User:Mnguye60

Gert Town is a neighborhood in the city of New Orleans, Louisiana. It is the home to Xavier University of Louisiana and is a part of the Mid-City District. Gert Town’s boundaries are as follows:

• North: Palmetto Street, South Carrolton, and the Pontchartrain Expressway
• East: South Broad Street, Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, Washington Avenue, Eve Street, Jefferson Davis Parkway, and Colapissa Street
• South: South Carrolton Avenue and Fig Street
• West: Joliet Street and Cambronne Street.

Its neighboring neighborhoods include:

• B.W. Cooper (east)
• Broadmoor (east)
• Central City (east)
• Dixon (north)
• Holly Grove (west)
• Leonidas (south)
• Marlyville-Fountainebleau (east)
• Mid-City (north)
• Tulane Gravier (east).

This neighborhood is named after Alfred Gehrke. In 1893, he opened Gehrke’s Grocers on Carrollton and Colapissa. Gehrke is considered the founder of Gert Town because he bought an abundant amount of its land. The neighborhood played a major role in industrialism, containing streetcar lines and railways that contributed to the residential and community growth of the area. The Blue Plate Mayonnaise Factory, Coca-Cola Bottling Plant, Sealtest Dairy building, and Thompson-Hayward Chemical Company were all fundamental manufacturing bases of the neighborhood. In addition, Gert Town was also well known for being the center of development for jazz and other music genres. Musicians such as Buddy Bolden, John Robichaux, Merry Clayton, Bunk Johnson and Allen Toussaint all shaped the musical influence of Gert Town.

This area was negatively effected during Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Due to its low elevation, Gert Town had a high risk of being damaged. Because many homes and buildings were destroyed during this natural disaster, the neighborhood's population took a negative shift. Today, Gert Town continuously undergoes redevelopment and local reinforcement in order to fully recover from the impact of Hurricane Katrina. Restaurants such as Five Happiness, Dunbar's Famous Creole Cafe, LA Smokehouse, Gracious Bakery+Cafe, Kin, are all small, locally-owned restaurants that contribute in the rebuilding of the neighborhood. Furthermore, its new natatorium and New Orleans Police Department station also aids in strengthening the neighborhood's community redevelopment and reinforcement.