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Rampart Street (French:rue du Rempart) is a historic avenue located inNew Orleans,Louisiana.
The section of Rampart Street downriver fromCanal Street is designated asNorth Rampart Street, which forms the inland or northern border of theFrench Quarter (Vieux Carre). CrossingEsplanade Avenue, the street continues into theFaubourg Marigny neighborhood, then splits off from St. Claude Avenue to become a single-lane, one-way street through residential neighborhoods, and continues into theBywater neighborhood. With a break at theIndustrial Canal, Rampart Street resumes in theLower Ninth Ward.
Upriver from Canal, it is designated asSouth Rampart Street, and runs through theNew Orleans Central Business District and continues to St. Andrew Street. In the 19th century, the "South Rampart Street" designation continued intoUptown New Orleans; this section is now named Danneel Street.
The street gets its name from the wall, or "Rampart" (Rempart in French), that was built on the north side of the street in the city's early years to fortify the early French colonial city. Today, the portion of Rampart from Canal Street to St. Claude Avenue has four lanes separated by a tree-linedneutral ground. Like Canal Street,Carondelet Street, and other streets in New Orleans, Rampart features classiclampposts reminiscent of the past.
In the early and mid-20th century, Rampart Street on either side of Canal was the center of an importantAfrican-American commercial and entertainment district. The notable Jazz trumpetistLouis Armstrong grew up on South Rampart Street.[1]
Rampart Street's significance has been commemorated in songs like "Saturday Night Fish Fry," "I've Got the Blues for Rampart Street," and "South Rampart Street Parade," a jazz march composed byRay Bauduc andBob Haggart in 1937.
In 1926, the St. Claudestreetcar line was built, which ran down part of North Rampart. But it was removed in 1949 (as were eventually all but one of thestreetcar lines in New Orleans), in favor of more lanes for automobiles. In December 2014, theNew Orleans Regional Transit Authority began construction on the 1.6-mile Rampart-St. Claude streetcar line, which runs down North Rampart from Canal before continuing on St. Claude Street to Elysian Fields Avenue. It was completed October 2016.[2]
On October 20, 2019, the attempted implosion of one of two damagedtower cranes on the site of the collapsedHard Rock hotel caused the jib of one of the cranes to fall vertically onto Rampart Street, effectively impaling the street near its intersection with Canal Street.[3] As well, a partial collapse of the structure occurred on the side facing North Rampart Street.[4] Three workers were killed and dozens of others injured.[5] Construction work ceased and the developer was working with the city on the methodology for removing the damaged 18 story building. A specific plan had not yet been finalized as of January 8, 2020.[6]
Former landmarks:
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