Basin Street or Rue Bassin in French, is a street in

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

. It parallels Rampart Street one block lakeside, or inland, from the boundary of the

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 Sq ...

, running from Canal Street down 5 blocks past

Saint Louis Cemetery Saint Louis Cemetery (french: Cimetière Saint-Louis, es, Cementerio de San Luis) is the name of three Catholic cemeteries in New Orleans, Louisiana. Most of the graves are above-ground vaults constructed in the 18th and 19th centuries. Cemete ...

. It currently then turns lakewards, flowing into Orleans Avenue. BasinStreetDowntheLine

The name comes from the

turning basin A turning basin, winding basin or swinging basin is a wider body of water, either located at the end of a ship canal or in a port to allow cargo ships to turn and reverse their direction of travel, or to enable long narrow barges in a canal to tu ...

of the

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 ...

formerly located on the street, where it now turns on to Orleans by the Municipal Auditorium. In the late 19th century and early 20th century

railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

tracks paralleled the Canal and then turned on to Basin Street, running up the "neutral ground" (as street medians are called locally) to one of the city's main railroad depots on Canal Street. At one time one of the finest residential streets in the city, it became a

red light district A red-light district or pleasure district is a part of an urban area where a concentration of prostitution and sex-oriented businesses, such as sex shops, strip clubs, and adult theaters, are found. In most cases, red-light districts are partic ...

around 1870. From 1897 through

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, the back side of Basin Street was the front of the Storyville red light district, with a line of high end

saloons Saloon may refer to: Buildings and businesses * One of the bars in a traditional British pub * An alternative name for a bar (establishment) * Western saloon, a historical style of American bar * The Saloon, a bar and music venue in San Francisc ...

and mansions devoted to

music Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspe ...

. After Storyville's closure, Basin Street was temporarily renamed ''North Saratoga''. The majority of Storyville was demolished and replaced with the

Iberville Projects Iberville Projects was a neighborhood in the city of New Orleans and one of the low-income Housing Projects of New Orleans. The Iberville was the last of the New Deal-era public housing remaining in the city. Its boundaries were St. Louis Street, ...

. Basin Street formerly continued on the other side of Canal Street to Common Street, today known as Elk Place, which after two blocks becomes Loyola Avenue on the upper side of Common Street. The equivalent street paralleling Rampart one block back on the other side of Louis Armstrong Park in the Treme neighborhood is Saint Claude. There is a series of monuments on the neutral ground of Basin Street, including statues of Simón Bolívar,

Benito Juárez Benito Pablo Juárez García (; 21 March 1806 – 18 July 1872) was a Mexican liberal politician and lawyer who served as the 26th president of Mexico from 1858 until his death in office in 1872. As a Zapotec, he was the first indigenous pre ...

, and

Francisco Morazán José Francisco Morazán Quesada (; born October 3, 1792 – September 15, 1842) was a Central American politician who served as president of the Federal Republic of Central America from 1830 to 1839. Before he was president of Central America h ...

, and a metal sign commemorating Storyville.

Popular Music

Basin Street was commemorated in the song " Basin Street Blues" published by

Spencer Williams Spencer Williams (October 14, 1889 – July 14, 1965) was an American jazz and popular music composer, pianist, and singer. He is best known for his hit songs " Basin Street Blues", "I Ain't Got Nobody", " Royal Garden Blues", " I've Found a New ...

in 1926. There have been many recordings of this jazz standard including: *Recordings by Louis Armstrong (both in 1928, as a solo artist and along with His Hot Five in 1938, vocal, #20) *The Charleston Chasers (under the direction of Benny Goodman, 1931, Jack Teagarden, vocal, #14) *Benny Goodman and His Orchestra (1934, #14) * Bing Crosby and Connee Boswell (1937, vocal, #12) *

Ella Fitzgerald Ella Jane Fitzgerald (April 25, 1917June 15, 1996) was an American jazz singer, sometimes referred to as the "First Lady of Song", "Queen of Jazz", and "Lady Ella". She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phrasing, timing, in ...

as a solo artist along Sly Oliver & His Orchestra (1947, #16) *

Miles Davis Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th-century music. Davis adopted a variety of musi ...

in 1963 Basin Street is also mentioned in the song “Christmas in New Orleans” by Louis Armstrong.

References

{{NOLA Streets Streets in New Orleans

Popular Music

See also

References