Town file
Gretna, Louisiana
Gretna, Louisiana (Jefferson Parish, Louisiana) is the town in one episode of Small Town Murder, the comedy true-crime podcast: episode 77, "Tortured To Elvis" (18 July 2018). Gretna, Louisiana, sits on the west bank of the Mississippi, directly across the river from New Orleans, in Jefferson Parish.
- Town
- Gretna
- County
- Jefferson Parish
- State
- Louisiana
- Country
- USA
- Episodes
- 77
- Approximate location
- 29.911, -90.052
Episode 77 / 18 July 2018 / 142 min / full
Tortured To Elvis
"This week, in Gretna, Louisiana ... it's in Jefferson Parish, which is the parishes or like a county down there." about 0:06:09
The case: Murder of Francis Arwood (September 1979). Read the case file.
The figures, as told in 2018
- Population
- 17,880
- Median age
- about 36.2
- Median household income
- $34,158
- Median home value
- $145,900
- Two-bedroom rent
- $1,070
- Cost of living
- 91
- Religious
- about 54%
- Adult arrests made by the Gretna Police Department in 2013
- 656
- Arrests per resident
- ▲ a little more than one for every three residents
- Arrest rate
- ▲ 14 times
- Property crime
- ▲ 10 to 15% higher
- Violent crime
- ▲ about 20% higher
History, in brief
- Gretna was settled in 1836 and was originally called Mechanicsham. about 0:09:15
- It grew as a station on the Mississippi, with railroads running in and out and a ferry across the river to New Orleans. about 0:09:39
- A wealthy landowner named Nicholas Knowle Destrahan hired a surveyor to divide the riverside land; the original plan was a symmetrical settlement two blocks wide. about 0:09:58
- German immigrants settled there in numbers. about 0:10:20
- The St Mary's Market Steam Ferry Company began running ferries across the river. about 0:10:42
- Zatarains, the rice and spice company, was founded in Gretna in 1889. about 0:11:15
- The town was incorporated in 1913 and absorbed part of another Jefferson Parish town called McDunna. about 0:12:18
- The Mississippi River Bridge to New Orleans opened in 1958. about 0:12:29
- The West Bank Expressway cut through residential neighbourhoods and the population grew once commuters no longer had to take the ferry. about 0:12:40
- After Hurricane Katrina in 2005, people trying to walk across the bridge into Gretna were turned back at gunpoint by armed residents and police who fired warning shots. about 0:14:50
- One woman said she believed the group was turned away because it was 95% African American. about 0:16:44
- Gretna has been called the arrest capital of the United States. about 0:16:49
- Parts of the film Monster's Ball were filmed in Gretna. about 0:17:18
- People from Gretna include football players Ike Taylor and Eddie Lacey, baseball hall of famer Mel Ott and Western star Lash La Rue. about 0:17:31
Nearest Small Town Murder towns
- Marrero, Louisiana4.1 miles
- LaPlace, Louisiana28 miles
- Houma, Louisiana46 miles
- Gulfport, Mississippi68 miles
- Biloxi, Mississippi76 miles
- Wiggins, Mississippi85 miles
Everything here is as told in the episode, on the date it went out; figures and places may have changed since. Endings are covered: open an episode and use the spoiler switch to read them.