Away from downtown, there is still rich history in culture in New
Orleans – in fact, many argue this is where the culture comes from.
Historic neighborhoods like Holy Cross and Gentilly Terrace sit on some
of the highest ground in the city. These once rural areas live today as
the starting ground for the neighborhoods that now surround them.
The
Gentilly neighborhood is home to historic Dillard University and the
largest collection of California Craftsman-style bungalows in
Louisiana. There are also many English cottages and Spanish and
Mediterranean Revival raised houses from the early 1900s. Part of this
neighborhood became Gentilly Boulevard and later U.S. Highway 90 – part
of the Old Spanish Trail – that connected St. Augustine, Florida to Los
Angeles, California.
Originally
this settlement founded on the long, narrow ridge, as most of the
surrounding area, especially between the Pontchartrain and Gentilly
Ridge, was very swampy. The Gentilly Terrace was actually man-made –
built by piling up earth in the shallow sections of the swamp to create
high land. The homes along Gentilly Terrace came up in the early 1900s
and by the mid 1900s, with the development of drainage pumps the area
became entirely populated and knows as Gentilly.
They
City of New Orleans defines the Gentilly neighborhood beginning at the
Lake on the north, Peoples Avenue to the east, the London Avenue Canal
on the west and the Louisville and Nashville Railroad bounding the
south. Although some maps and New Orleanians refer to Gentilly when
speaking about the Upper Ninth Ward and the eastern side of the
Industrial Canal, which is now known as New Orleans East.
New
Orleans Ninth Ward is the largest of the city's 17 wards and definitely
the most infamous. Within the Ninth Ward there is the Upper Ninth –
notable for the Habitat for Humanity Musician's Village, started after
Hurricane Katrina by Bradford Marsalis and Harry Connick, Jr.
The
Musicians' Village will consist of 81 Habitat-constructed homes for
displaced New Orleans musicians. Its centerpiece will be the Ellis
Marsalis Center for Music, dedicated to the education and development
of homeowners and others who will live nearby. In early 2006, Habitat
for Humanity acquired eight acres of land in the Upper 9th Ward where
the Musicians' Village. In addition to the homes in the tract, plans
call for building at least 150 other homes in the surrounding
neighborhood.
On the other side of
the Industrial Canal is New Orleans East, which includes the Lower
Ninth Ward, which gained national attention for it tragic devastation
in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The area has also been in the
national spotlight as major sections of the area were used for filming
in the 1994 Anne Rice film "Interview with a Vampire" staring Tom
Cruise and Brad Pitt.
Other notable
areas of the Lower Ninth Ward include Jackson Barracks, which also
serve as headquarters for the Louisiana National Guard when they are
stationed in New Orleans. Notable residents include musician / singer /
songwriter Fats Domino and NFL star Marshall Faulk.
A
noted historical area in this section of New Orleans is the Holy Cross
Neighborhood. Holy Cross hugs the Mississippi River on the "lower" side
of the Industrial Canal, just a few minutes away from downtown New
Orleans. Currently, this neighborhood serves as the staging ground for
the revitalization of the Lower Ninth Ward – most remarkably an effort
spearheaded by Global Green and a continued effort by the Preservation
Resource Center.
The Ninth Ward
also includes the Lakefront Airport and NASA's Michoud Assembly
Facility. Farther east visitors find Fort Macomb, Bayou Sauvage
National Wildlife Refuge, Chef Menteur Pass, the Venetian Isles, Lake
St. Catherine, Irish Bayou and the remains of historic Fort Pike.
A visit to these areas is truly a visit to an important part of New Orleans' past, as well as its modern-day history.
-From http://www.neworleansonline.com/tools/neighborhoodguide/gentilly.html
