine Street History
Storyville & The Tremé
Storyville, the Tremé, and Where Jazz Became a Profession
The streets surrounding Dumaine were the geography of Storyville and Black Storyville - the districts where jazz became a livelihood and a professional art form. From 1897 to 1917, their clubs and dance halls gave jazz musicians steady work and room to develop their craft.
The 1938 WPA City Guide called South Rampart Street "The Harlem of New Orleans." When Storyville closed in 1917 by order of the U.S. Navy, the musicians spread outward - Louis Armstrong, Jelly Roll Morton, and Baby Dodds carried the New Orleans sound to Chicago and New York and changed music history forever.
