Was there ever a "House of the Rising Sun" down in New Orleans?

There are multiple ways to interpret this question, so, as might be expected, the answer is murky. If the question is simply whether there has ever been a property in New Orleans with that name, then it seems there have been several, with several more places with similar names or which may have had such a nickname, including at least one currently, though that one was named after the song rather than the other way around. Whether any of these edifices were direct inspirations for the song, as well as whether the song refers to a brothel specifically, are likely impossible questions to answer definitively, particularly in light of the fact that it is a folk song of unknown original authorship that has been performed or recorded by dozens, if not hundreds of artists, going back well over 100 years, many of whom were not from anywhere near New Orleans. The song lyrics were published in 1925 and a recording was released in the early 1930's, but it was already a well-known song by then, probably dating to well before the turn of the 20th century. Folk music archivist Alan Lomax recorded versions of it in Appalachia in the 30's, and many versions had been recorded before the Animals had their big hit. The Animals recording was apparently based on the version Bob Dylan recorded for his first album, which in turn was borrowed quite directly from a version by Dave Von Ronk (though the Animals played in 6/8 time, whereas Dylan and Von Ronk's were both in 4/4). The lyrics vary from version to version, and the House itself is sometimes implied to be a brothel, other times a women's prison or sanitarium, but whether the song refers to a specific place that actually existed and had that name is likely to a question that will never be answered with certainty. [Edited to correct a typo.]