The City of Gretna was recently awarded funds from the National Park Service and Lt. Governor’s Office to assist with placing McDonoghville on the National Register of Historic Places. These grants needed to be matched, so Gretna Historical Society stepped up and donated $10,000 toward this important project.

McDonoghville is considered to be the oldest neighborhood in Jefferson Parish and among the oldest in the Greater New Orleans Region.  Even so, there is little comprehensive research regarding the community’s origins and evolution. The National Register nomination process is a first step toward better understanding the neighborhood’s history.

The nomination is being submitted because of the architectural significance of McDonoghville. The first part of the process was to survey every structure, creating a written and photographed event of the neighborhood, property by property. That work was completed as a joint venture between Calhoun + Rolf Preservation Works.

The National Register designation will not add any regulatory burden on the neighborhood, but will allow for certain properties to take advantage of the Federal Historic Rehabilitation Tax Credit.  During this process structures throughout the neighborhood will be surveyed to assess their contribution to the proposed National Register District.

The survey documented extant architectural resources within the McDonoghville area.  The surveyors documented things like window type, architectural style, approximate age and location and building function using the Louisiana Historic Resources Inventory form. The data collected provides clarity on the neighborhood building stock, documenting previously unaccounted for historic structures for posterity.

The Nomination Report will be presented to the State of Louisiana’s National Registry Review Committee and then on to the National Park Service for the National Register Review Committee.  

Before the Nomination Report goes to the State for review on August 6, 2020, the city is seeking public comments about the document, available at https://www.gretnala.com/mcdonoghville/

As we move forward, the City of Gretna is beginning to compile a database of neighborhood history.  If you have information regarding the history of McDonoghville that you would like to share, please contact Matthew Martinec in the Mayor’s Office at mmartinec@gretnala.com or 504.363.1568.

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