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

History

Gretna was settled in the 19th century, 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 McDonoghville within the Jefferson Parish boundaries. In the 1940 census, Gretna had a population of 10,879.

Famous residents

Geography

Gretna is located on (29.916459, -90.054260).

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.

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. 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:

Hurricane Katrina controversy

The City of Gretna made news after its police force participated, along with Crescent City Connection Police and Jefferson Parish Sheriff's deputies, in a road block on the Crescent City Connection Bridge in the days following Hurricane Katrina. The purpose 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.

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. It was also believed at that time that federal relief efforts and supplies were soon to be concentrated in the downtown area of New Orleans. The decision to stop further evacuees from crossing the river was then made after Oakwood Mall 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 inevitable confrontation occurred on the section of the bridge controlled by the Gretna police and warning shots were fired over the heads of desperate evacuees who had been misdirected onto the bridge.

Some activists alleged racism; 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 susequently passed a resolution supporting the decision and Gretna Mayor Ronnie C. Harris said, "This wasn't just one man's decision. The whole community backs it."

External links

Audio and video

Cities in Louisiana | Jefferson Parish, Louisiana | Greater New Orleans

Gretna (Louisiana)

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "Gretna, Louisiana".

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