McDonoghville, sometimes called simply McDonogh, is a community of
Algiers, New Orleans
Algiers is a historic neighborhood of New Orleans and is the only Orleans Parish community located on the West Bank of the Mississippi River. Algiers is known as the 15th Ward, one of the 17 Wards of New Orleans. It was once home to many jazz m ...
Jefferson Parish, Louisiana
Jefferson Parish (french: Paroisse de Jefferson; es, Parroquia de Jefferson) is a parish in the U.S. state of Louisiana. As of the 2020 census, the population was 440,781. Its parish seat is Gretna, its largest community is Metairie, and i ...
.
General presentation
McDonoghville straddles the West Bank boundary between
Jefferson Parish Jefferson may refer to:
Names
* Jefferson (surname)
* Jefferson (given name)
People
* Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826), third president of the United States
* Jefferson (footballer, born 1970), full name Jefferson Tomaz de Souza, Brazilian foo ...
Algiers
Algiers ( ; ar, الجزائر, al-Jazāʾir; ber, Dzayer, script=Latn; french: Alger, ) is the capital and largest city of Algeria. The city's population at the 2008 Census was 2,988,145Census 14 April 2008: Office National des Statistiques ...
and then into New Orleans in 1870, while the portion on the Jefferson side was absorbed into Gretna in 1913. In 2020, Gretna began the process of nominating McDonoghville for listing on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
.
Like many Greater New Orleans neighborhoods, McDonoghville has its share of corner stores and a playground, named McDonogh, in the predominantly residential area. There are two small cemeteries, St. Bartholemew, founded in 1848, and St. Mary, founded in 1866, both maintained by the Church of the Holy Name of Mary. The church's parish was founded in 1848 and the church built in 1929. One of the largest commercial establishments in the community is
Mardi Gras World
Mardi Gras World (also known as Blaine Kern's Mardi Gras World, MGW) is a tourist attraction located in New Orleans. Guests tour the 300,000 square foot working warehouse where floats are made for Mardi Gras parades in New Orleans. Mardi Gras World ...
, which designs and builds carnival floats for
Mardi Gras
Mardi Gras (, ) refers to events of the Carnival celebration, beginning on or after the Christian feasts of the Epiphany (Three Kings Day) and culminating on the day before Ash Wednesday, which is known as Shrove Tuesday. is French for "Fat ...
along with massive fiberglass sculptures for businesses.
History
Before McDonoghville was established in 1815, the area was home to the Montplaisir plantation built by Jean-Charles de Pradel in 1750. De Pradel had acquired the land in 1737 from Étienne Perier who'd received it as a grant from the
Company of the Indies
The Mississippi Company (french: Compagnie du Mississippi; founded 1684, named the Company of the West from 1717, and the Company of the Indies from 1719) was a corporation holding a business monopoly in French colonies in North America and th ...
upon becoming governor of Louisiana in 1726. In 1813, philanthropist
John McDonogh
John McDonogh (December 29, 1779 – October 26, 1850) was an American entrepreneur whose adult life was spent in south Louisiana and later in Baltimore. He made a fortune in real estate and shipping, and as a slave owner, he supported the Ameri ...
acquired the property and began subdividing the land to create McDonnoughville in 1815, the first subdivision in Jefferson Parish. McDonough leased and sold these properties to white laborers and free people of color, including people he'd previously held as slaves and hoped to prepare for returning to
Liberia
Liberia (), officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to its north, Ivory Coast to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean ...
as part of the
American Colonization Society
The American Colonization Society (ACS), initially the Society for the Colonization of Free People of Color of America until 1837, was an American organization founded in 1816 by Robert Finley to encourage and support the migration of freebor ...
migration project. For this reason, McDonoghville was also known informally as "Freetown".
By the 1880s, McDonoghville had become a center for railroads with a roundhouse, railyards, and multiple spur lines. Railroad magnate
Jay Gould
Jason Gould (; May 27, 1836 – December 2, 1892) was an American railroad magnate and financial speculator who is generally identified as one of the robber barons of the Gilded Age. His sharp and often unscrupulous business practices made hi ...
's holdings in the area were extensive enough for the area to be labeled "Gouldsboro" on an 1896 map. At the same time the area became a manufacturing hub and German immigrants settled in the town, followed in Irish and Italian immigrants in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Reliable ferry service connecting the area with the East Bank facilitated the neighborhood's growth.