[Dixielandjazz] PC Basin Street

[David Richoux]

I have a reproduction of a mid/late 1700s original proposed street  
plan for New Orleans - the "Basin" of Basin Street was a "turn- 
around" pool for a canal  - it does not show up on any of the maps here:
http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/maps/louisiana/
http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/historical/new_orleans_1798.jpg  is  
pretty interesting.
http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/historical/new_orleans_1816.jpg lists  
an "intended canal"

I found this bit of info - that canal of Canal Street was never built!
http://www-faculty.cs.uiuc.edu/~friedman/canal/Canal.htm
> In the early 1800s, a canal was supposed to have been built down  
> the middle of this commons, 50 feet wide, connecting the  
> Mississippi River to the Basin Canal (also called the Carondelet  
> Canal).  The latter canal, now filled in, formed a connection to  
> Lake Ponchartrain, running from Bayou St. John to Basin Street,  
> where it ended in a large turning basin.  The plan called for 60  
> feet of reservation on each side of the new canal.  The proposed  
> canal was never built, but the result was a 170 foot wide commons  
> area, which gradually evolved into a street with two roadways  
> flanking a central reservation.
>

(so Basin Street was actually about 7 or 8 blocks from the river, but  
there were many brothels in Storyville, built along Basin Street,  
just outside the French Quarter. So the "dark and light folks" were  
meeting in Storyville ;-)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Storyville has some tidbits...

Dave Richoux

On Jul 18, 2007, at 11:04 AM, Rebecca Thompson wrote:

> I get a real chuckle out of listening to the lyrics to Basin Street  
> after
> learning the history of the street.  It was near the boat docks  
> where the
> brothels were located. There were no sewers, hence all sewage ran  
> through
> the streets.  Hard to imagine that Basin Street is like heaven on  
> earth!
>
> Also the "working girls" were either black or white,(but always  
> light) but
> the clientele was primarily the upper crust white folk.  There was  
> another
> area in New Orleans designated for the black customers.
>
>
> Rebecca Thompson
> Flower Mound, TX
>
>