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 j ...

, and Gretna,

Jefferson Parish, Louisiana Jefferson Parish () is a List of parishes in Louisiana, parish in the U.S. state of Louisiana. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 440,781. Its parish seat is Gretna, Louisiana, Gretna, its largest community is ...

General presentation

McDonoghville straddles the West Bank boundary between

Jefferson Parish Jefferson Parish () 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 its largest incorporated city is Kenner. Jefferson Parish i ...

and

Orleans Parish Orleans Parish (; ) is a parish of the U.S. state of Louisiana. Since 1870, the parish has been coextensive with the city of New Orleans, and the parish and city are largely governed as a single consolidated city. History On April 10, 180 ...

. The portion on the Orleans side was absorbed into

Algiers Algiers is the capital city of Algeria as well as the capital of the Algiers Province; it extends over many Communes of Algeria, communes without having its own separate governing body. With 2,988,145 residents in 2008Census 14 April 2008: Offi ...

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 Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

. 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 (, ; also known as Shrove Tuesday) is the final day of Carnival (also known as Shrovetide or Fastelavn); it thus falls on the day before the beginning of Lent on Ash Wednesday. is French for "Fat Tuesday", referring to it being ...

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 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 Slavery, slave owner, he supported ...

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 Guinea–Liberia border, its north, Ivory Coast to Ivory Coast–Lib ...

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, was an American organization founded in 1816 by Robert Finley to encourage and support the repatriation of freeborn peop ...

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 founded the Gould family, Gould business dynasty. He is generally identified as one of the Robber baron (industrialist), robber bar ...

'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.

Sources

{{authority control Towns in Louisiana Geography of Jefferson Parish, Louisiana Neighborhoods in New Orleans Populated places established in 1815 1815 establishments in the United States Gretna, Louisiana