The 5th Ward or Fifth Ward is a division of the city of

New Orleans, Louisiana New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

, one of the 17

Wards of New Orleans The city of New Orleans, in the U.S. state of Louisiana, is divided into 17 wards. Politically, the wards are used in voting in elections, subdivided into precincts. Under various previous city charters of the 19th century, aldermen and later cit ...

Boundaries

The roughly "L" shaped ward stretches through the city from the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it f ...

Lake Pontchartrain Lake Pontchartrain ( ) is an estuary located in southeastern Louisiana in the United States. It covers an area of with an average depth of . Some shipping channels are kept deeper through dredging. It is roughly oval in shape, about from west ...

. The lower boundary is St. Philip Street, across which is the 6th Ward. The Ward boundary then follows

Bayou St. John Bayou St. John () is a bayou within the city of New Orleans, Louisiana. The Bayou as a natural feature drained the swampy land of a good portion of what was to become New Orleans, into Lake Pontchartrain. In its natural state, it extended much ...

, which back from

Esplanade Avenue Esplanade Avenue is a historic street in New Orleans, Louisiana. It runs northwest from the Mississippi River to Beauregard Circle at the entrance to City Park. History Esplanade Avenue was an important 18th-century portage route of trade betw ...

has the 7th Ward on the other side. The Upper boundary is St. Louis Street, across which is the 4th Ward. The boundary continues on a straight line of St. Louis to City Park Avenue (formerly Bayou Metairie Road), where it curves down to Orleans. It then follows the

Orleans Canal The Orleans Canal is a drainage canal in New Orleans, Louisiana New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
...

route north to the Lake.

Cityscape and landmarks

The Ward includes some of the earliest and most famous portions of New Orleans settled in

colonial times The ''Colonial Times'' was a newspaper in what is now the Australian state of Tasmania. It was established as the ''Colonial Times, and Tasmanian Advertiser'' in 1825 in Hobart, Van Diemen's Land Van Diemen's Land was the colon ...

. The riverfront, long busy docks, is now the "Moonwalk", a pleasant park along the Mississippi. Just above the Moonwalk is

Café du Monde Café du Monde (French for "Café of the World" or "the People's Café") is a renowned open-air coffee shop located on Decatur Street in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. It is a New Orleans landmark and tourist ...

, below it the old Jax Brewery building, converted into an

upscale shopping In economics, a luxury good (or upmarket good) is a good for which demand increases more than what is proportional as income rises, so that expenditures on the good become a greater proportion of overall spending. Luxury goods are in contrast to n ...

mall. Across Decatur Street is Jackson Square, the heart of the old

French Quarter The French Quarter, also known as the , is the oldest neighborhood in the city of New Orleans. After New Orleans (french: La Nouvelle-Orléans) was founded in 1718 by Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville, the city developed around the ("Old Squ ...

, surrounded by historic buildings. Further back, past the shops and galleries of Royal Street and the bars and clubs of Bourbon Street, is still a primarily residential section of the Quarter. Such famous music venues as

Preservation Hall Preservation Hall is a jazz venue in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana. The building is associated with a house band, a record label, and a non-profit foundation. History of the jazz hall In the 1950s, art dealer Larry Borenstein f ...

and Donna's are in the portion of the Quarter in the 5th Ward. Across

Rampart Street Rampart Street (french: rue du Rempart) is a historic avenue located in New Orleans, Louisiana. The section of Rampart Street downriver from Canal Street is designated as North Rampart Street, which forms the inland or northern border of the Fr ...

Louis Armstrong Park Louis Armstrong Park is a park located in the Tremé neighborhood of New Orleans, Louisiana, just across Rampart Street from the French Quarter. In the 1960s a controversial urban renewal project leveled a substantial portion of the Tremé neig ...

and the Municipal Auditorium, site of many

Carnival Carnival is a Catholic Christian festive season that occurs before the liturgical season of Lent. The main events typically occur during February or early March, during the period historically known as Shrovetide (or Pre-Lent). Carnival typi ...

balls. The ward includes the old route of the historic

Carondelet Canal The Carondelet Canal, also known as the Old Basin Canal, was a canal in New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.A., operating from 1794 into the 1920s – nearly 135 years. Construction of the canal began in June 1794, on the orders of the Spanish Govern ...

, now filled in. The

Lafitte Projects The Lafitte Projects were one of the Housing Projects of New Orleans The Housing Authority of New Orleans is a housing authority in New Orleans, Louisiana, tasked with providing housing to low-income residents. History Public housing in New ...

along Orleans Avenue were closed in the aftermath of

Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina was a destructive Category 5 Atlantic hurricane that caused over 1,800 fatalities and $125 billion in damage in late August 2005, especially in the city of New Orleans and the surrounding areas. It was at the time the cost ...

. The area around Bayou St. John and Orleans is a famous gathering place for the

Downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in North America by English speakers to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business distric ...

Mardi Gras Indian tribes. Across the Bayou, the old American Can Factory building was renovated into apartments and shops at the end of the 20th century. Continuing back, the Ward includes a slice of

Mid-City New Orleans Mid-City is a neighborhood of the city of New Orleans. A sub-district of the Mid-City District Area, its boundaries as defined by the New Orleans City Planning Commission are: City Park Avenue, Toulouse Street, North Carrollton, Orleans Avenu ...

. Turning north, the Ward includes all of

City Park An urban park or metropolitan park, also known as a municipal park (North America) or a public park, public open space, or municipal gardens ( UK), is a park in cities and other incorporated places that offer recreation and green space to resi ...

, the former site of the Old Spanish Fort, and the upscale Lake Vista neighborhood, and finally a section of Lakeshore Park.

References

Wards of New Orleans {{NewOrleans-stub