Decatur Street: The Riverfront Street That Has Seen Everything

Decatur Street: The Riverfront Street That Has Seen Everything

Decatur Street is the street closest to the Mississippi River in the French Quarter, and it has had more lives than any cat in the Vieux Carré. It has been a wharf, a market, a skid row, a punk rock hangout, a tourist corridor, and a residential street—sometimes all at the same time. Named for Stephen Decatur, a naval hero of the War of 1812, Decatur is the rawest, most unpredictable street in the Quarter, and that is exactly why people love it.

History

Decatur Street was originally called Rue de la Levee because it ran along the levee at the edge of the Mississippi River. It was the first street travelers encountered when they stepped off a steamboat, and it served as the commercial front door to the city. The French Market, which still operates on the river side of Decatur, has been in continuous operation since 1791, making it one of the oldest public markets in the United States. In the nineteenth century, Decatur was a bustling port-side street of warehouses, shipping offices, and workers' saloons.

The Neighborhoods

Decatur runs the full length of the French Quarter, from Canal Street to Esplanade Avenue, and continues into the Faubourg Marigny as it bends with the river. The lower blocks near Canal are dominated by the Riverwalk and the tourist trade. The middle stretch, around Jackson Square, is the most photographed—Café Du Monde sits here, along with the Pontalba Buildings and the cathedral. The upper blocks past Ursulines become grittier and more interesting, blending into the Marigny with dive bars, record shops, and late-night eateries.

Key Landmarks and Businesses

Café Du Monde at 800 Decatur is the most famous coffee stand in America—open 24 hours, serving beignets and café au lait since 1862. The French Market stretches along the river side of Decatur for several blocks, offering everything from produce to flea market finds. Central Grocery at 923 Decatur invented the muffuletta sandwich in 1906. Jackson Brewery, the old Jax Beer building at 620 Decatur, has been converted into a shopping center but retains its iconic facade. Molly's at the Market was a legendary dive bar and journalist hangout for decades. And the Elysian Bar, housed in a converted church at the Marigny end of Decatur, has become one of the most acclaimed cocktail bars in the South.

Always Evolving

Decatur Street has never been precious about itself. It adapts, it absorbs, it moves on. In the 1980s and 1990s, the upper blocks were a gutter punk haven. Now those same blocks house craft cocktail bars and boutique hotels. But the bones are the same—the river is still right there, the French Market is still open, and the beignets at Café Du Monde still come three to a plate with a mountain of powdered sugar. Decatur is the street that reminds you New Orleans is a port city first and everything else second.