Gretna Green the marriage ceremony. The blacksmiths in Gretna became known as "anvil priests", culminating with Richard Rennison, who performed 5,147 ceremonies. The local blacksmith and his anvil became lasting symbols of Gretna Green weddings. Two in particular, The Old Blacksmith's Shop, built around 1712, and Gretna Hall Blacksmith's Shop (1710) became, in popular folklore at least, the focal tourist points for the marriage trade. The Old Blacksmith's Shop opened to the public as a visitor attraction as early as 1887. Victorian chronicler Robert Smith Surtees described Gretna Green at length in his 1848 "New Monthly Magazine" serial, "The Richest Commoner in
Jackson Avenue–Gretna Ferry utilized the ferry crossing until the 1955 Louisiana Highway renumbering, followed by the modern Louisiana Highway 23. The terminus of LA 23 has since been truncated to the west bank of the Mississippi River. The historic ferry route ended on September 28, 2009, replaced by the Gretna–Canal Street ferry route. The Gretna ferry's east bank landing temporarily shifted from Jackson Avenue to Canal Street, carrying only pedestrians and bicycles. The service was soon terminated, and the Gretna ferry terminal is currently (April, 2017) being converted into a river cruise ship terminal, which will be the home port for the French