Bywater is a neighborhood of the city of New Orleans. A subdistrict of the Bywater District Area, its boundaries as defined by the City Planning Commission are: Florida Avenue to the north, the Industrial Canal to the east, the Mississippi River to the south, and the railroad tracks along Homer Plessy Way (formerly Press Street) to the west. Bywater is part of the Ninth Ward of New Orleans. It includes part or all of Bywater Historic District, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. During New Orleans Mardi Gras, the Society of Saint Anne marching krewe starts their procession on Mardi Gras morning in Bywater and gathers marchers as it travels through the French Quarter, ending at Canal Street. This walking parade of local residents, artists, and performers is preceded by the Bywater Bone Boys Social Aid and Pleasure Club (founded 2005), an early-rising skeleton krewe made up of writers, tattoo artists, painters, set designers, musicians, and numerous other pre–7 a.m. revelers. After Hurricane Katrina, many survivors flocked to the area as it was less affected by the storm, due to the slightly higher elevation closer to the Mississippi river. Bywater became part of what was known as the "Sliver by the River," meaning neighborhoods that saw no flooding, including Faubourg Marigny, the French Quarter and Irish Channel neighborhoods, and parts of the lower Garden District including St. Charles Avenue. Geography Bywater is located at and has an elevation of . According to the United States Census Bureau, the district has a total area of , of which is land and (29.32%) of which is water. Adjacent neighborhoods Desire Area (north) Lower Ninth Ward (east) Holy Cross (east) Mississippi River (south) Marigny (west) St. Claude (west) Florida Area (west) Boundaries The traditional boundaries of Bywater are: the Mississippi River to St. Claude Avenue, and the railroad tracks along Homer Plessy Way (formerly Press Street) to the Industrial Canal. Press Street's name came from a cotton press (known elsewhere as a cotton compress) which operated here during the 19th century. The Bywater/Marigny stretch of Press Street was changed to Homer Plessy Way in 2018 to memorialize Homer Plessy, the plaintiff in Plessy v. Ferguson, the 1896 decision of the U.S. Supreme Court that upheld the constitutionality of racial segregation laws for public facilities. Demographics As of the census of 2000, there were 5,096 people, 2,263 households, and 1,030