Pontchartrain Park is a historically registered
neighborhood
A neighbourhood (British English, Irish English, Australian English and Canadian English) or neighborhood (American English; see spelling differences) is a geographically localised community within a larger city, town, suburb or rural area, ...
of the city of
. A subdistrict of the
Gentilly District Area, its boundaries as defined by the City Planning Commission are: Leon C. Simon Drive to the north, the
Industrial Canal
The Industrial Canal is a 5.5 mile (9 km) waterway in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. The waterway's proper name, as used by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and on NOAA nautical charts, is Inner Harbor Navigation Canal ( IHNC). Th ...
to the east, Dreux Avenue to the south and Peoples Avenue to the west.
Geography
Pontchartrain Park is located at
and has an elevation of .
According to the
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...
, the district has a total area of . of which is land and (7.0%) of which is water.
Pontchartrain Park includes a senior center, a
golf course
A golf course is the grounds on which the sport of golf is played. It consists of a series of holes, each consisting of a tee box, a fairway, the rough and other hazards, and a green with a cylindrical hole in the ground, known as a "cup". Th ...
designed by famed African American golf course designer
Joseph Bartholomew and the
Major League Baseball Urban Youth Academy
Major League Baseball Youth Academies are a series of academies in American cities and one in Puerto Rico that provides free year-round instruction in baseball and softball to the areas' youth. The academies are run as not-for-profit organizations ...
located at
Wesley Barrow Stadium
Wesley Barrow Stadium is a 650-seat baseball and softball stadium located in the Pontchartrain Park, New Orleans, Pontchartrain Park section of New Orleans, Louisiana. Named in memory of Negro league baseball manager (baseball), manager Wesley Ba ...
. Adjacent to the Pontchartrain Park golf course is the campus of
Southern University at New Orleans
Southern University at New Orleans (also known as SUNO) is a public historically black university in New Orleans, Louisiana. It is a member of the Southern University System and the Thurgood Marshall College Fund.
History
Southern University ...
.
Adjacent Neighborhoods
*
Gentilly Woods (south)
*
Lake Terrace/Lake Oaks (north)
*
Milneburg
Milneburg was a town on the southern shore of Lake Pontchartrain in Louisiana that was absorbed into the city of New Orleans. A neighborhood to the south of this area is still sometimes known by this name; the former location of Milneburg is now i ...
(west)
*
Pines Village (east)
Boundaries
The City Planning Commission defines the boundaries of Pontchartrain Park as these streets: Leon C. Simon Drive, the Industrial Canal, Dreux Avenue and Peoples Avenue.
Demographics
As of the
census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...
of 2000, there were 2,630 people, 1,009 households, and 736 families residing in the neighborhood.
The
population density
Population density (in agriculture: standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPopul ...
was 2,828 /mi
2 (1,096 /km
2). As of the
census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...
of 2010, there were 1,482 people, 551 households, and 385 families residing in the neighborhood.
History
Pontchartrain Park was developed after
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. It was one of the first
suburban-style subdivision
Subdivision may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* Subdivision (metre), in music
* ''Subdivision'' (film), 2009
* "Subdivision", an episode of ''Prison Break'' (season 2)
* ''Subdivisions'' (EP), by Sinch, 2005
* "Subdivisions" (song), by Rus ...
s developed by and for
middle class
The middle class refers to a class of people in the middle of a social hierarchy, often defined by occupation, income, education, or social status. The term has historically been associated with modernity, capitalism and political debate. Commo ...
African American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
s during the
Jim Crow
The Jim Crow laws were state and local laws enforcing racial segregation in the Southern United States. Other areas of the United States were affected by formal and informal policies of segregation as well, but many states outside the Sout ...
era of
racial segregation
Racial segregation is the systematic separation of people into race (human classification), racial or other Ethnicity, ethnic groups in daily life. Racial segregation can amount to the international crime of apartheid and a crimes against hum ...
in
Louisiana
Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...
. It has been home to such prominent New Orleanians as mayors
Dutch Morial
Ernest Nathan "Dutch" Morial (October 9, 1929 – December 24, 1989), was an American political figure and a leading civil rights advocate. He was the first African-American mayor of New Orleans, serving from 1978 to 1986. He was the father of Ma ...
and
Marc Morial
Marc Haydel Morial (born January 3, 1958) is an American political and civic leader and the current president of the National Urban League. Morial served as Mayor of New Orleans from 1994 to 2002 as the city's youngest Mayor, President of the ...
, political activist
Philip M. Baptiste and district attorney
Eddie Jordan
Edmund Patrick Jordan, OBE (born 30 March 1948), also known as EJ, is an Irish businessman, television personality and former motorsport team owner. Born in Dublin, Jordan worked first at the Bank of Ireland. He won the Irish Kart Championshi ...
; as well as nationally known figures such as
Lisa P. Jackson
Lisa Perez Jackson (born February 8, 1962) is an American chemical engineer who served as the administrator of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from 2009 to 2013. She was the first African American to hold that position.
B ...
, EPA Administrator under President Barack Obama, actor
Wendell Pierce
Wendell Edward Pierce (born December 8, 1963) is an American actor and businessman. Having trained at Juilliard School, Pierce rose to prominence as a character actor portraying roles both on the stage and screen. He first gained notoriety portra ...
, and jazz musician
Terrence Blanchard.
In the 1970s, urban renewal projects were undertaken with funding from the federal
New Town Program. Pontchartrain Park flooded badly in the aftermath of
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina was a destructive Category 5 Atlantic hurricane that caused over 1,800 fatalities and $125 billion in damage in late August 2005, especially in the city of New Orleans and the surrounding areas. It was at the time the cost ...
in 2005, taking on water first from the overtopping of a section of floodwall of the Industrial Canal caused by storm surge channeled into the city from the
MRGO Canal, then from major breaches sustained by floodwalls along the
London Avenue Canal The London Avenue Canal is a drainage canal in New Orleans, Louisiana, used for pumping rain water into Lake Pontchartrain. The canal runs through the 7th Ward of New Orleans from the Gentilly area to the Lakefront. It is one of the three main drai ...
.
In July 2020, th
Pontchartrain Park Historic District was announced as the neighborhood was added to the U.S. National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places. A commemorative marker was unveiled on June 30, 2022.
Notable residents
*
Terrence Blanchard
*
Lisa P. Jackson
Lisa Perez Jackson (born February 8, 1962) is an American chemical engineer who served as the administrator of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from 2009 to 2013. She was the first African American to hold that position.
B ...
*
Eddie Jordan
Edmund Patrick Jordan, OBE (born 30 March 1948), also known as EJ, is an Irish businessman, television personality and former motorsport team owner. Born in Dublin, Jordan worked first at the Bank of Ireland. He won the Irish Kart Championshi ...
*
Dutch Morial
Ernest Nathan "Dutch" Morial (October 9, 1929 – December 24, 1989), was an American political figure and a leading civil rights advocate. He was the first African-American mayor of New Orleans, serving from 1978 to 1986. He was the father of Ma ...
*
Marc Morial
Marc Haydel Morial (born January 3, 1958) is an American political and civic leader and the current president of the National Urban League. Morial served as Mayor of New Orleans from 1994 to 2002 as the city's youngest Mayor, President of the ...
*
Wendell Pierce
Wendell Edward Pierce (born December 8, 1963) is an American actor and businessman. Having trained at Juilliard School, Pierce rose to prominence as a character actor portraying roles both on the stage and screen. He first gained notoriety portra ...
*
Darryl Willis
*
Gustave Blache III
See also
*
New Orleans neighborhoods
The city planning commission for New Orleans divided the city into 13 planning districts and 73 distinct neighborhoods in 1980. Although initially in the study 68 neighborhoods were designated, and later increased by the City Planning Commission to ...
*
Gentilly, New Orleans
Gentilly is a broad, predominantly middle-class and racially diverse section of New Orleans, Louisiana. The Gentilly neighborhood is bounded by Lake Pontchartrain to the north, France Road to the east, Bayou St. John to the west, and CSX Transpo ...
References
External links
NPR story: Return to Pontchartrain Park
Neighborhoods in New Orleans
{{NewOrleans-stub