[1] The 1.6 mile-long canal started at Bayou St. John, which connected with Lake Pontchartrain, and went inland to what was then the back edge of New Orleans, behind the French Quarter in the Tremé neighborhood.
[2] After the United States' purchase of Louisiana, James Pitot worked to promote improvements of the canal.
Starting in 1805, the Orleans Navigation Company improved the Canal and the Bayou, making it more important for shipping.
Plans to build a connecting canal from the turning basin to the Mississippi River were never realized, in part because of the engineering challenges.
Early monarchs of the Zulu Social Aid & Pleasure Club Mardi Gras krewe made their entrance on the waters of the Old Basin Canal.