The Boulevard de Rochechouart follows the former line of the Wall of the Farmers General, which until 1860 marked the boundary between Paris and the surrounding communes. This wall was fiscal rather than military in nature. Goods entering Paris were subject to an "octroi" tax (municipal import tax), collected at city gates, a system that deeply irritated Parisians. Beaumarchais declared "The wall surrounding Paris makes Paris murmur".

Alcohol entering Paris was taxed, hence the emergence beyond the wall of numerous bals and guinguettes where Parisians could enjoy themselves by drinking untaxed alcohol.

The Butte Montmartre has been the site of religious activity since Roman times. The slopes of the "Montmartre scrubland" were home to many poor people, artists and "outlaws". The subsoil is dug out of gypsum quarries, which are crushed in windmills to make plaster.

In 1860, Baron Hausmann removed the wall and incorporated the neighbouring communes, including Montmartre, expanding Paris from 11 to 20 arrondissements.

The Elysée Montmartre

On the left-hand side of the rue de Steinkerque is the Elysée Montmartre theatre. It was created in 1807 and saw the birth of the French Cancan before this dance was transferred to Le Moulin Rouge in 1889. Emile Zola described its façade in his novel L'Assommoir. During the siege of Paris, this hall became an ambulance, a temporary hospital, and the assembly point for the balloons that took off from the Butte Montmartre in an attempt to break the blockade.

Louise Michel, on her return from deportation to New Caledonia, held her first meeting there on 22 November 1880.