New Orleans: Streets, Squares and Neighbourhoods

Canal Street is mostly a access road in New Orleans which formed the boundary between the older French/Spanish Colonial era city and the newer American sector. The name Canal Street originated from a planned canal to be connecting the Mississippi River and Lake Pontchartrain which was never constructed. The street occupies 3 two-way lanes of traffic and also a pair of streetcar and bus lanes in the middle. Canal Street has been a shopping hub of Greater New Orleans and consisted of several local department stores like Maison Blanche and Krauss. Also, the world's first movie theater, Vitascope Hall, was established on Canal Street in 1896. Canal Street still continues to be the city’s hub for mass transit system.