These three streets run parallel to each other, in a south–west to north–easterly direction, through the historic districts of New Orleans – between the Mississippi River and Lake Pontchartrain.
Bourbon Street runs through the heart of the French Quarter, and is famous for its drinking establishments and strip clubs.
Rampart Street is three blocks to the north–west of Bourbon Street, and forms the border of the French Quarter. It has been celebrated in several songs, including Saturday Night Fish Fry, the 1949 version of which by Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five has been called "the first rock 'n'roll record".
Basin Street runs one block further north–west from Rampart Street, and forms the border and main street of of what used to be known as Storyville – New Orleans's red light district, established in 1897 in an attempt to regulate drugs and prostitution. Basin Street was immortalised in Basin Street Blues, a jazz standard written in 1928 and recorded by Louis Armstrong and Miles Davis, among many others.
© Haydn Thompson 2019