Metairie (/ˈmɛtəri/ MET-ər-ee) is a census-designated place (CDP)
in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, United States, and is part of the New
Orleans metropolitan area. With a population at the 2010 census of
138,481, Metairie is the largest community in Jefferson Parish and the
fifth-largest CDP in the United States. It is an unincorporated area
that would be Louisiana's fourth-largest city if it were
incorporated.Métairie (French: [me.tÉ›.Ê i]) is the French term for a
small tenant farm which paid the landlord with a share of the produce,
a practice also known as sharecropping (in French, métayage). In the
1760s, many of the original French farmers were tenants; after the
Civil War, the majority of the community's inhabitants were
sharecroppers until urbanization started in the 1910s.Métairie
(French: [me.tÉ›.Ê i]) is the French term for a small tenant farm
which paid the landlord with a share of the produce, a practice also
known as sharecropping (in French, métayage). In the 1760s, many of
the original French farmers were tenants; after the Civil War, the
majority of the community's inhabitants were sharecroppers until
urbanization started in the 1910s.In the 1720s, French settlers became
the first Europeans to settle Metairie in the area known then as
Tchoupitoulas and now as Metairie Ridge, a natural levee formed by an
ancient branch of the Mississippi River, Bayou Metairie, which flowed
through modern-day River Ridge, Metairie, Gentilly, and New Orleans
East. It emptied into Mississippi Sound. The Acolapissa Native
Americans used this ridge as a road; it is the oldest road in the New
Orleans area. Paved in the 1920s, it is called Metairie Road. An
electric streetcar was installed running along Metairie Road in the
late 1910s, opening the area to greater development. Upscale housing
tracts were constructed off the road in the 1920s; this area is now
known as "Old Metairie". It is today the most prestigious area of
Metairie. The areas to the north and northwest of Metairie Road were
not developed until after World War II. The land between Metairie
Ridge and Lake Pontchartrain, which was cypress swamps and marshlands,
was drained with the Wood Pump. With development of this new land for
residences, Metairie's population grew in the 1940s as a result of
cheaper land, lower taxes, and larger lots as compared to Orleans
Parish.The 1947 Fort Lauderdale hurricane, with winds of 125 mph (201
km/h), directly hit Metairie. Much of the community was under 6 feet
(1.8 m) of water. Metairie, Louisiana Top Movies & Young Movies