National Register of Historic Places Registration Form

Home , Lulu White, Tony Jackson (pianist), Windy City Times

NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018

United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Registration Form

This form is for use in nominating or requesting determinations for individual properties and districts. See instructions in National Register Bulletin, How to Complete the National Register of Historic Places Registration Form. If any item does not apply to the property being documented, enter "N/A" for "not applicable." For functions, architectural classification, materials, and areas of significance, enter only categories and subcategories from the instructions.

1. Name of Property Historic Name: The White Rock Saloon Other Names/Site Number: Frank Early’s My Place Saloon, My Place Cabaret Name of related multiple property listing: N/A

2. Location Street & Number: 1216 Bienville Street City or town: New Orleans State: LA County: Orleans Parish Not for Publication: Vicinity:

3. State/Federal Agency Certification As the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended, I hereby certify that this nomination request for determination of eligibility meets the documentation standards for registering properties in the National Register of Historic Places and meets the procedural and professional requirements set forth in 36 CFR Part 60. In my opinion, the property meets does not meet the National Register Criteria.

I recommend that this property be considered significant at the following level(s) of significance: national state local

Applicable National Register Criteria: A B C D

______Signature of certifying official/Title: Kristin Sanders, State Historic Preservation Officer Date Louisiana Department of Culture, Recreation, and Tourism State or Federal agency/bureau or Tribal Government

In my opinion, the property meets does not meet the National Register criteria.

Signature of commenting official: Date

Title: State or Federal agency/bureau or Tribal Government

United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018

White Rock Saloon Orleans Parish, LA Name of Property County and State

4. National Park Certification I hereby certify that the property is: ___ entered in the National Register ___ determined eligible for the National Register ___ determined not eligible for the National Register ___ removed from the National Register ___other, explain: ______

Signature of the Keeper Date of Action

5. Classification Ownership of Property (Check as many boxes as apply.)

X Private Public – Local Public – State Public – Federal

Category of Property (Check only one box.)

X Building(s) District Site Structure object

Number of Resources within Property (Do not include previously listed resources in the count)

Contributing Non-contributing 1 Buildings Sites Structures Objects 1 0 Total

Number of contributing resources previously listed in the National Register: 0

6. Function or Use

Historic Functions (Enter categories from instructions.): COMMERCE/TRADE: tavern

Current Functions (Enter categories from instructions.): COMMERCE/TRADE: specialty store

United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018

White Rock Saloon Orleans Parish, LA Name of Property County and State

7. Description

Architectural Classification (Enter categories from instructions.): No style

Materials: (enter categories from instructions.) foundation: brick walls: wood roof: metal other:

Narrative Description (Describe the historic and current physical appearance and condition of the property. Describe contributing and noncontributing resources if applicable. Begin with a summary paragraph that briefly describes the general characteristics of the property, such as its location, type, style, method of construction, setting, size, and significant features. Indicate whether the property has historic integrity.) ______Summary Paragraph

White Rock Saloon, a wood-frame, two-story, circa 1901 commercial building, sits at the corner of Bienville and Crozat Streets in New Orleans. The square building rests upon a low chain wall foundation and features a standing seam metal hip roof. The second story features original historic elements including a wrap-around gallery, window openings highlighted by original squared headers, quoins, Italianate brackets, and wooden drop lap siding made to resemble ashlar masonry. Located at 1216 Bienville Street, the building operated as a night club and bar when the neighborhood in which it is located functioned as the city’s Red-Light District. From 1897 to 1917, New Orleans tolerated and controlled prostitution within a multi-block area of the city called The District, but more commonly known as Storyville. In addition to accommodating houses of ill repute, Storyville fostered new forms of music within its numerous saloons, dance halls, bordellos, and cabarets, which led to racial melding in an era of legal segregation. Numerous black, innovative, and renowned musicians such as the celebrated pianist Tony Jackson, who performed regularly at the White Rock Saloon, helped spearhead these new forms of music, which would become known as jazz. At the onset of American’s involvement in World War I, Storyville permanently closed, and in the 1940s, most of its buildings were razed for urban renewal projects. Although altered, the former White Rock Saloon is the only identifiable building remaining within the former District that was extant during the period of significance. As such, it serves as the only representative of the culturally significant district of Storyville and is the only building within the neighborhood that preserves its musical associations with the origins of New Orleans jazz. ______Narrative Description

White Rock Saloon, located at 1216 Bienville Street, is a wood-frame, two-story, commercial building featuring a corner entrance. Crozat, Basin and Iberville Streets border the structure, which sits adjacent to the former Iberville Public Housing Development National Register District (1940-1950) on its northeast side. This property underwent a recent rehabilitation to become the Bienville-Basin Apartments, a mixed use, 23-acre redevelopment, completed in 2019, that features both historic and new buildings. The rowhouse-styled buildings consist primarily of two or three-story multi-family units designed to match the scale, form, style and mass of traditional New Orleans vernacular homes. To the southwest sits a large, six-story, modern hotel with ground floor parking. A single-story masonry building, historically known as “Lulu White’s Saloon,” sits to the northwest on the corner of Bienville Street and Basin Streets. This property originates from the Storyville era (1897-1917) but was extensively damaged in 1965 resulting in the loss of its second story and overall historic

United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018

White Rock Saloon Orleans Parish, LA Name of Property County and State integrity.1 A series of old growth oak trees providing a canopy of vegetation line and shade Bienville and Crozat Streets.

The oldest historic photograph of White Rock Saloon dates to around 1930 and details the property in relationship to its original setting (Figure #1). Another photograph, taken in 1943, serves as the best historic documentation of the building; it shows the property as mostly unaltered from its appearance during the period of significance (Figure #2). These historic photographs along with current photo documentation clearly demonstrate the modifications the building and the neighborhood have undergone since the 1930s. The historic photographs will be used to describe the alterations that have occurred.2

The Crozat Street elevation of White Rock Saloon functions as the main façade but features only one small functional opening on the first story. This elevation and the Bienville Street elevation feature a wrap-around gallery that spans the entire facades and extends outward to the street, covering the entire sidewalk. Smooth, precast metal columns support the gallery; historically, these had been chamfered wooden columns.3 Although altered, the existing precast columns follow the rhythm of those that had existed historically. A precast metal railing featuring a diamond pattern encloses the gallery. This railing differs from the original balustrade which featured intersecting chamfered newel posts and ball caps.4 Although altered in materiality, the gallery, which has existed throughout the evolution of the building, retains its original form, which allowing the building read as a turn-of-the-century structure.

The Bienville and Crozat Street elevations on the first-floor display smooth stucco siding, which differs from the original wooden rusticated block siding extant on the second story5. The main entrance on the first floor, composed of a raised concrete step which leads to a set of wooden French doors, is located on the northeast corner of the building. The door casing features fluted molding and rosettes, while above the door opening, exists an enclosed transom obscured by a metal security panel on the exterior and drywall on the interior.

The Bienville Street elevation features a door that opens to a wooden staircase which leads to the second story. This opening features its original wooden door casing with profile molding and is topped by a single- pane transom. The remainder of this elevation has undergone some changes over the decades. Currently, a hexagonal, enclosed window opening is extant to the right of the historic door. Previously, where the hexagonal window is now, this facade featured two door openings, which created a three-bay configuration of wooden, French, multi-light doors topped with wooden headers. Prior to that, as shown in a circa 1930s photo, an oriel window projected from the façade where the French doors were later placed.6 The current hexagonal enclosed window on the Bienville Street elevation was installed sometime in either the 1950s or 1960s.7

On the first floor of the Crozat Street elevation, the outline of a historic door that has been enclosed is still evident. This former door opening, found on the southwest corner of the building, recalls the two-bay configuration with wooden, French, multi-light doors and wooden headers that had existed.8 Between the 1950s and 1960s, a hexagonal window matching the one on the Bienville Street elevation was installed on the

1 NPS. “Jazz History Walking and Motor Tour .” New Orleans Jazz Commission . National Park Service , n.d. https://www.nps.gov/jazz/learn/historyculture/upload/treme2.pdf

2 Frank Early’s Saloon. negative, ca. 1943; inkjet print, 2017 The Historic New Orleans Collection, The William Russell Jazz Collection, acquisition made possible by the Clarisse Claiborne Grima Fund, MSS 520, 92-48-L.268 3 Ibid 4 Ibid 5 Ibid 6 View of Bienville Street from Basin Street ca. 1930; gelatin silver print, Louis T. Dansee, photographer. The Historic New Orleans Collection, The William Russell Jazz Collection, acquisition made possible by the Clarisse Claiborne Grima Fund, MSS 536 7 Bozant, K.J. (2013). Music street New Orleans: A guide to 200 Jazz, Rock, and Rhythm & Blues sites. New Orleans: Po Boys Press. P. 61. 8 Frank Early’s Saloon. negative, ca. 1943; inkjet print, 2017. The Historic New Orleans Collection, The William Russell Jazz Collection, acquisition made possible by the Clarisse Claiborne Grima Fund, MSS 520, 92-48-L.268 4

United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018

White Rock Saloon Orleans Parish, LA Name of Property County and State

Crozat Street elevation.9 This window was still extant in the 1980s but was removed at an unknown date. A small, square service window now exists in its place. A one-story, flat-roofed addition is extant on the Crozat Street and Bienville Street elevations. Added to the building in the 1950s, this structure had originally been a separate two-story building adjacent to 1216 Bienville based on evidence from the 1940s photograph. This one-story building was interconnected with the building at 1216 Bienville Street in the 1990s.10

The second stories on the Bienville and Crozat Street elevations, retain a majority of their historic integrity and make the building identifiable as a turn-of-the-20th-century structure, even though it did undergo some changes, most of which occurred circa 1950s. The second story on the Bienville Street elevation features a four-bay configuration consisting of one, 6/6, true-divided-lite wood window and three, 9/6, simulated-divided- lite vinyl windows. The 6/6 true-divided-lite window found on the left corner was likely added in the 1950s11. This opening did not exist historically. The second story on the Crozat Street elevation displays a three-bay configuration consisting of two, 9/6, simulated-divided-lite, vinyl windows and one door opening topped by a transom. The opening features an aluminum replacement door and the transom has been modified. The 9/6 vinyl windows on both elevations were installed in the 1990s within the historic window openings; the openings have been shortened but this is not immediately noticeable since they retain their original wooden headers and profile molding. Originally, these full-length openings featured 2/4, double-hung, wood windows12. Above the wooden headers there had originally been decorative fretwork which was removed, also sometime in the 1950s.13 Historically, wooden louvered shutters would have accentuated the floor-to-ceiling windows but these have been removed as well. The second stories of the Bienville and Crozat Street elevations feature wooden, rusticated block siding with quoins. The roof overhang features tongue and groove siding on its underside and displays five, decorative brackets. Wooden fretwork once adorned the underside of the eaves, but this feature is no longer extant.14

The Iberville Street elevation on the second story features a four-bay configuration being consisting of three windows and one door. The windows here are 9/6 vinyl windows with three-inch, flat, wooden casings. The remaining bay, trimmed with a wooden casing, features an aluminum door topped by a divided-lite transom above. A second-story balcony had existed on this elevation circa 1895 but had been removed by the early 1900s based on Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps. The historic configuration of the Iberville Street elevation remains unknown other than the existing door opening with transom.

The Basin Street elevation features smooth, fiber cement clapboard siding on both the first and second stories. The second story displays one 6/6 vinyl window that historically had not existed. A small empty lot sits adjacent to the building along this elevation; historically, this was the site of a circa 1890s, two-story wood- framed, residential building that burned to the ground in the early 1990s.15

The first floor interior features a large, open floorplan. A wrap-around wooden exists at the front of the interior space along the Bienville and Basin Street elevations. A single, smooth, cast iron column sits within the middle of the space. Behind the counter on the Basin Street elevation, the stairs leading to the second story are visible. The interior wall along Basin Street features wooden tongue and groove paneling. A former historic door opening between the first floor and the existing stairs was enclosed sometime in the 1990s. Remnants of this door opening remain visible.16 Along the Iberville Street side of the building, the former wall that separated the White Rock Saloon from its adjacent property was demolished in the 1990s. The former wall is denoted by

9 Bozant, K.J. (2013). Music street New Orleans: A guide to 200 Jazz, Rock, and Rhythm & Blues sites. New Orleans: Po Boys Press. P. 61. 10 Frank Early’s Saloon. negative, ca. 1943; inkjet print, 2017. The Historic New Orleans Collection, The William Russell Jazz Collection, acquisition made possible by the Clarisse Claiborne Grima Fund, MSS 520, 92-48-L.268 11 Ibid 12 Bozant, K.J. (2013). Music street New Orleans: A guide to 200 Jazz, Rock, and Rhythm & Blues sites. New Orleans: Po Boys Press. P. 61. 13 Frank Early’s Saloon. negative, ca. 1943; inkjet print, 2017. The Historic New Orleans Collection, The William Russell Jazz Collection, acquisition made possible by the Clarisse Claiborne Grima Fund, MSS 520, 92-48-L.268 14 Ibid 15 Coleman, W. (1996, February 10). STORYVILLE STRUCTURE RAZED. The Times Picayune. 16 Reckdahl, Katy. “What's So Special About New Orleans?.” The Advocate . November 10, 2013. 5

United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018

White Rock Saloon Orleans Parish, LA Name of Property County and State three drywall-covered columns that sit in its place. Vinyl flooring and exposed ductwork are displayed throughout.

The second story of the building can only be accessed on the exterior from the Bienville Street elevation. The single door on this elevation leads to a set of wooden stairs that rise directly toward the second story. The Basin Street-facing wall along the staircase features beaded board paneling. At the top of the landing, looking toward Iberville Street exist two doors, one of which leads to a bathroom and the other to a kitchen. The second-story floorplan features a central hallway with two, large, connecting rooms on the Bienville Street elevation and two connecting rooms on the Iberville Street elevation. The hallway leads directly to the gallery on the Crozat Street elevation. Wooden door casings with profile molding, divided-lite transoms, and four- panel fluted doors exist between the rooms and hallway. The second story features 12-foot ceilings with tile flooring concealing the original hardwood beneath.

Integrity:

Under National Register guidelines, the building retains enough of its appearance from 1901-1917 to convey its locally recognized associations with the former historic neighborhood of Storyville in relation to early Jazz and with musician Tony Jackson. The building, although altered, retains a sufficient degree of historic integrity to support its nomination to the National Register under Criterion A and Criterion B.

Location: Integrity of location is intact. The building is in its original location.

Setting: The property has a loss of setting. Although the surrounding historic neighborhood of Storyville has been destroyed for urban renewal projects in the 1940s, the loss heightens the importance of The White Rock Saloon in signifying the history of the neighborhood, its people, and its contributions in the early days of free form Jazz.

Design, Materials, and Workmanship: The property has a loss of materials but retains its original form, massing and design. The design of the building retains its historic corner entrance on the first floor. Access to the second story stairs is still in its historic position, and the wrap balcony on both sides of the building is retained with direct access from the front rooms onto the second story. The materiality on the first floor has been significantly lost, retention of the original fluted door casing with transom above for both the corner store entrance and the stairway entrance are displayed.

Workmanship and materials, specifically on the second story exterior, have been retained with its window openings with headers (though the window openings have been shortened), siding mimicking ashlar masonry, decorative wood brackets, and quoins which all detail the workmanship and historical materiality of the building. On the interior, the second story has original hardwood flooring beneath the tile and wooden door casings/two pane transoms, four panel fluted doors throughout as well as 12-foot historic ceiling heights.

Feeling: The building still conveys the impression of a turn of the 20th century historic building, different than those surrounding it. The White Rock Saloon is the only surviving building that conveys the historic district of Storyville accurately and details the important history of the neighborhood in the development of both New Orleans and that of Jazz music.

Association: The building has maintained its primary associations with the historic neighborhood of Storyville and the Jazz musician Tony Jackson since its initial construction. The building has been written about in numerous publications related to both Storyville and the history of Jazz. The building is described in the New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park and is listed as a local landmark by the Historic District Landmark Commission of New Orleans.

8. Statement of Significance

United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018

White Rock Saloon Orleans Parish, LA Name of Property County and State

Applicable National Register Criteria (Mark "x" in one or more boxes for the criteria qualifying the property for National Register listing.)

X A Property is associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of our history. X B Property is associated with the lives of persons significant in our past. C Property embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of construction or represents the work of a master, or possesses high artistic values, or represents a significant and distinguishable entity whose components lack individual distinction. D Property has yielded, or is likely to yield, information important in prehistory or history

Criteria Considerations:

A Owned by a religious institution or used for religious purposes B Removed from its original location C A birthplace or grave D A cemetery E A reconstructed building, object, or structure F A commemorative property G Less than 50 years old or achieving significance within the past 50 years

Areas of Significance (Enter categories from instructions.): Entertainment/Recreation

Period of Significance: 1901-1917

Significant Dates: N/A

Significant Person (Complete only if Criterion B is marked above): Tony Jackson

Cultural Affiliation (only if criterion D is marked above): N/A

Architect/Builder (last name, first name): unknown

Period of Significance (justification): The period of significance begins in 1901, the year the current building was constructed, and ends in 1917, when the Storyville district was closed.

Criteria Considerations (explanation, if necessary): N/A

Statement of Significance Summary Paragraph (Provide a summary paragraph that includes level of significance, applicable criteria, justification for the period of significance, and any applicable criteria considerations.)

The White Rock Saloon, located at 1216 Bienville Street in New Orleans, is locally significant under Criterion A, in the area of Entertainment/Recreation as the last recognizable building from the culturally important neighborhood of Storyville and under Criterion B, for its musical associations with the pioneering black, gay Jazz pianist, Tony Jackson, who performed at The White Rock Saloon during the beginning of the 20th century. Between 1897 and 1917, Storyville served as a quasi-legal and centralized red-light and

United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018

White Rock Saloon Orleans Parish, LA Name of Property County and State entertainment district in the heart of New Orleans. Within this vice district, early free form jazz flourished in the various entertainment venues such as saloons, dance halls, bordellos, and cabarets. These venues created socially acceptable forms of racial bonding between black performers and white patrons in an era of legal segregation. Although Storyville originally encompassed multiple blocks outside the French Quarter and was associated with renowned musicians, artists, politicians, and performers, all but the White Rock Saloon have been demolished or altered beyond recognition and serves to detail both the important social history of Storyville but also the musical contributions of its musicians in relation to Jazz. ______Narrative Statement of Significance (Provide at least one paragraph for each area of significance.)

History of Storyville:

The White Rock Saloon is locally significant under Criterion A within the context of entertainment/recreation through the neighborhood of Storyville, which operated as a quasi-legal red-light and entertainment district from 1897-1914. Historically encompassing multiple blocks just outside of the French Quarter, Storyville was bounded by North Robertson Street, Iberville Street, Basin Street, and St. Louis Street in New Orleans Louisiana.

Storyville formally began in 1897 under decree by the politician, Sidney Story who introduced a city ordinance in New Orleans, Louisiana where:

It shall be unlawful for any public prostitute or woman notoriously abandoned to lewdness to occupy, inhabit, live or sleep in any house, room or closet without the following limits: South Side of Iberville from Basin to Robertson Street, east side of Robertson Street from Iberville to Saint Louis Street, from Robertson to Basin Street.17

This once renowned red-light and entertainment district would have many names such as: “The District”, “The Tenderloin” or most famously “Storyville”, which was based on a pun of Sidney Story’s name. Prior to the creation of Storyville, prostitution was spread throughout the city in primarily fashionable and residential neighborhoods18 which created ethical issues for citizens, families, and religious institutions. This problem would culminate in the creation of a government sanctioned district to control and limit vices to a specified zone, giving rise to Storyville.19

Out of the creation of a quasi-legalized red-light district, Storyville became a financially successful entertainment metropolis, attracting tourists from around the country to partake in the city’s emerging tourism economy. As a result, brothels, saloons, clubs, drugstores, dance halls, cabarets, restaurants, and shooting ranges abounded. These new entertainment establishments used visual and auditory means to draw in tourists through the use of advertisements and early Jazz music. The most famous of these adverts was commonly referred to as The Blue Books, which took the form of a tourist booklet. The Blue Books featured advertisements for brothels, sex workers, dance halls, liquor, beer, cigars, and restaurants from 1898 until 1915. The advertisements served as a guide to tourists for the array of entertainments that were offered and heavily emphasized the musical and carnal offerings of these establishments.

The establishment of Storyville created a unique setting for the flourishing of an LGBTQ community at the turn of the century in New Orleans. Although there are limited resources describing the LGBTQ landscape within Storyville, there are three individuals who are known: Fanny Sweet, Miss Big Nelly, and Tony Jackson. Fanny Sweet, was a local resident of Storyville and described as “openly gay, the owner of a well-known brothel, a

17 Ordinance 13302. Oct. 1897, New Orleans City Council 18 Rose, Al. Essay. In Storyville, New Orleans: Being an Authentic, Illustrated Account of the Notorious Red-Light District,. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 1979. 19 “Storyville: a Resource Guide to Sources about Commercialized Vice in Historic New Orleans.” Accessed January 5, 2021. https://www.loc.gov/rr/business/storyville/books.html. 8

United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018

White Rock Saloon Orleans Parish, LA Name of Property County and State lesbian, Confederate spy, and procurer.”20 Miss Big Nelly, “was a prominent member of the LGBTQ community in Storyville operating a brothel in the district that housed gay men.”21 Sources are scant either in regards to the exact locations of their brothels or backgrounds on their lives however they are referred to by primary sources in their reminisces of Storyville. Lastly was Tony Jackson, the most famous piano “professor” of Storyville, who was an openly gay man who performed regularly within Storyville and was regarded in the highest esteem among his contemporaries regardless of his sexuality. Although few records survive of these and countless other individuals, Storyville fostered an inclusionary space within the confines of the district and deserves recognition for its association with LGBTQ history during the early 20th century.

In 1896, a year before the beginning of Storyville, the landmark Supreme Court Case Plessy Vs. Ferguson was passed which produced legal racial segregation, “separate but equal” in all public establishments; however, this did not wholly apply within Storyville. Black and white brothels would coexist in Storyville, however, race determined one’s positioning within the district. Some of the most famous high-end brothels were owned and operated by black women who referred to themselves as “Octoroons (being one-eighth black). In Storyville the policies of strict segregation would often become blurred regarding social norms where black women and black men worked to entertain white patrons. Two of the most famous black madams were Lulu White with her lavish brothel, Mahogany Hall, and the “Countess” Willie Piazza with her luxurious brothel, The Piazza. Both women used their mixed-race ancestry to their advantage by displaying themselves as sophisticated, worldly women while catering to white fantasies for their personal gain in an era of segregation. This melding of races in an era of staunch segregation extended into music where the division between Black and Creole people of color became intertwined both by law and culture. Storyville contributed to this cultural melding between Blacks and Creoles of Color who were now legally seen the same by white segregationists in the early 20th century. Before the passing of Plessy vs. Ferguson, lighter skinned, Creole people of color were viewed as a separate, higher, social caste of Louisiana society, one with a European heritage than former Black enslaved people. These differences were defined within music where Creole musicians held a formally trained musical education, being able to read complex compositions while Black, former enslaved people incorporated tribal beats with rhythms and improvisational compositions, often without any formal education. This division between Creole people of color and Blacks would further erode in 1900 with The Robert Charles Riots which involved increased racial tensions erupting in full scale racial violence and riots with the murder of a Creole by the name of Robert Charles along with 28 other people. This event ended Creole people of colors position of power in the local social caste and increased the reach of overall racial segregation in the state which would result, out of necessity, Creole and Black musicians working together to craft what would become early Jazz within Storyville. According to the famous Jazz historian, Alan Lomax, “Black musicians were not trained musicians, but won their Storyville jobs by sheer talent. Creoles who wanted to work in Storyville had to play in bands with them,”22 Creole musicians began to play within Storyville in droves after 1900, as evidenced by the reminiscing of the well-known violinist Paul Dominguez who stated “we couldn’t make a living otherwise, I wanted to make a living here in Storyville, you were working seven nights a week in a tonk, well that’s how they make a fiddler out of a violinist, I had to be rowdy like the other group. I had to jazz it or rag it, they can’t tell you what’s on the paper but just play the hell out of it.”23 The racial segregation laws due to Plessy vs. Ferguson and the Robert Charles Riots helped to spearhead the early creation of Jazz within Storyville where creative musical liberty and continuous pay were guaranteed. Storyville gave continuous employment to early jazz musicians who became visible and audible creators of culture in an era of segregation.

By 1907 the Louisiana Legislature passed the Gay Shattuck act, which prohibited blacks and whites from drinking in the same business, prohibited live music in bars and barred women from working where alcohol was sold unless their business was a restaurant. This law would be loosely enforced in Storyville where many establishments started selling food (or pretended to) to keep hosting live music and have black workers and

20 Rose, Al. Essay. In Storyville, New Orleans: Being an Authentic, Illustrated Account of the Notorious Red-Light District,. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 1979. 21 Ibid. 22 Ibid. 115. 23 Ibid. 115. 9

United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018

White Rock Saloon Orleans Parish, LA Name of Property County and State white patrons fraternize.24 These musicians were almost wholly Black and/or Creole who played in the various saloons, brothels, dance halls, and cabarets which required music on a nightly basis. The music played in the entertainment establishments ran the full spectrum but was almost wholly designed for dancing. The one-step, two-step, tango, and slow drag were a few of the many popular dances evolving alongside the emerging music within Storyville. Storyville’s saloons, brothels, dance halls, and cabarets, gave musicians opportunities to work and experiment with new sounds. The relatively uncritical audience that Storyville provided - one that permitted the musicians almost unlimited freedom to experiment and to work out stylistic qualities of their own in circumstances less demanding that those experienced by performers in other situations - helped create and define new forms of music that would become known collectively as Jazz.”25

By 1917, Storyville was under pressure from an array of differing groups. A new generation of progressives sought to eradicate rather than merely control prostitution and segregationists hoped to impose strict discrimination in one of the last integrated areas in the South. In February of 1917, Commissioner of Public Safety Harold Newman enacted a massive city-wide “clean-up campaign” and proposed Ordinance No. 4118, which sought to establish the city’s first residential segregation ordinance by requiring that all prostitutes of “colored or Black race” move into a separate vice district across Canal Street from Storyville.26 Lulu White, the mixed race “Octoroon” madam mentioned earlier filed “a writ of injunction against the city to avoid moving, arguing that it deprived her of the use of her property without due process of law, constituted unnecessary and arbitrary abuse of police power, and violated the constitution by denying her equal protection under the law. 27 After filing the writ, the case went to the Louisiana Supreme Court which held the ordinance to be unconstitutional. A temporary injunction was thereafter granted, and other black madams of Storyville followed suit, including the “Countess” Willie Piazza. In the end, more than twenty property owners (primarily Black women but also two white brothel owners), filed suit. The Louisiana Supreme Court case, ruled that the city was “powerless” to prevent black women from living and working in Storyville.28 The court held that the ordinance was in violation of the 14th Amendment which held that one of the essentials to liberty was the right of an individual to reside where they desired.”29 This decision was a landmark case for black civil rights and was a defining factor against the prevailing ruling of Plessy vs. Ferguson in 1896.

The landmark decision by the Louisiana Supreme Court, however, would not come to fruition due to the United States entering World War I, which ultimately led to the permanent closure of the red-light and entertainment district on November 12, 1917.30 The United States entered World War I in April of 1917 and Secretary of War, Newton Baker was charged with the suppression of brothels near any military camp, station, fort or post, in fear of venereal diseases affecting troops. As soon as war was declared Mayor Martin Behrman offered the city’s full support. In October, with mounting Federal pressure, Baker forced the city council to vote to end Storyville, setting a closure date of November 12th at midnight, thusly bringing an end to Storyville forever.

After the official closure of Storyville, the neighborhood would continue in differing capacities as an entertainment area until the late 1930s, when the Housing Authority of New Orleans purchased much of the area for construction of the Iberville Public Housing Development. The Housing Authority declared 95% of the structures in Storyville substandard, and they were subsequently demolished. The Iberville Public Housing Development, completed in 1941, occupied the greater part of Storyville’s footprint.31 The Iberville Public Housing Development was later redeveloped as the Basin Street Development, a group of mixed income row housing constructed after Hurricane Katrina.

24 New Orleans Cultural Policy Timeline: https://maccno.com/new-orleans-cultural-policy-timeline 25 Rose, Al. Essay. In Storyville, New Orleans: Being an Authentic, Illustrated Account of the Notorious Red-Light District,. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 1979. 26 Asher, Sally. “Last Days Of Storyville.” My New Orleans, April 9, 2019. https://www.myneworleans.com/last-days-of-storyville/. 27 Landau, Emily. “Storyville.” 64 Parishes, December 19, 2016. https://64parishes.org/entry/storyville-2. 28 Ibid. 29 Asher, Sally. “Last Days Of Storyville.” My New Orleans, April 9, 2019. https://www.myneworleans.com/last-days-of-storyville/. 30 Ibid. 31 Jill Adams, Architectural Historian, R. Christopher Goodwin & Associates, Inc., Iberville Public Housing Development Historic District, nomination document, 2014, National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places, Washington, D.C. 10

United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018

White Rock Saloon Orleans Parish, LA Name of Property County and State

Brief History of Jazz within Storyville:

Although Jazz was not born in Storyville, many of its early greats flourished there and played extensively in the brothels, saloons, and dance halls that abounded the confines of the district. Renowned Jazz artists such as Jelly Roll Morton, Edward “Kid” Ory, and Joseph “King” Oliver who all began their careers within Storyville. Jelly Roll Morton, a renowned Creole man, began playing the piano as teenager and is characterized as being one of the first Jazz arrangers, “proving that a genre rooted in improvisation could retain its essential characteristics when notated.”32 According to “Big Eye” Louis Nelson, “when Jelly Roll came around the district he knew note music-that’s the way he started by messing around with piano scores, he could pick up fast by ear.”33 During this period he began to perform at many of the most expensive brothels of Storyville, including Josie Arlington’s, Willie Piazza’s, Lulu White’s, and Antonia Gonzales’s. Jelly Roll would later reminisce that “all the highest-class landladies had me for ‘the professor’ if they could get me.”34 Jelly Roll Morton’s time playing within Storyville was highly creative for his development as a musician. He “developed his musical voice and began composing a number of the pieces that he would later publish and record, including “New Orleans Blues,” “Jelly Roll Blues,” and “King Porter Stomp.” In 1915 “Jelly Roll Blues” became the first jazz composition to be published as sheet music.”35

Two other famous Jazz musicians who began and refined their musical abilities in Storyville were Edward “Kid” Ory and Joseph “King” Oliver who both worked and performed together within Storyville. Edward “Kid” Ory began performing extensively within The District between 1910-1919. “Kid” Ory is known as developing the "tailgate", a particular style of playing the trombone with a rhythmic line underneath the trumpets and cornets. His use of glissando (glide from one pitch to another) helped establish it as a central element of New Orleans Jazz”. Kid Ory would go on to found The Kid Ory Band which would become immensely popular at the dance halls within Storyville and even hire future Jazz greats such as Joseph “King” Oliver and Louis Armstrong. According to bassist George “Pops” Foster he said, “Ory’s band could play a waltz and make it hot.”36 Hot was a term applied to early New Orleans bands for the innovative and improvisational style applied to music. Kid “Ory” would go on to become the leader of the first African American band to record New Orleans jazz music in 1922. This recording included "Ory's Creole Trombone and Society Blues.”37

Joseph “King” Oliver began playing within Storyville between 1908-1917, he played the cornet and is particularly recognized for his playing style and his pioneering use of mutes in jazz. Mutes are devices attached to a musical instrument that alter the instrument's tone quality. Joseph “King” Oliver was also a notable composer, composing tunes such as "Dippermouth Blues", "Sweet Like This", "Canal Street Blues", and "Doctor Jazz. As a mentor to Louis Armstrong, “Oliver taught young Louis and gave him his job in Kid Ory's band when he went to Chicago. A few years later Oliver summoned him to Chicago to play with his band. Louis remembered Oliver as "Papa Joe" and considered him his idol and inspiration. In his autobiography, Satchmo: My Life in New Orleans, Armstrong wrote: "It was my ambition to play as he did. I still think that if it had not been for Joe Oliver, Jazz would not be what it is today. He was a creator in his own right."38

In 1917, the success of The Original Dixieland Jazz Band’s recording of “Livery Stable Blues” and “The Original Dixieland Jazz Band One-Step” helped drive the nation’s craving for more of this new style of music from New Orleans.41 The formation of The Original Dixieland Jazz Band, began within Storyville in a bar owned by John “Peg” Anstedt, “which attracted young white musicians who made it their headquarters as they roamed the district listening to the outstanding black musicians”42, they did not perform in Storyville but the band was consolidated and heavily influenced within Storyville in their youth. Storyville would help expose

32 Giddins, Gary; DeVeaux, Scott (2009). Jazz. New York City: W.W. Norton. 33 Rose, Al. Essay. In Storyville, New Orleans: Being an Authentic, Illustrated Account of the Notorious Red-Light District,. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 1979. 115. 34 Ibid. 115. 35 https://www.hnoc.org/virtual/storyville/music-and-musicians. 36McCusker, John. (2012). Creole Trombone: Kid Ory and the Early Years of Jazz. 84. 37 https://www.d.umn.edu/cla/faculty/tbacig/studproj/is3099/jazzcult/20sjazz/musicians.html 38 Armstrong, Louis (2012). Satchmo: My Life In New Orleans. Ulan Press. 41 https://www.hnoc.org/virtual/storyville/music-and-musicians. 42 Ibid. 11

United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018

White Rock Saloon Orleans Parish, LA Name of Property County and State other illustrious musicians in their youth to the sounds of early Jazz. Albert Nicholas, Danny Barker, Preston Jackson and Louis Armstrong all have memories of visiting Storyville and being exposed to the music and teachings of Jelly Roll Morton, Kid Ory, and Joe Oliver which would have a lasting influence on their musical careers.

Louis Armstrong would later reminisce that:

“I also looked forward to every night in the Red-Light District, when I was delivering stone coal to the girls working in those cribs. I could hear these wonderful jazz musicians playing music the way it should be played. As many bands as you heard, that’s how many bands you heard playing right, I thought I was in heaven.”43

Throughout the 1920s, Jazz continued to gain popularity, making the contributions of early musicians in Storyville an important component in the evolution of jazz.

History of The White Rock Saloon:

The history of the building at 1216 Bienville Street- its physical evolution and occupants- is not documented completely. While much has been analyzed from primary sources for this nomination, the picture is not crystal clear. According to Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps, a two-story wood frame store with the correct square footprint has existed on the corner since 1885 at the latest.50 In 1897, the neighborhood in which this building sat significantly changed due to legislation that would create what would become “Storyville.” By the 1908- 1909 Sanborn Map, all of the formerly labeled “D”, domestic properties or dwellings were designated “F.B.”, which meant “Female Boarding House,” a euphemism for “brothel.”51 In 1901, a significant fire occurred “in the saloon and residence of Sam Coletti- the place was destroyed, the location is just on the edge of what is known as Storyville.”52 The fire destroyed many businesses in the surrounding block which all were promptly rebuilt including that of 1216 Bienville Street. By 1906, there is an advertisement for rent of a “splendidly located barroom and residence.”53 In 1908 the saloon was known by the name “The White Rock Saloon” and was owned by an Italian by the name of Anthony Batistina.54 An obituary from 1917 details that Batistina “opened the White Rock Saloon, Franklin and Bienville streets. He operated this place until a few days after Phillips and “Red” Parker were killed and then he promptly sold out.”55 As a result, an auction was held in 1913, with the property as listed for sale of “the entire contents. Fixtures, Stock Furniture, etc. of the barroom being 1 piano, 1 safe, 1 national cash register, 1 city barroom license.” By 1915, the property was advertised as “The My Place Cabaret.”56 A newspaper from November of 1916, details a “porter in the saloon of Frank Alfano, 1216 Bienville Street.”57 A further newspaper article from February of 1917 details “Frank Alfano, who conducts saloons at Franklin and Bienville Streets, has not paid his license and that he intends only to continue business until after Mardi Gras.”58 In June of 1917, there is an auction of the sale of “contents bar room of whiskies, champagnes, cash register, glasses silverware, etc.”59 The District or Storyville permanently closed as a red-light district on Nov. 12, 1917. 1216 Bienville Street would continue to be inhabited as a cabaret, corner store, and saloon well into the 1950s under the common name associated with the property ‘Frank

43 Thomas Brothers, Louis Armstrong’s New Orleans. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2006. - Louis Armstrong. 50 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map 1895-1896 51 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map 1908-1909 52 The Daily Item: Flames Cause Much Excitement and Damage. July 29, 1901 53 The Times Picayune: For Rent. March 14, 1906 54 The Times Picayune: For Sale. July 16, 1908 55 The Times Picayune: Anthony Batistina Dies at Hospital: Body of Man who figured in Shooting Five Years ago goes to Vicksburg. July 16. 1917. 56 The Times Picayune. November 15, 1913. 57 The Orleans States. November 16. 1916. 58 The Orleans States. Sues Saloons For Tax. February 17, 1917. 59 The Times Picayune. Contents Bar Room of R. Coletti. June 22, 1917. 12

United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018

White Rock Saloon Orleans Parish, LA Name of Property County and State

Early’s My Place Saloon’ which does not appear until the 1930s under the possible ownership of Frank Early, leading to confusion on the historic name of the property during its period of significance.60

Tony Jackson: The White Rock Saloon is locally significant under Criterion B within the context of Entertainment/Recreation for its association with the pioneering Black, gay, jazz pianist Tony Jackson. Antonio Junius Jackson, better known as Tony Jackson, was born to formerly enslaved parents in New Orleans, Louisiana on October 25, 1882.61 Although deprived of any musical instruments, Jackson showed talent at a young age. By the age of 13 he had acquired his first musical job playing in a saloon by the famous bandleader Adam Olivier with Bunk Johnson.62 After this he quickly moved into Storyville playing at differing brothels and saloons. By 1900, “at the age of eighteen, Tony Jackson was considered the best musician in the city of New Orleans. Part of his success was that he was able to remember and play any tune he heard once and was hardly ever stumped by obscure requests by patrons.”63 His repertoire included ragtime, cakewalks, popular songs of the day, blues, and light classics.64 According to the famous Jazz musician, Clarence Williams, “He (Tony) was great because he was original in all his improvisations . . . We all copied him.” More than Jackson's music was copied he was always well dressed. Jackson dressed himself with a pearl gray derby, checkered vest, ascot tie with a diamond stickpin and sleeve garters on his arms to hold up his cuffs as he played. This became a standard outfit for ragtime and barrelhouse pianists. A fan of Jackson’s was once heard to comment, “If you can't play like Tony Jackson, at least you can look like him.”65

The clothing that Tony Jackson wore would become synonymous with the abstract image of ragtime performers of the period. During this time, between 1900-1911 he became the favorite of the most celebrated brothels of the period owned by The Countess V. Piazza, Antonia Gonzales, and Lulu White where he could charge a significant salary of 100 or more dollars a night.66 Although there are no existing recordings of Tony Jackson, his songs and style were immortalized by his protégé, the famous Jazz musician, Jelly Roll Morton for recordings undertaken by The Library of Congress in the 1930s. Fellow musicians and singers of the period were universal in their praise of Jackson, most calling him "the greatest", and even the far-from- modest Jelly Roll Morton ranked Jackson as the only musician better than Morton himself.67 Morton met Jackson in 1906 and subsequently became a mentor to Morton. According to Morton, Jackson wrote many original tunes, a number of which he sold the rights too for a few dollars or were simply stolen from him, accordingly some well-known Tin Pan Alley pop tunes of the era were written by Jackson.68 One of the few tunes published with Jackson's name on it, "Pretty Baby” came out in 1916 to national acclaim, although he was remembered performing the song before he left New Orleans. It has been stated that Pretty Baby was composed at The White Rock Saloon, according to historian Al Rose, he played and sang “I’ve got Elgin movements in my hips with all twenty years guarantee, and here (1216 Bienville Street) wrote the all-time hit Pretty Baby.”69 It has also been stated that his hit “Pretty Baby” was written about a male lover of his but the words were changed when it was published by the composer Egbert Van Alstyne and lyricist Gus Kahn. Only ten published compositions by Tony Jackson are known to be in existence although it is known he wrote countless others, these are: Pretty Baby, I’ve Been Fiddle-ing, Some Sweet Day, I’ve Got ‘Em, Miss Samantha

60 “Nothing to Say .” The Item Tribune. December 2, 1934.

61 http://ragpiano.com/comps/tjackson.shtml 62 Ibid. 63 Bullock, Darryl W. (2017). David Bowie Made Me Gay : 100 Years of LGBT Music. London: Overlook Duckworth. 23. 64 64 Rose, Al. Essay. In Storyville, New Orleans: Being an Authentic, Illustrated Account of the Notorious Red-Light District, 26–28. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 1979. 65 Bullock, Darryl W. (2017). David Bowie Made Me Gay : 100 Years of LGBT Music. London: Overlook Duckworth. 66 Edwards, Bill. “Antonio (Toney) Junius Jackson.” Accessed January 8, 2021. http://ragpiano.com/comps/tjackson.shtml. 67 Ibid. 9. 68 Ibid. 9 69 Rose, Al. Essay. In Storyville, New Orleans: Being an Authentic, Illustrated Account of the Notorious Red-Light District, 26–28. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 1979. 91. 13

United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018

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Johnson’s Wedding Day, Waiting at the Church Door, Why Keep Me Waiting so Long, Ice and Snow, I’m Certainly Gonna See About That, and You Mean So Much to Me.

There are many recollections from famous musicians on the prowess of Tony Jackson such as the popular blues singer Alberta Hunter whom Tony Jackson gave music lessons to:

Everybody would go to hear Tony Jackson after hours. Tony was just marvelous- he could write a song in two minutes and was one of the greatest accompanists I’ve ever listened to . . .he was a prince of a fellow and he would always pack them in. There would be so many people around the piano trying to learn his style that sometimes he could hardly move his hands-and he never played any song the same way twice.70

In 1904, he was offered an opportunity to tour with the Vaudeville: Whiteman Sisters New Orleans Troubadours in a troupe that included Storyville pianist Albert Carroll who was acting as musical director, however he left soon thereafter once they reached Louisville Kentucky. While in Louisville, Jackson met Glover Compton and “Piano” Price Davis, of which they wrote a song together which had remained unpublished but recorded by Compton in his later years. That piece The Clock of Time, was reportedly repurposed “in 1922 by composer J. Berni Barbour as the salacious My Daddy Rocks Me (With One Steady Roll), which provided the name of Rock and Roll.”71 After his return from this trip his exact time-line is uncertain but Jackson evidently divided his time between Chicago and New Orleans from around 1905 to 1909, of which he predominately performed and possibly lived at The White Rock Saloon.

Tony Jackson routinely played at The White Rock Saloon throughout his time in New Orleans and improvised and honed his craft for early Jazz compositions there. According to the famous Jazz historian and personal friend of Tony Jackson, Roy Carew, around 1905, he had been “pleasantly surprised while passing the corner of Franklin and Bienville Streets to hear Tony performing in the café on that corner lately identified as Frank Early’s Café. This was my opportunity, for it was a café for white patrons so I strolled in bought a drink at the bar and took a seat at the tiny little table close to the platform where Tony was playing the piano.”72 This initial meeting between Carew and Jackson at The White Rock Saloon would go on to become a lifelong friendship between the two where they would meet at The White Rock Saloon and details his early and important relationship to the building. Subsequently, Roy Carew, “spent many a pleasant hour listening to Tony entertain at Frank Early’s Café. Usually I would take the little table to the left of the piano stand and sit there sipping a drink while I listened. Tony got to know me and would welcome me with that happy grin of his when he saw me taking my place.”73 By the time of the 1910 census, Tony Jackson was back in New Orleans, living with his family with his profession listed as a musician.

During Tony Jackson’s time in Storyville he also performed at a well-known local bar within Storyville called The Frenchman’s. According to Jelly Roll Morton, “all these men (the pianist who congregated after hours at The Frenchman’s) were hard to beat, but when Tony Jackson walked in, any one of them would get up from the piano stool- if he didn’t get up from that piano, they would say your hurting its feelings, let him play.”74

Tony Jackson also is known to have performed at the grand bordello of Antonia Gonzales, who according to Roy Carew he had once been “strolling aimlessly in the winter of 1904-05, as I neared the front of the Gonzales establishment I could hear the most remarkable playing and singing I had ever heard- the beat of the bass and the embellished treble of the piano told me at once that there was something new- who in the world

70 Ibid. 110 71 Ibid. 72 Carew, Roy J. He Knew A Thousand Songs:” A Recollection of Tony Jackson” March 1952. Jazz Journal. 73 Ibid. 74 Rose, Al. Essay. In Storyville, New Orleans: Being an Authentic, Illustrated Account of the Notorious Red-Light District, 26–28. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 1979. 109. 14

United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018

White Rock Saloon Orleans Parish, LA Name of Property County and State is that? I asked, indicating the unseen player as I stepped over to him, Tony Jackson he replied, he knows a thousand songs”75

Although uncertain there are many reports that between 1912-1913 Tony Jackson permanently moved to Chicago. Although Tony Jackson held a thriving career in New Orleans, he looked to Chicago for new opportunities and a wider acceptance. According to Jelly Roll Morton, “Tony was real dark, and not a bit good- looking but he had a beautiful disposition. He was the outstanding favorite of New Orleans. Tony happened to be one of those gentlemen’s that a lot of people call them a lady or a sissy…and that was the cause of him going to Chicago. He liked the freedom there.”76 This search for freedom was a large reason for his permanent move to Chicago where he continued his career with acclaim and could live a more free and open life. Tony Jackson would pass away in 1921 after years of physical problems. In 2011 the Chicago Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame inducted Jackson, who was honored for his musical contribution and for living as an openly gay man when that was rare.”77 Nearly a century later, Tony Jacksons remains an important pioneer in the advent of Jazz music that would later blossom in the 1920s and 1930s.

Narrative Statement of Significance (Provide at least one paragraph for each area of significance.)

Significance Statements

Criterion A – Recreation/Entertainment:

The White Rock Saloon in New Orleans is locally significant under Criterion A, in the area of Entertainment/Recreation as the last recognizable building from the culturally important neighborhood of Storyville. The Saloon was one of the numerous buildings in The District that housed and witnessed scenes of debauchery and revelry along with musical innovation by talented performers and racial integration that was not tolerated in other parts of the city. However, since all but three buildings from The District are gone, and two of the three are unrecognizable as historic buildings, the White Rock Saloon is the only structure left that recalls this fabled era. It is the only building remaining that represents not only an infamous period of New Orleans history, but also bears witness to the formation of one of the city’s most culturally significant contributions to popular music and entertainment history: jazz. For these reasons, the former White Rock Saloon is eligible for individual listing in the National Register of Historic Places

Criterion B- People:

The White Rock Saloon in New Orleans is locally significant under Criterion B, for its musical associations with the pioneering, black, openly gay, jazz pianist Tony Jackson who performed regularly at The White Rock Saloon at the beginning of the 20th century. Although there are no recordings and few formal records of Tony Jackson’s history, he is known to have composed and written the famous song “Pretty Baby” while working in Storyville. White his most famous song cannot be traced directly to the White Rock Saloon, Jackson no doubt honed his skills and became inspired to compose numerous songs while performing at 1216 Bienville Street. His ability to remember and play any tune he heard helped Jackson establish his reputation as the best jazz piano “professor” of Storyville during his time in New Orleans. His style, improvisation and impromptu musical compositions, which he developed with the help of his performances at the White Rock Saloon, contributed to the development and evolution of jazz. For these reasons, the former White Rock Saloon is eligible for individual listing to the National Register of Historic Places for its direct associations with Tony Jackson.

Developmental History/Additional historic context information

75 Ibid. 113 76 Ibid. 122 77 Times, Windy City. "2011 Chicago G/L Hall of Fame to induct 11 people, 4 groups - Gay Lesbian Bi Trans News Archive - Windy City Times". Windy City Times 15

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See above

9. Major Bibliographical Resources

Bibliography (Cite the books, articles, and other sources used in preparing this form.)

Arceneaux, Pamela D. Guidebooks to sin; the blue books of Storyville, New Orleans. New Orleans, The Historic New Orleans Collection, 2017.

Bullock, Darryl W. (2017). David Bowie Made Me Gay : 100 Years of LGBT Music. London: Overlook Duckworth.

Carew, Roy J. He Knew A Thousand Songs:” A Recollection of Tony Jackson” March 1952. Jazz Journal.

Jill Adams, Architectural Historian, R. Christopher Goodwin & Associates, Inc., Iberville Public Housing Development Historic District, nomination document, 2014, National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places, Washington, D.C. Jill Adams, Architectural Historian, R.

Christopher Goodwin & Associates, Inc., Iberville Public Housing Development Historic District, nomination document, 2014, National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places, Washington, D.C.

Landau, Emily Epstein. Spectacular wickedness: sex, race, and memory in Storyville, New Orleans. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press,

Long, Alecia P. The great Southern Babylon: sex, race, and respectability in New Orleans, 1865- 1920. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press

Rose, Al. Essay. In Storyville, New Orleans: Being an Authentic, Illustrated Account of the Notorious Red-Light District, 26–28. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 1979.

Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps. Geography and Map Division, Library of Congress. //www.loc.gov/rr/geogmap/sanborn/. ______

Previous documentation on file (NPS):

__X_ preliminary determination of individual listing (36 CFR 67) has been requested ____ previously listed in the National Register ____ previously determined eligible by the National Register ____ designated a National Historic Landmark ____ recorded by Historic American Buildings Survey #______recorded by Historic American Engineering Record # ______recorded by Historic American Landscape Survey # ______

Primary location of additional data:

United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018

White Rock Saloon Orleans Parish, LA Name of Property County and State

____ State Historic Preservation Office ____ Other State agency ____ Federal agency ____ Local government ____ University ____ Other Name of repository: ______

Historic Resources Survey Number (if assigned): ______

10. Geographical Data

Acreage of Property: less than one acre

Latitude/Longitude Coordinates Datum if other than WGS84:______(enter coordinates to 6 decimal places) 1. Latitude: 29.958195 Longitude: -90.072524 2. Latitude: Longitude: 3. Latitude: Longitude: 4. Latitude: Longitude:

Verbal Boundary Description (Describe the boundaries of the property.) The property is located within New Orleans, Louisiana, Square 124, the property is bounded by Bienville Street and Crozat Street (Formerly North Franklin Street), Basin Street, and South Saratoga Street.

Boundary Justification (Explain why the boundaries were selected.) The boundaries are the original and current location of 1216 Bienville Street.

11. Form Prepared By

name/title: Nathan Marx organization: Historic Pro NOLA, LLC street & number: 3819A Magazine Street city or town: New Orleans state: LA zip code: 70115 e-mail: [email protected] telephone: 205-908-2300 date: ______

Additional Documentation

Submit the following items with the completed form:

United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018

White Rock Saloon Orleans Parish, LA Name of Property County and State

 Maps: A USGS map or equivalent (7.5 or 15 minute series) indicating the property's location.

 Sketch map for historic districts and properties having large acreage or numerous resources. Key all photographs to this map.

 Additional items: (Check with the SHPO, TPO, or FPO for any additional items.)

Photographs Submit clear and descriptive photographs. The size of each image must be 3000x2000 at 300 ppi (pixels per inch) or larger. Key all photographs to the sketch map. Each photograph must be numbered and that number must correspond to the photograph number on the photo log. For simplicity, the name of the photographer, photo date, etc. may be listed once on the photograph log and doesn’t need to be labeled on every photograph.

Photo Log

Name of Property: The White Rock Saloon City or Vicinity: New Orleans County: Orleans State: LA Name of Photographer: Nathan Marx Date of Photographs: June 2020

01 of 35 Front façade looking northeast

02 of 35 Streetscape looking north

03 of 35 Streetscape looking east

04 of 35 Front façade looking northeast

05 of 35 Side looking east

06 of 35 Side looking south

07 of 35 Side looking north

08 of 35 Rear looking west

09 of 35

United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018

White Rock Saloon Orleans Parish, LA Name of Property County and State

First floor looking northeast

10 of 35 First floor looking southwest

11 of 35 First floor looking northwest

12 of 35 First floor looking southwest

13 of 35 First floor looking northeast

14 of 35 First floor looking southeast

15 of 35 First floor looking northwest

16 of 35 Stairs looking toward second story

17 of 35 Stairs looking toward first floor

18 of 35 Landing looking east

19 of 35 Landing looking west

20 of 35 Bathroom looking northeast

21 of 35 Bathroom looking southeast

22 of 35 Hall looking south

23 of 35 Hall looking north

24 of 35 Balcony looking east

25 of 35 19

United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018

White Rock Saloon Orleans Parish, LA Name of Property County and State

Balcony looking north

26 of 35 Kitchen looking southeast

27 of 35 Kitchen looking northwest

28 of 35 Side balcony looking north

29 of 35 Side balcony looking south

30 of 35 Room looking southeast

31 of 35 Room looking northwest

32 of 35 Room looking northwest

33 of 35 Room looking southeast

34 of 35 Room looking northwest

35 of 35 Room looking southeast

Paperwork Reduction Act Statement: This information is being collected for applications to the National Register of Historic Places to nominate properties for listing or determine eligibility for listing, to list properties, and to amend existing listings. Response to this request is required to obtain a benefit in accordance with the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended (16 U.S.C.460 et seq.). Estimated Burden Statement: Public reporting burden for this form is estimated to average 100 hours per response including time for reviewing instructions, gathering and maintaining data, and completing and reviewing the form. Direct comments regarding this burden estimate or any aspect of this form to the Office of Planning and Performance Management. U.S. Dept. of the Interior, 1849 C. Street, NW, Washington, DC.

United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018

White Rock Saloon Orleans Parish, LA Name of Property County and State

Figure 1: C. 1930 photograph showing the White Rock Saloon, left.

Credit: The William Russell Jazz Collection at The Historic New Orleans Collection, acquisition made possible by the Clarisse Claiborne Grima Fund, Acc. No. 92-48-L.263.

United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018

White Rock Saloon Orleans Parish, LA Name of Property County and State

Figure 2: C. 1943 photograph.

Credit: The William Russell Jazz Collection at The Historic New Orleans Collection, acquisition made possible by the Clarisse Claiborne Grima Fund, Acc. No. 92-48-L.268.

United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018

White Rock Saloon Orleans Parish, LA Name of Property County and State

Figure 3: Tony Jackson C. 1907-1917

Credit: The William Russell Jazz Collection at The Historic New Orleans Collection, acquisition made possible by the Clarisse Claiborne Grima Fund, Acc. No. 92-48-L.241.

United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018

White Rock Saloon Orleans Parish, LA Name of Property County and State

Figure 4: Pretty Baby Music Sheet. C. 1916

Credit: The William Russell Jazz Collection at The Historic New Orleans Collection, acquisition made possible by the Clarisse Claiborne Grima Fund, Acc. No. 92-48-L.310

United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018

White Rock Saloon Orleans Parish, LA Name of Property County and State

City of New Orleans Property Viewer 1216 BIENVILLE ST, LA

0 20 40ft

Property Information Building Number Use Code

Unit Number Property Description Site Address SQ 124 LOT 5-D BIENVILLE AND CROZAT ST 32X64 1216 Bienville St, LA GeoPIN First Owner Name 41200385 MOUSA ABDEL T Tax Bill ID Second Owner Name 206104512

Mailing Address Lot 406 TERRY PARKWAY 5-D

Mailing City Square GRETNA BLOCK Mailing State 124 LA PARID Mailing Zip 5 1216-BIENVILLEST 70056 Parcel Area (sq.ft.) Mailing Zip +4 2048 0000 Parcel Dimensions (ft.) 32x64

Assessor Records and Sales/Transfer Information (https://beacon.schneidercorp.com/Application.aspx?AppID=979&LayerID=19792&PageTypeID=4&PageID=8663&Q=1886938444&KeyValue=1216-BIENVILLEST) ADAMICK ARCHITECTURE

16 12 14 10

5 2

9 10 JUNE EC 15 Project: #2020-19 1216 BIENVILLE AVE. HISTORIC 11 13 N RENOVATION

W E 1216 BIENVILLE AVE. NEW ORLEANS, LA 70112 S EXISTING 1216 Bienville Street CONDITIONS / DEMO As-Built Floorplans PLAN & NOTES OF 4 Part 1 Key THE FIRST FLOOR SEAL & SIGNATURE DATE: JUNE 10 2020 1 Page 1 NOT FOR PROJECT NO.: 2020-19 DRAWING BY: ADB REGULATORY CHK BY: AJA 3 APPROVAL, DWG NO.: PERMITTING 7  OR A-101.01 CONSTRUCTION CAD FILE NO: 5 / X 2020-19\PDF OUT\SD ADAMICK ARCHITECTURE

17 33 1920 18 21 22 26 32 29

27 35 30

10 JUNE EC

N Project: #2020-19 23 1216 BIENVILLE AVE. HISTORIC 25 34 31 28 W E RENOVATION S 1216 BIENVILLE AVE. NEW ORLEANS, LA 70112 EXISTING 1216 Bienville Street CONDITIONS / DEMO 24 As-Built Floorplans PLAN & NOTES OF Part 1 Key THE SECOND FLOOR SEAL & SIGNATURE DATE: JUNE 10 2020 NOT FOR PROJECT NO.: 2020-19 Page 2 DRAWING BY: ADB REGULATORY CHK BY: AJA APPROVAL, DWG NO.: PERMITTING  OR A-102.01 CONSTRUCTION CAD FILE NO: 5 / X 2020-19\PDF OUT\SD Photo 1 Photo 2 Photo 3 Photo 4 Photo 5 Photo 6 Photo 7 Photo 8 Photo 9 Photo 10 Photo 11 Photo 12 Photo 13 Photo 14 Photo 15 Photo 16 Photo 17 Photo 18 Photo 19 Photo 20 Photo 21 Photo 22 Photo 23 Photo 24 Photo 25 Photo 26 Photo 27 Photo 28 Photo 29 Photo 30 Photo 31 Photo 32 Photo 33 Photo 34 Photo 35