GRETNA, LOUISIANA

The city of 'Gretna' is the parish seat of Jefferson Parish, in the US state of Louisiana.
^[1]
[2]
Gretna is on the west bank of the Mississippi River, just east and across the river from uptown New Orleans. It is part of the Greater New Orleans Metropolitan area. The population was 17,423 at the 2000 census.

''Also see:'' Gretna Heritage Festival.

Contents

History

Famous residents

Geography

Demographics

Education

Hurricane Katrina controversy

Reaction

Trivia

References

External links

Audio and video

History

Gretna was settled in 1836 ^[3], originally as 'Mechanicsham', growing with a station on the Mississippi River for the Missouri Pacific Railroad, Texas and Pacific Railroad, and Southern Pacific Railroad, with a ferry across the River to New Orleans. Gretna was incorporated in 1913, absorbing the section of McDonogh within the Jefferson Parish boundaries. In the 1940 census, Gretna had a population of 10,879.

Famous residents

★ Frankie Ford (rock and roll performer)

★ Emmett Hardy (early jazz great)

★ Lash La Rue (Western film actor)

★ Mel Ott (baseball hall of famer)

Geography

Gretna is located on (29.916459, -90.054260) and has an elevation of .
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 10.0 km² (3.9 mi²). 9.1 km² (3.5 mi²) of it is land and 0.9 km² (0.4 mi²) of it (9.33%) is water.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 17,423 people, 6,958 households, and 4,286 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,922.0/km² (4,983.9/mi²). There were 7,665 housing units at an average density of 845.6/km² (2,192.6/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 56.32% White, 35.53% African American, 0.60% Native American, 3.12% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 2.63% from other races, and 1.75% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 6.34% of the population.
There were 6,958 households out of which 27.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 35.7% were married couples living together, 19.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 38.4% were non-families. 32.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.40 and the average family size was 3.06.

'Gretna' (map center) is south of New Orleans and the Mississippi River, west of Chalmette. Note highways connect to New Orleans, Westwego and Harahan to Kenner.

In the city the population was spread out with 23.8% under the age of 18, 10.2% from 18 to 24, 30.6% from 25 to 44, 21.4% from 45 to 64, and 14.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years, higher than Louisiana's median age of 34.0 years. For every 100 females, there were 100.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 98.3 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $28,065, and the median income for a family was $31,881. Males had a median income of $28,259 versus $21,019 for females. The per capita income for the city was $15,735. About 20.8% of families and 24.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 34.7% of those under age 18 and 20.2% of those age 65 or over.

Education

Gretna's public schools are operated by the Jefferson Parish Public Schools agency.
Schools are in Gretna unless otherwise noted.
Elementary schools:

★ George Cox Elementary School (Unincorporated Jefferson Parish, Gretna address)

★ Frederick Douglass Elementary School

★ Gretna Park Elementary School

★ William Hart Elementary School

★ McDonogh #26 Elementary School

★ Middleton Elementary School

★ Solis Elementary School

★ Terrytown Elementary School
Middle schools:

★ Gretna Middle School

★ Livaudais Middle School (Unincorporated Jefferson Parish, Gretna address)
High schools:

★ West Jefferson High School
In addition, Jefferson High School [1] is in Gretna.

Hurricane Katrina controversy

High water along the Mississippi River levee at Gretna, 2005

The City of Gretna received considerable press coverage when, in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina (late August 2005), displaced and dehydrated survivors who attempted to escape from New Orleans by walking over the Crescent City Connection bridge over the Mississippi River were turned back at gunpoint by City of Gretna Police, along with Crescent City Connection Police and Jefferson Parish Sheriff's deputies, who set up a roadblock on the bridge in the days following the hurricane. According to eyewitnesses, some of these officers threatened to shoot New Orleans residents and tourists as they attempted to cross into Gretna on foot.[2] [3] [4]
The Crescent City Connection connects to United States Highway 90, which was, at the time, the only passable highway out of New Orleans. Initially, as many as 6,000 evacuees were permitted to cross and were shuttled out of the area on buses; however, that operation was eventually discontinued as available fuel supplies were exhausted. Without transportation or sufficient supplies of food or water, West Bank officials determined that they were unable to further assist the evacuees. Actually, water continued to be availible on the West Bank in the Algiers section^[4] The decision to stop further evacuees from crossing the river was then made after the Oakwood Mall in Gretna was looted and burned, allegedly by evacuees from the East Bank of New Orleans. A unified local police decision was made to lock down all areas. Due to the lack of effective communications during the crisis, some New Orleans police officers independently continued to direct evacuees to buses across the bridge that were no longer operational.
The purpose of the roadblock was to stop evacuees from crossing over into the evacuated communities on the West Bank of the Mississippi River. Gretna Police had charge of West Bank-bound lanes, while Jefferson Parish deputies controlled the East Bank-bound lanes and the bridge police closed the center transit lanes.
Some critics have said that the Gretna Police were out of their jurisdiction when they took up posts on the bridge because the West Bank end of the bridge comes to ground in the New Orleans neighborhood of Algiers. However, the Gretna city limits extend such that a small portion of the bridge enters Gretna before reentering New Orleans a second time.

Reaction

The actions of the Gretna Police have been criticized by many. Some have supported the actions, noting that Gretna had also suffered loss of power and drinkable water, and had nowhere to keep another city's evacuees. Some have said that the Gretna Police action were prompted by reports of widespread looting in New Orleans and fears it could spread to Gretna. Some critics have alleged a motivation of racism, as the majority of those attempting to escape the flooding in New Orleans were African American.
Some activists alleged racism, citing longstanding racial tensions between urban and suburban New Orleans that date back to the civil rights era. Officials in Gretna and Jefferson Parish defended the actions of their police officers as necessary and proper during such a crisis. The Gretna City Council subsequently passed a resolution supporting the Chief of Police's decision to block the bridge, which continues to be a topic of controversy in Greater New Orleans. Gretna Mayor Ronnie C. Harris said, "This wasn't just one man's decision. The whole community backs it."

Trivia

★ The famous spice-maker Zatarain's was founded in 1889 in what is now Gretna.

★ Portions of the movie "A Love Song For Bobby Long" were filmed in Gretna.

References

1.
"Gretna, Louisiana (LA) Detailed Profile" (notes),
''City Data'', 2007, webpage:
C-Gretna.

2.
"Census 2000 Data for the State of Louisiana" (town list),
US Census Bureau, May 2003, webpage:
C2000-LA.

3. City of Gretna
4.

External links

★ City of Gretna Website

★ Gretna Directory

★ Gretna Police Department

★ Gretna Heritage Festival

★ The real heroes and sheroes of New Orleans (First report of the bridge incident that was later picked up by major media.)

★ March to Gretna

★ "The Bridge to Gretna" story from CBS News ''60 Minutes'' program, December 18, 2005

Audio and video

★ Trapped in New Orleans: Emergency Medical Worker Describes How Police Prevented Evacuation, from Pacifica ''Democracy Now!'' program, September 16, 2005