{"id":9788,"date":"2026-07-04T07:23:57","date_gmt":"2026-07-04T07:23:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/oddusee.com\/nola\/hano-listing\/press-park\/"},"modified":"2026-07-04T07:23:57","modified_gmt":"2026-07-04T07:23:57","slug":"press-park","status":"publish","type":"cpt_hano","link":"https:\/\/oddusee.com\/nola\/hano-listing\/press-park\/","title":{"rendered":"Press Park"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Press Park \u2014 The History<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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1970s \u2013 present<\/h4>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\ud83d\udccd Directions to Pontchartrain Park<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\"Press<\/p>

Press Park was built in the early 1970s in the Pontchartrain Park area of Gentilly, and its story is a little different from the big brick projects across the city. It grew up next to Pontchartrain Park, one of the first suburban-style neighborhoods created for African American families in the segregated South, a place that attracted Black homeowners, professionals, and educators at a time when so many doors were closed to them.<\/p>

The neighborhood takes its name from Press Street, one of the two curving roads, along with Congress Drive, that wrap around the park at the center of the community. Pontchartrain Park itself, an amoeba-shaped green space of about 183 acres, gave the area its identity, with ball fields, a golf course, and gathering spots that anchored community life.<\/p>

Press Park was designed with a forward-thinking idea for its time. Rather than being only rental apartments, it was meant to offer families a real path toward owning their own homes. For working families, that promise of ownership was powerful, a chance to build something lasting and pass it down to their children.<\/p>

Life in Press Park and Pontchartrain Park was proud and close-knit. Neighbors knew each other, kids grew up together on the same streets, and the community held its own events, celebrations, and traditions. Gentilly Fest, held in Pontchartrain Park, became a neighborhood staple, bringing people together for music, food, and fellowship year after year.<\/p>

The area carried real significance in New Orleans history. Pontchartrain Park was added to the National Register of Historic Places, a recognition of its role as a pioneering Black community in the South. Families put down roots there for generations, and many of the children raised in and around Press Park went on to become leaders, professionals, and culture bearers.<\/p>

Like much of Gentilly, Press Park and the surrounding neighborhood were hit hard by the flooding after Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The storm scattered many families and left lasting scars, and the recovery was long and difficult. Still, the community fought to come back, and much of the area has been rebuilt in the years since.<\/p>

Press Park stands as a reminder that public housing in New Orleans was not only about the biggest developments. It was also about neighborhoods like this one, built on the dream of ownership and the strength of a proud Black community in Gentilly.<\/p>

What made Press Park and Pontchartrain Park special was the pride of ownership and achievement that ran through the community. This was a neighborhood where Black families could own homes, send their children to good schools, and build wealth to pass down, at a time when the rest of the country worked hard to deny them those chances. That legacy shaped generations.<\/p>

The community also carried a deep sense of togetherness. Neighbors organized, celebrated, and looked out for one another, and the traditions built there, from block gatherings to Gentilly Fest, kept the bonds strong. Even after Katrina scattered so many families, that spirit brought people back and pulled the neighborhood through the long recovery.<\/p>

Press Park and Pontchartrain Park proved that a Black community in New Orleans could build, own, and thrive, even against the weight of segregation. That achievement is worth remembering and celebrating, and the pride it created still lives in the families who came from there. Their story is a New Orleans story, a Gentilly story, and an American story of resilience.<\/p>

This page is here to honor that story. Part of the community still stands today, and the families who came up in Press Park and Pontchartrain Park remain connected. This is a place to remember the history, reconnect with the people, hold reunions, and pass the pride of Gentilly on to the next generation.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"featured_media":9974,"template":"","hano-category":[577],"class_list":["post-9788","cpt_hano","type-cpt_hano","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","hano-category-press-park"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/oddusee.com\/nola\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cpt_hano\/9788","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/oddusee.com\/nola\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cpt_hano"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/oddusee.com\/nola\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/cpt_hano"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/oddusee.com\/nola\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cpt_hano\/9788\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oddusee.com\/nola\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9974"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/oddusee.com\/nola\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9788"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"hano-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oddusee.com\/nola\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hano-category?post=9788"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}