Branley - New Orleans: the Canal Streetcar Line

CANAL STREET GEOGRAPHY . Canal separates the Vieux Carr (Old Square) or French Quarter from the American Sector. The Americans were essentially shunned by the French/Spanish Creoles who originally settled the city. The Americans opted to re-name the streets when they were continued on the upriver side of Canal Street. So Rue Chartres became Camp, Rue Royal became St. Charles, Rue Bourbon became Carondelet, and Rue Dauphine became Baronne Street. Because the river turns so many times in the vicinity of New Orleans, simple north-south-east-west directions are impractical. Locals reference directions in terms of going up towards Lake Pontchartrain, or going down to the river. This photo looks inbound (towards the river) from just before the Clay Monument. Three cars are parked just before the starters house at Camp Street, waiting to be turned around on the turntable at the end of the block. Across the street is a gazebo used as a passenger shelter. (Courtesy New Orleans Public Library.)

BEFORE STREETCARS. This artists rendering of Canal Street was drawn in 1857. The original plan for a canal had been abandoned by the 1830s, and the wide center of the street became a commons area, with walkways and landscaping. Note the omnibuses that were public transportation. This is the Canal Street that the float riders of the very first Carnival parade, the Mystick Krewe of Comus, would have seen. The steeple in the background of the illustration is Christ Church, the first Episcopal church in a predominantly Catholic city, is visible in the background, at the corner of Canal Street and Rue Dauphine. The congregation moved the church uptown to the corner of St. Charles Avenue and Sixth Streets in the Garden District. Isidore Newman then built his store, Maison Blanche, on the Canal Street lot. (Courtesy New Orleans Public Library)

THE TRANSIT HUB. The Clay Monument faced the river, so this photo shows the view from the block between Carondelet and Baronne, looking towards the river. While there are no floats in view, the way the streetcars are bunched up and the alignment of the crowds indicate that there is a Carnival parade in progress, waiting for a float to turn from St. Charles Avenue (to the right of the statue) onto Canal. Below is an 1890 view, looking from Camp Street up to the Clay Monument. St. Charles Avenue begins to the left of the Clay Monument going upriver, and Royal Street starts to the right, heading into the French Quarter downriver. The large cars on the right are horse-drawn, not electric, since electrification didnt begin on Canal until 1895. At the center of the photo, an Orleans Railroad Company bobtail car is making the circle around the Clay Monument. (Courtesy New Orleans Public Library.)