The Florida Canal or 40 Arpent Canal is a canal in the New Orleans metropolitan area and land down river. The canal was built in the 18th century colonial era of Louisiana, stretching from what is now the Faubourg Marigny neighborhood of New Orleans, roughly paralleling the Mississippi River on the East Bank down through modern Saint Bern…
The Florida Canal or 40 Arpent Canal is a canal in the New Orleans metropolitan area and land down river. The canal was built in the 18th century colonial era of Louisiana, stretching from what is now the Faubourg Marigny neighborhood of New Orleans, roughly paralleling the Mississippi River on the East Bank down through modern Saint Bernard Parish and part of the East Bank of Plaquemines. Colonial land grants commonly stretched 40 arpents back from the Mississippi River. The canal thus marked the back end of properties, mostly originally plantations. In this area this line happened to generally be about the limit of land useful for cultivation where the higher land of the natural river levee ended in swamp. The "40 Arpent Canal" was used by small vessels for commerce between nearby plantations; larger vessels and longer range shipping used the Mississippi. The earth moved to dig the canal was used to create a raised roadway on the river side of the canal, called the "Florida Walk".
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