Tchoupitoulas Street

Tchoupitoulas Street (/ˌtʃɒpɪˈtuːləs/ (listen) CHOP-i-TOO-ləs) is a street in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. Running through uptown, it is the through street closest to the Mississippi River. Formerly, the street was heavily devoted to river-shipping commerce; but as shipping concerns gravitated to other locations in the latter part of the 20th century, more of the street has been utilized for residential and other business purposes.

Tipitina's at the corner of Tchoupitoulas and Napoleon

Etymology

A New Orleans resident challenges out-of-towners arrived to protest against the 2017 removal of the Robert E. Lee Monument. Their inability to pronounce "Tchoupitoulas Street" according to the local fashion would be a shibboleth marking them out as outsiders.

The name of the street comes from the name of a Native American tribe[1][2] that perhaps means "those who live at the river" in Choctaw (hạcha-pit-itula).[3] The tribal village – called the côte (or quartier) des Chapitoulas in the 18th and early 19th centuries – was the headwaters of a bayou also named after the Chapitoulas.[3]

Location

The street starts at upriver side of Canal Street (the opposite side from the French Quarter) and goes through New Orleans Central Business District (CBD) and uptown, following the curve of the river's crescent bend before coming to its terminus, hitting East Road at Audubon Park.

The equivalent street on the French Quarter side of Canal Street is N. Peters Street, which splits into two streets on the uptown side: one continuing as S. Peters, and the other as Tchoupitoulas.

Noted establishments

In the CBD, some well-known hotels (such as the Ambassador and Renaissance Arts) and restaurants (Emeril's and also Mother's at the corner of Poydras Street and Tchoupitoulas) are located on the street.

In uptown, music venue Tipitina's can be found at the corner of Napoleon Avenue and Tchoupitoulas.

Other stores, restaurants, and night clubs are located farther upriver along the street — perhaps most famously Hansen's Sno-Bliz.

See also

• List of streets of New Orleans
• The Wild Tchoupitoulas, which also take their name from the Native American tribe

References

1. "Native American Names In Louisiana". eatel.net. Retrieved 30 November 2010.
2. Wymond, John (1925). The Louisiana Historical Quarterly. Louisiana Historical Society. p. 309. a road called Tchoupitoulas, following the course of the River and no doubt leading to the village of the Tchoupitoulas Native Tribe
3. Read, William A. (2008). Louisiana Place Names of Native American Origin. University of Alabama Press. p. 62–4. ISBN 978-0-8173-5505-0.