Canal Street, New Orleans - Definition and Overview

Canal Street is a famous major thoroughfare in the city of New Orleans, Louisiana.

Canal Street, looking away from the river, 1920s

Forming the up-river boundary of the city's oldest neighborhood, the French Quarter (Vieux Carre), it formed the dividing line between the older French/Spanish Colonial era city and the newer American sector, the Central Business District.

The name of the avenue comes from a planned canal which was to connect the Mississippi River to Lake Pontchartrain, but it was never constructed. The wide median which was to contain the canal was referred to by early inhabitants as the "neutral ground," a term still used by New Orleanians to refer to all medians.

One end of Canal Street is at the Mississippi River. Often called "The foot of Canal Street", at the riverfront a ferry connects to the old urban suburb of Algiers, Louisiana across the river. The other end is in Mid City New Orleans at a collection of cemetaries.

The street has 3 lanes of trafic in both directions, with a pair streetcar and bus lanes in the center. New Orleans' Canal Street is often purported to be the widest city street from sidewalk to sidewalk, although it has not actually been the city's widest since the early 20th century.