Neutral Ground
In other parts of the country, the area that we in New Orleans call the neutral ground is called a median. But we call it a neutral ground for this reason. In the early days of New Orleans (the 1800’s), the French lived in the French Quarter, and the Americans lived on the other side of Canal Street. The French and the Americans frequently did not get along with each other. There is a large divider in the center of Canal Street. When you were on this small strip of land, you were in neither the French nor the American section of town – you were in a “neutral territory.” From this came the name “neutral ground.” To this day, New Orleanians call any division in the middle of a street a neutral ground.