Gert Town (New Orleans, Louisiana)

 neighbourhood, draw only border

The most commonly accepted explanation for the neighborhood's name is that it is a corruption of "Gehrke's Town", Gehrke's being a general store formerly located at Carrollton & Colapissa streets which around 1900 was a local gathering place and had the area's only telephone.

In 1900 the "Tulane St. Charles Belt" streetcar line opened including the Gert Town section of Carrollton Avenue in its route, spurring development. Starting in 1902, Lincoln Park and adjacent Johnson Park were popular with African Americans in the era of racial segregation; the parks featured a skating rink, balloon ascent exhibitions, and dancing to the music of such notables as Buddy Bolden and Bunk Johnson.

Gert Town's odd street pattern is the result of earlier land development that reflected the bends in the Mississippi River. With a lower elevation than other areas, the area was once part of the swampy "Back of Town," and major streets stopped before entering the area.