Harvey

History

During the French colonial era, the first owner of this land was Jean-Baptiste d'Estrehan de Beaupre, royal treasurer and comptroller for the French Louisiana colony. He established a plantation here. He used his slaves to dig the ditch that would become the Harvey Canal, cutting south from the banks of the Mississippi River to the back of Bayou Barataria, to provide better access. Years later, d'Estrehan paid German settlers in the area to work on widening the ditch; they used wooden shovels. He paid them with small parcels of land located downriver in Mechanicsham, now the city of Gretna. D'Estrehan built his home where the ditch met the river banks, naming the settlement "Cosmopolite City". Harvey was founded as a company town, developed by Joseph Hale Harvey (born March 7, 1816). During this time, Joseph Harvey would rename Cosmopolite City after his family surname. Harvey's wife, née Louise Destrehan, was a great-granddaughter of Jean Baptiste d'Estrehan. She was the daughter of Nicolas Noel d'Estrehan and granddaughter of Jean Noel Destréhan. Harvey and Destrehan initiated construction of the canal locks leading to the Mississippi. Their son, Horace Harvey (c. 1860–1938), carried on the development of the canal and its surroundings.

Geography

Harvey is located east of the Intracoastal Canal on the Mississippi River, at coordinates . It is bordered to the east by Gretna, to the west by Marrero, to the southwest by Woodmere, and to the north, across the Mississippi, by New Orleans. The closest highway crossing of the river is the Crescent City Connection northeast of Harvey. According to the United States Census Bureau, the Harvey CDP has a total area of , of which are land and , or 7.16%, are water.

Race & ethnicity

Largest nearby schools

• John Ehret High School
  High · Marrero · 1,579 students · 25.9:1 ratio
• West Jefferson High School
  High · Harvey · 1,524 students · 27.2:1 ratio
• East Jefferson High School
  High · Metairie · 1,348 students · 27:1 ratio
• Athlos Academy of Jefferson Parish
  Elementary · Terrytown · 1,194 students · 23:1 ratio
• Young Audiences Charter School
  Other · Gretna · 1,073 students · 16.8:1 ratio
• Riverdale High School
  High · Jefferson · 1,019 students · 23.7:1 ratio
• L.W. Higgins High School
  High · Marrero · 996 students · 27.7:1 ratio
• Helen Cox High School
  High · Harvey · 904 students · 24.4:1 ratio