Gentilly, New Orleans
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Gentilly is a broad section of New Orleans, Louisiana. The first part of Gentilly to be developed was along the Gentilly Ridge, a long stretch of high ground along the former banks of Bayou Gentilly. A road, originally "Gentilly Road", was built on the ridge, and formed the eastern path into the oldest part city, today's French Quarter to Chef Menteur Pass. The high ground became Gentilly Boulevard and U.S. Highway 90, part of the Old Spanish Trail from St. Augustine, Florida to Los Angeles, California.
Settlement was originally mostly confined to along the long narrow ridge, plus Milneburg, built on elevated piers on the shore of Lake Pontchartrain. Most of the ground between the ridge and the lake was swampy. The first residential section in back of the ridge, "Gentilly Terraces", was built by piling up earth in shallow swamp to create blocks of land where houses could be built at the start of the 20th century. With the development of improved drainage pumps (see drainage in New Orleans) and reclaimed land and higher Lakefront levees, the land from the ridge to the lake was developed by mid century, and the entire area came popularly to be known as Gentilly.
By city neighborhood definition, the Gentilly neighborhood is bounded by Lake Ponchartrain to the north, Peoples Avenue to the east, the London Avenue Canal to the west, and the Louisville and Nashville Railroad to the south. The major north-south streets are Franklin Avenue, Elysian Fields Avenue, St. Anthony, and London Avenue. The east-west streets are Lakeshore Drive, Robert E. Lee, Prentiss, Harrison, Filmore, and Gentilly.
Some traditional definitions include a somewhat wider area. One wider version is shown on the map, extending the neighborhood into the Upper 9th Ward. Some older New Orleanians extend the definition even further, including the section of old Gentilly on the east side of the Industrial Canal, now part of Eastern New Orleans.
Gentilly was badly damaged following Hurricane Katrina in 2005 when the London Avenue Canal levees breeched in two places.
Due to extensive hurricane damage and insurance losses, the Archdiocese of New Orleans decided to close Redeemer-Seton High School.
Bus service from the New Orleans Regional Transit Authority (NOPSI):
- Franklin Avenue streetcar line, which became the Gentilly bus and then the Franklin bus.
- Frenchmen bus line, which moved to Elysian Fields and became the Elysian Fields.
- Broad bus, which ran on Gentilly to Broad.
- Carrollton, which ran on Gentilly from Dillard to Desaix, Wisner, and Carrollton.
Neighborhoods in the area include:
- Edgewood: Gentilly to L&N tracks, Elysian Fields to Peoples Avenue
- Gentilly Terrace: Gentilly to Dreux, Elysian Fields to Peoples Avenue
Schools in the area:
- Benjamin Franklin Senior High School
- Gentilly Terrace Elementary School
- Capdau
- Redeemer Seton High School
- St. James Major
- St. Raphael
- St.Frances Cabrini Elementary
[edit] External links
- Gentilly Terrace Neighborhood – Greater New Orleans Community Data Center
- Gentilly Neighborhood Mapping – Post-Katrina Community Restoration Mapping (Dartmouth College and Dillard University)
