Gert Town, New Orleans
Gert Town is a neighborhood in the city of New Orleans, Louisiana. It is the home to Xavier University of Louisiana and is near Mid-City. Gert Town played a major role in the industrial development of the New Orleans region. The Blue Plate Mayonnaise Factory, Coca-Cola Bottling Plant, Sealtest Dairy, and Thompson-Hayward Chemical Company were all fundamental manufacturing bases of the working-class neighborhood. Gert Town was also well known for being a center of development for jazz and other music genres. Musicians such as Buddy Bolden, John Robichaux, Merry Clayton, Bunk Johnson and Allen Toussaint all came from the neighborhood and helped shape the musical influence of New Orleans.
In 2016, Gert Town was named one of New Orleans' fastest-growing areas.
History
The area now known as Gert Town was originally part of the Jeanne de McCarty plantation, which was purchased by the New Orleans Canal and Banking Company in the 1830s to extend the New Basin Canal. During this time much of the area was undeveloped and cut off from the rest of the city. Residential development was slow to take hold due to geographic challenges. For one, the early street pattern was the result of land development following the bends of the Mississippi River. For another, because it was a part of the swampy "Backatown" region, many streets stopped before entering the area. After some residential development at the end of the 19th century, the established Uptown streets running perpendicular to the river were extended into Gert Town and Mid-City. However, many of the streets in Gert Town remained unpaved well into the 20th century.Gert Town did not start to establish independence as a neighborhood until the early 1900s when streetcars began running nearby. The development of Gert Town was also aided by the creation of Lincoln Park, a popular recreational spot for African Americans during the Jim Crow era. In the 1930s, the city widened surrounding streets such as Palmetto and North Claiborne, creating even greater access to the area.
During this growth period, the neighborhood became known as Gert Town. The commonly accepted explanation for the neighborhood's name is that it is a corruption of "Gehrke's Town." Gehrke's General Store, once located at the intersection of Carrollton and Colapissa, was a popular gathering place for locals because it had the area's only telephone.
Environmental Crisis
In 1931, one acre of land in Gert Town was purchased by the Thompson-Hayward chemical company. The facility opened a year later, producing wet pesticides and wet and dry herbicides. From 1931 to 1986, ownership changed twice. The land went from the Thompson-Hayward chemical company to the TH Agriculture and Nutrition Company and finally to Harcos Chemicals, Inc. This plot of land went from housing wet pesticides and herbicides to only dry products to storing chemicals and several cleaning supplies.The chemical factory provided jobs despite the odor and dust. As the years progressed, the factory was told to cease production and the release of chemicals to the outside, by the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality. The building was then torn down, but the toxic chemicals had seeped into the bricks and had escaped through water systems and air ventilation. The resulting pollution caused many people to develop several symptoms from minor headaches to death. This angered many people, and they filed a lawsuit. In the settlement, the defendants agreed to pay $51.575 million into a single fund that would compensate the plaintiffs. Like the majority of the city, Gert Town flooded from the levee failures in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Except for a few sections along major thoroughfares like Carrollton Avenue and Norman C. Francis Parkway, recovery remained slow.
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, Gert Town has a total area of, all land. The neighborhood is bordered by several other neighborhoods including Holly Grove, Mid-City, Fontainebleau, and Gravier.Today Gert Town is located in the center of New Orleans. Gert Town's streets run parallel to the Mississippi River, causing the streets to curve and wind. The New Orleans City Planning Commission defines the boundaries of Gert Town as these streets: Palmetto Street, South Carrollton Avenue, the Pontchartrain Expressway, South Broad Street, MLK Boulevard, Washington Avenue, Eve Street, Norman C. Francis Parkway, Earhart Boulevard, Broadway Street, Colapissa Street, Fig Street, Cambronne Street, Forshey Street, Joliet Street, and Edinburgh Street.
Vertical Migration
Gert Town is one of the points of lowest elevation in New Orleans, currently ranging from 0 to −4 meters below sea level. According to geographer Richard Campanella, "vertical migration" patterns, based on topographical elevation, appeared to have a specific effect from 1920 to 2000 in New Orleans. There is no evidence suggesting that race was a factor of the vertical migration pattern, but as time went on, New Orleanians appeared to move from areas of higher elevation to lower elevation. Between the years 1920 and 1930, areas of low elevation such as Gentilly, Lakeview, and especially Gert Town experienced great increases in population, while areas of high elevation, such as Marigny, Treme, and Lee Circle, experienced decreases in residential populations. The above-sea-level population in New Orleans decreased from approximately 90 percent in the early 20th century to approximately 38 percent in the start of the 21st century. Following Hurricane Katrina, there was an increased percentage of the New Orleans population living at higher elevations, but it was more so due to slow re-population of more drastically affected low-elevation areas as opposed to a social preference for high elevation living.Landmarks
is located in the northern corner of the neighborhood, while a commercial strip lies along the section of Carrollton Avenue that runs through the neighborhood. In the 1990s, a portion of the facade of the Sealtest Dairy building was preserved and incorporated into a new post office. Other small businesses are scattered along Washington Avenue; until Hurricane Katrina, one of them was Ultrasonic Studios.In the mid-20th century, a manufacturing district developed around the then-named Jefferson Davis Boulevard, including the local Coca-Cola bottling plant and the Art Deco landmark Blue Plate Mayonnaise factory. In the late 20th century, manufacturing in this area declined and largely ended after the post-Katrina flooding. The businesses along Norman C. Francis Parkway that have succeeded in rebuilding include the studios of television station WVUE.
Other neighborhood landmarks included the Gert Town Pool, a public swimming pool in a domed structure run by the New Orleans Recreation Department. The Gert Town Pool was demolished by Mayor Mitch Landrieu's administration, for Xavier University, to eventually make way for a tennis court.
Blue Plate Mayonnaise Factory
The Blue Plate Mayonnaise Factory is now known as the Blue Plate Artist Lofts. Blue Plate was one of the primary mayonnaise manufacturers in the country. Blue Plate mayonnaise was originally produced in the city of Gretna, Louisiana, until production was moved to 1315 S Jefferson Davis Parkway in the small Gert Town neighborhood in 1941. Some people believe that the production of the mayonnaise came to a halt because of Hurricane Katrina, but the factory stopped producing Blue Plate mayonnaise in 2000. Reily Foods Company, which owned the brand, found a more up-to-date factory in Tennessee. Although the building suffered some damage in the hurricane, and was shut down, its historic architecture has been replenished.Waldo Burton Memorial Boy's Home
The Waldo Burton Memorial Boys Home is located on 3320 S Carrollton Avenue, very close to the campus of Xavier University of Louisiana. It was built in 1918 by William L. Burton, who named the home after his son William Waldo Burton. This home was an orphanage for young boys from the 1920s until the 21st century. There were many names for the home, including the Orphan Boys Asylum and the Asylum for the Relief of Destitute Orphan Boys.The building, still standing, is now a retirement home for the elderly, surrounded by trees and much nightlife, despite Hurricane Katrina and other natural disasters that hit Gert Town. Currently, it provides community services to the elderly whenever high school or college students apply to help.
Xavier University of Louisiana
Gert Town's most prominent landmark is Xavier University of Louisiana, which was established in 1925 and is the nation's only historically black Catholic university. Xavier was founded by St. Kathrine Drexel, an educator and philanthropist.In August 2005, Hurricane Katrina, a category 5 storm, hit Louisiana leaving Xavier under six feet of water. The hurricane decimated Xavier's student enrollment, which decreased from 4,100 students to 3,000 students. The campus was flooded with water for two weeks. It took nearly five months and $80 million of federal funds and private donations to reconstruct the campus. Important buildings such as the Norman C. Francis Academic Science Complex and the University Center were partly demolished in order to repair them. Xavier University reopened in January 2006.