[2] According to the United States Census Bureau, the district has a total area of 0.72 square miles (1.9 km2).

[4] The Gentilly Woods subdivision was developed in the early 1950s, in an area adjacent to the Higgins Shipyards, which was located on the Industrial Canal.

At the factory there were homes constructed of plywood that employees were reported to have occupied during the war effort, they were aptly named Higgins Huts.

Crawford and Associates began work, in early 1951, with a plan to construct more than 1400 homes designed to meet the booming post-war housing market.

Land was secured along Gentilly Boulevard for a shopping center, to serve the new community, and approximately 12 acres (49,000 m2) were reserved for school (Saint Gabriel the Archangel and W.C.C.