Mid-City is the heart of New Orleans, the area where locals come when they want to remember what makes this city the generous, pleasure-loving, hard-boiled town that it is. Stop by any neighborhood eaterie here for an elegant experience or a meal to remember at the numerous formica counter favorites.

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Mid-city showcases the spirit of a true neighborhood as defined by that unique measure of camaraderie found only in this city: It has its own Mardi Gras parading society. The Krewe of Mid-City, founded in 1933 by a group of area businessmen, is the fifth oldest Carnival marching organization in New Orleans.

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In 1913 a young engineer named Albert Baldwin Wood made Mid-City habitable when he developed the screw pump, a device that allowed water to be pumped from land situated below sea level. 

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Turpentine works, lumberyards and other industries flourished along the New Basin Canal, dug in 1832 on the present path of Interstate 10, and along Canal Street. The whole area was known as “back ‘o town” because it was “back of” the natural levees along which the city first developed. Mid-City is attractive today for several reasons including its beautiful oak-lined avenues, like Jefferson Davis Parkway - the second widest street in the city.

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World-class exhibitions at the New Orleans Museum of Art come literally to residents' doorsteps, and the annual Celebration in the Oaks turns the park into an elaborate exhibit of holiday lights. Right next to the museum, stroll the beautiful Besthoff Sculpture Garden.