The Times-Picayune is marking the tricentennial of New Orleans with its ongoing 300 for 300 project, running through 2018 and highlighting the moments and people that connect and inspire us. Today, the series continues with the 1926 opening of Maxime's nightclub, which is recognized as the first step in the evolution of Bourbon Street into one of the most famous thoroughfares in the world.

THEN: Bourbon Street got its name in 1721, when French engineer Adrien de Pauger first laid out plans for the then-fledgling New Orleans and named its central avenue after France's royal family at the time, the House of Bourbon. It got its reputation, however, two centuries later, when, after the 1917 shuttering of the Storyville vice district, people were forced to look elsewhere to satisfy their appetite for (ahem) entertainment. Then, on Jan. 26, 1926, the grand opening of Maxime's at 300 Bourbon introduced a new concept to the city: the concept of the nightclub, a glitzier, gender-integrated take on the seedy, male-dominated world of concert saloons that had dominated to that point. The transformation of Bourbon Street into the modern-day adult playground we know today had begun.

NOW: Bourbon Street has gone through a number of transformations over the years, from a largely residential area in the city's first two centuries to what many consider its 1950s and 1960s golden age and continuing through to become the party-all-night playground of today. In the process, it has become known the world over as an epicenter of American vice -- and good times.

  • Maxime's was the brainchild of French immigrant Arnaud Cazenave, who in 1918 opened a Bienville Street restaurant named after himself. Arnaud's is still in operation as one of the city's revered old-line restaurants.

New Orleans has a complicated relationship with its most famous street. Many locals eschew it as inauthentic and seedy. They also rightfully cringe at the thought that countless visitors define the otherwise culturally rich city by Bourbon's base offerings. (And, be sure, there is a definite dark side to Bourbon, which -- as a 2017 investigation by NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune showed -- has become the epicenter of an illicit and destructive sex trade.) The fact remains, however, that Bourbon Street is a good-time beacon to the world, drawing visitors from across the globe who want to sample a taste of the city's famous debauchery. In the process, those visitors also pump countless millions into the city's economy -- and, when they sober up, many undoubtedly discover that there's much more to New Orleans than Hand Grenades and Hurricanes. So, you can love it, you can hate it, but there's no two ways about: Bourbon Street is an irreplaceable part of New Orleans.

By: Mike Scott, staff writer

Sources: The Times-Picayune archive; "Bourbon Street: A History," by Richard Campanella; staff research

NEXT:

More on 300 for 300:

  • Learn about the 300 for 300 series