New Orleans Legend May Prove to Be Reputable

[Swamp Rat]

New Orleans Legend May Prove to Be Reputable
Sun Mar 20, 7:55 AM ET
By Scott Gold Times Staff Writer

NEW ORLEANS — A century ago, sung in the Appalachian hills from the point of view of a young and weary prostitute, it was about the pitfalls of sin. In the 1940s, Woody Guthrie turned it into an anthem to working-class America. In the 1960s, it was about daring sexuality.

At every turn, even as its words wrapped themselves around new eras and sensibilities, "House of the Rising Sun" remained a song of New Orleans. The simple folk song in a minor key always spoke to the sultry allure of this city from its first words, an opening line seared into one generation after another: "There is a house in New Orleans they call the Rising Sun."

No one has figured out — and many have tried — if the song depicts an actual bordello, and, if it does, where the real Rising Sun was. But a collection of pottery shards pulled recently from the ruddy soil of the French Quarter could prove to be the key that would unlock that beloved mystery.

This winter, a nonprofit organization called the Historic New Orleans Collection decided to expand. The organization, which runs a museum and research center, owned seven buildings in the heart of the French Quarter but needed another to serve as a vault. The group bought a one-level, ramshackle parking garage on Conti Street — pronounced KAHNT-eye — and announced plans to tear it down.

(snip)

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=2026&e=16&u=/latimests/neworleanslegendmayprovetobereputable

[davsand]

1. I thought the Hotel Villa Convento was ID'd as the bordello.

I thought the Hotel Villa Convento on Ursalines was the House of the Rising Sun. Did they AND the tour guide in the Quarter lie about it???

My heart is broken because I loved telling people I stayed in the hotel that had once been the House of the Rising Sun!


Laura

[Swamp Rat]

2. You did!

If you read the whole article, near the end they say that nobody really knows which is the real Rising Sun. :)

[davsand]

3. And so they did!

I was too literal, I guess!

I was last in New Orleans ten years ago. We had our honeymoon there. We swore we'd go back for one of our anniversaries, but haven't made it yet... Next year our actual anniversary (April 1) falls on a Saturday--maybe we can celebrate on Decatur or Bourbon!


Laura

[Ellen Forradalom]

4. I'm confused.

Is anything in New Orleans reputable?