Gretna lock up12/17/2023 ![]() Long survived.” She tells how the city of Gretna, in a telltale show of heart, held a free concert to raise money and provided supplies to its neighbors not so fortunate. “The wind took its toll on our beautiful old oaks,” she says, “but the oak canopy along Huey P. The historic complex survived Hurricane Ida, even the slightly shabby blacksmith shop, and Gretna Mayor Belinda Constant feels grateful. No one knows how many quickie weddings the “marrying judges” have performed at Gretna's blacksmith shop, but they continue to this day every February 14th. Here lives the blacksmith shop that gave Gretna its name, after the Scottish town Gretna Green, known as a destination for UK couples looking for runaway weddings sans all the red tape. The blacksmith shop still performs weddings and renewals on Valentine's Day - Photo courtesy of Chelle Koster Walton Two early 20th-century depots and a 1951 caboose are part of a complex that includes the covered site of the Saturday Farmers Market & Art Walk. The town’s bygones tie as intricately into the railroad as the river the two run parallel to each other. Long Avenue meets the river - Photo courtesy of Chelle Koster Walton ![]() Jefferson Arch and City Hall stand proud where Huey P. Where primary school students once learned their three Rs in the early 1900s, visitors now get an education on German immigrant contributions to Gretna’s past. The heart of the district, “Huey P,” as locals call it, is a veritable who’s who of historic sites, starting with the German-American Cultural Center. ![]() A grassy levee, popular with weekend strollers and cyclists, protects the town from the fickle river waters that rise in summer to cover the amphitheater that hosts Gretna’s annual shindig Heritage Festival and concert series in October. Then head down the oak-lined boulevard to admire the homes leading to Gretna’s sustenance and bane: The Mississippi River. Patrick’s Day floats, liquor bottles buried under houses and the secrets behind some historic homes. (Local lore has it the infamous former Louisiana governor bribed the town to get his name on the street signs.)Įngage friendly staffers Summer Cook and Maryam Bahman, both dyed-in-the-wool Gretna residents, to hear their stories about community, throwing corned beef and cabbage ingredients off of St. It occupies a mid-19th-century home that was moved to its current site and renovated on the historic district’s main, lovely Huey P. Start your visit at the Heritage House Welcome Center, where history seeps into its pores. With no overnight accommodations other than a chain or two on its outskirts, Gretna is the ultimate day destination, one that will call you back again and again. It takes no more than a day or two to tour the historic and cultural sites of Gretna, but the more time you spend with people who live there, the more the core town permeates your being. In this age when travelers seek real, hometown experiences and eschew over-touristed destinations, Gretna is becoming a notable destination for everyone from history-savvy travelers to NOLA weekenders. The town's history is told in the facades of its architecture and faces of early settlers’ descendants – later joined by Irish, Italian and other nationalities incoming to New Orleans’ customs port – who still populate the historic district. ![]() Gretna’s modern-day identity dates back to the German immigration of the 1700s and a blacksmith who performed quickie weddings. Gingerbread-trimmed homes line historic district streets - Photo courtesy of Chelle Koster Walton It dwells in a pocket of time and space that has bubbled it from the rat-race suburbia that surrounds it and, ultimately, protected it from Hurricane Ida's wind and water that plagued a swath from Louisiana to New Jersey in late August 2021. The city’s under-the-radar status has spared it – saved it from bulldozers that have leveled buildings in other communities. Yet its turn-of-the-century gingerbread homes and stately public buildings stand firm, with hardly a scratch. Gretna resides in the same Jefferson Parish as Hurricane Ida-ravaged Louisiana communities Lafitte and Grand Isle. ![]() It faces New Orleans across the wide Mississippi, yet Gretna, Louisiana, with its small town historic charm, is far from a mirror image. ![]()
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