Rampart Street is a historic avenue located in New Orleans, Louisiana.
The upper (up river) end of the street is in the New Orleans Central Business District. After crossing Canal Street, it forms the inland or northern border of the French Quarter (Vieux Carre).
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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 Rampart St. from Canal to St. Claude Avenue has four lanes separated by a tree-lined median. Like Canal Street, Carondelet Street, and other streets in New Orleans, Rampart features classic lightposts reminiscent of the past.
The section of Rampart Street downriver from Canal is designated as North Rampart Street,[1] that upriver as South Rampart Street. Above Canal, South Rampart continues to Felicity Street. In the 19th century, the "South Rampart Street" designation continued into Uptown New Orleans; this section is now named Danneel Street.
Across Elysian Fields Avenue, the street continues into the Faubourg Marigny neighborhood, then splits off from St. Claude Avenue to become a single lane one way street through residential neighborhoods. It continues into the Bywater neighborhood. With a break from the Industrial Canal, Rampart street resumes in the Lower 9th Ward.
In the early and mid 20th century Rampart Street on either side of Canal was the center of an important African-American commercial and entertainment district.
Rampart Street has also been commemorated in such tunes and songs as "South Rampart Street Parade", "I've Got the Blues for Rampart Street" and "Saturday Night Fish Fry".