Gentilly Woods Neighborhood Snapshot

Gentilly Woods and Pontchartrain Park neighborhoods are separated from the Gentilly Terrace community by railroad tracks to its west and from the Pines Village communities by the Inner Navigation Harbor Canal to the east, giving the area a picture of isolation. The majority of homes are bricked, built for single family usage. It is one of the neighborhoods of predominately African Americans, and the majority of the housing units are owner-occupied (Census 2000).

From a Native American portage to a residential subdivision

	© GNO Community Data Center
	Railroad tracks line the west side of Gentilly woods.

Gentilly Woods was built in the area of an old Native American portage with curving streets throughout. Alexander Milne, a Scottish footman, who made his fortune from first a hardware business and then brick-making, held the land in the 1700s, believing that the city would expand toward Lake Pontchartrain. Although other sections of his landholdings developed, it was not until the 1940s before Gentilly Woods became a residential neighborhood.

During World War II, Andrew Jackson Higgins operated his Industrial Canal plant where the neighborhood stands now. The plant built ships and landing craft for the U.S. Navy, with one such craft used for the D-Day invasion during the war. At the factory were plywood homes, called Higgins Huts, believed to have housed the plant's employees. In the late 1940s, the Higgins Huts were torn down to make way for new homes

The "new" subdivision was completed in 1950 and consisted of attractive GI starter homes.

New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary

The Southern Baptist Convention messengers voted in favor of a theological seminary in New Orleans in 1917. The first session of the Baptist Bible Institute, its original name, opened in 1918 on Washington Avenue in the Garden District. It remained there until 1953 when the school moved to its present location on Gentilly Boulevard. In 1947, the name was changed to New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary.

New Orleans Theological Seminary Historical Sketch
nobtsfoundation.com/Historical_Sketch.htm

	Gentilly Woods Shopping Center today

Gentilly Woods Shopping Center

Gentilly Woods Shopping Center, located at the intersection of Chef Menteur Highway and Press Drive, was one of the earliest shopping centers in the New Orleans area. Major department stores as well as smaller shops filled the center. Over the years, commercial activity declined, although recently businesses have been coming back – including a large national chain restaurant.

An involved neighborhood

There are a number of organizations and development initiatives that help to maintain a solid, strong neighborhood. The Gentilly Woods  Improvement Association and the Gentilly Woods Women's Club are just two of those. The Pontilly Neighborhood Association covers Gentilly Woods and Pontchartrain Park neighborhoods.

Parkview Fundamental Magnet School on Mirabeau Avenue serves the greater New Orleans area school population whose potential students must pass an entrance test. This school offers gifted and talented resource, ESL, Spanish, Spalding and ADEPT Programs.

St. Gabriel the Archangel Church has been in the neighborhood for many years and serves the Catholic population in that area.