Black Pearl, New Orleans

Black Pearl, New Orleans

Black Pearl is a neighborhood of the city of New Orleans. A subdistrict of the Uptown/Carrollton Area, its boundaries as defined by the City Planning Commission are: South Carrollton Avenue and St. Charles Avenue to the north, Lowerline, Perrier and Broadway Streets to the east, and the Mississippi River to the west.

Through the 1960s the local African-American population referred to the area as "Niggertown." Evidence of the old moniker can be occasionally seen today in the form of "N-Town" graffiti. The name "Black Pearl" was introduced in the 1970s, being derived from the historically majority Black population and the name of "Pearl Street".

Most of the neighborhood is a section of what was the town of Carrollton, Louisiana in the 19th century; the designated neighborhood boundaries also include a portion downriver of Lowerline Street that was part of the town of Greenville. This later part includes "Uptown Square", a shopping mall complex more recently mostly converted to offices and residences.

This area on high ground escaped the Hurricane Katrina flooding suffered by most of the city in 2005. However a tornado strike in the early morning hours of February 13, 2007 did significant damage.