Napoleon Avenue: The Parade Route Dividing Line of Uptown

Napoleon Avenue: The Parade Route Dividing Line

Napoleon Avenue is one of the great cross streets of Uptown New Orleans—a wide, oak-canopied boulevard that runs from the river to Broad Street, bisecting some of the most beautiful residential blocks in the city. For most of the year it is a quiet, residential avenue. But during Mardi Gras season, Napoleon becomes one of the most critical intersections in the city—the point where parades turn off St. Charles Avenue and head toward the lake, and where the character of Carnival shifts from the genteel Uptown route to the wilder stretches beyond.

History

Napoleon Avenue was named for Napoleon Bonaparte, reflecting the strong French cultural ties that persisted in New Orleans well into the nineteenth century. The avenue was laid out as part of the Uptown development in the mid-1800s, when the American sector was expanding rapidly upriver from the Garden District. Its wide neutral ground and generous lots attracted wealthy families who built some of the finest homes in the city along its length. The avenue has always been a dividing line of sorts—between the Garden District and Uptown, between the older and newer parts of the American city.

The Neighborhoods

Napoleon Avenue begins near the river at Tchoupitoulas Street and runs through the heart of Uptown. It crosses Magazine Street, Prytania, St. Charles Avenue, and Claiborne before terminating at Broad Street. Along the way it passes through some of the wealthiest blocks in the city as well as more modest working-class areas. The stretch between St. Charles and Magazine is particularly beautiful—wide sidewalks, massive oaks, and homes that range from grand Victorian mansions to charming Craftsman bungalows.

Key Landmarks and Businesses

Tipitina's, the legendary music venue named after the Professor Longhair song, sits at the corner of Napoleon and Tchoupitoulas. It has been one of the premier live music clubs in the world since 1977, hosting everyone from the Neville Brothers to Bonnie Raitt. Pascal's Manale on Napoleon Avenue has been serving barbecue shrimp—the butter-drenched, peel-and-eat New Orleans classic they claim to have invented—since 1913. The Napoleon Avenue neutral ground is a popular spot for joggers, dog walkers, and families year-round, and during Mardi Gras it becomes a prime parade-watching location as krewes make the turn off St. Charles.

The Mardi Gras Turn

During Carnival, Napoleon Avenue takes on outsized importance. Uptown parades roll down St. Charles and then turn onto Napoleon, heading toward the lake. The turn at St. Charles and Napoleon is one of the most coveted spots on the parade route—the floats slow down, the riders throw harder, and the crowd presses in close. For locals, your Napoleon Avenue spot is as important as your St. Charles spot. Some families have been claiming the same patch of neutral ground for generations, arriving early with ladders, coolers, and the unshakeable conviction that this is the best spot in the city.