The community of Gretna was established in 1838 when the St. Mary’s Market Steam Ferry Company purchased and divided a four-block-wide stretch immediately downriver from Mechanikham. Gretna’s streets were regularly laid in the same manner as Mechanikham, and its cross streets were numbered as they are today. An essential feature of the new development was its dedicated ferry landing located directly across the river from St. Mary’s Market in New Orleans.