Metairie, Louisiana

Metairie local /ˈmɛtəri/ MET-uh-ree is a census-designated place (CDP) in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, United States and is a major part of the New Orleans Metropolitan Area. Metairie is the largest community in Jefferson Parish and the fifth-largest CDP in the United States. It is an unincorporated area that would be Louisiana's fourth-largest city if it were incorporated. The zip codes that serve the community are 70001-70006.

Métairie is the French term for a small tenant farm which paid the landlord with a share of the produce, also known as sharecropping. In the 1760s, many of the original French farmers were tenants; after the US Civil War, the majority of the community's inhabitants were sharecroppers until urbanization started in the 1910s.

History

In the 1720s French settlers became the first Europeans to settle Metairie in the area known then as Tchoupitoulas and now as Metairie Ridge, a natural levee formed by an ancient branch of the Mississippi River which flowed through modern-day River Ridge, Metairie, Gentilly, and New Orleans East. It emptied into Mississippi Sound. The Acolapissa Native Americans used this ridge as a road, and it is the oldest road in the New Orleans area. Paved in the 1920s, it is called Metairie Road. An electric streetcar was installed running along Metairie Road in the late 1910s, opening the area to greater development. Upscale housing tracts were constructed off the road in the 1920s; this area is now known as "Old Metairie." It is today the most prestigious area of Metairie. The areas to the north and northwest of Metairie Road were not developed until after World War II. The land between Metairie Ridge and Lake Pontchartrain, which was cypress swamps and marshlands, was drained with the Wood Pump. With development of this new land for residences, Metairie's population grew in the 1940s as a result of cheaper land, lower taxes, and larger lots than in Orleans Parish.

New Orleans

New Orleans (/nuː ˈɔːrlɪnz/,/nuː ˈɔːrliənz/, /nuː ɔːrˈliːnz/, or /ˈnɔːrlənz/; French: La Nouvelle-Orléans [la nuvɛlɔʁleɑ̃]) is a major United States port and the largest city and the center of the metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The population of the city was 343,829 as of the 2010 U.S. Census. The New Orleans metropolitan area (New Orleans–Metairie–Kenner Metropolitan Statistical Area) had a population of 1,167,764 in 2010 and was the 46th largest in the United States. The New Orleans–Metairie–Bogalusa Combined Statistical Area, a larger trading area, had a 2010 population of 1,452,502.

The city is named after the Duke of Orleans, who reigned as Regent for Louis XV from 1715 to 1723, as it was established by French colonists and strongly influenced by their European culture. It is well known for its distinct French and Spanish Creole architecture, as well as its cross-cultural and multilingual heritage. New Orleans is also famous for its cuisine, music (particularly as the birthplace of jazz), and its annual celebrations and festivals, most notably Mardi Gras, dating to French colonial times. The city is often referred to as the "most unique" in the United States.

Kenner, Louisiana

Kenner (historically French: Cannes-Brûlées) is the sixth-largest city in the U.S. State of Louisiana. It is the largest city in Jefferson Parish, United States, Louisiana's second-most populous parish, and a suburb of New Orleans. The population was 66,702 at the 2010 census.

Kenner is represented in the Louisiana House of Representatives by the Republican attorney Tom Willmott. The state senator is Republican Danny Martiny, a former state House member. Martiny's predecessor in the House is Kernan "Skip" Hand, a retired district court judge from Kenner. Martiny's predecessor in the state Senate, Metairie attorney Art Lentini, also resides in Kenner. Kenner is part of Louisiana's 1st Congressional district, presently represented in the U.S. House by Steve Scalise. The current mayor of Kenner is Michael S. Yenni.

History

Originally inhabited by the Tchoupitoulas Indians, the area along the Mississippi River was the first land in the New Orleans Metropolitan Area on which Europeans set foot. René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle landed there in 1682. In 1855, Kenner was founded by Minor Kenner on land that consisted of three plantation properties that had been purchased by the Kenner family. At the time, all land north of what is now Airline Highway was swampland.