Sixteen years ago, in 2006 (one year after Hurricane Katrina) Elizabeth Adkins Ormsby of Slidell put together a 34 page booklet telling a little about Slidell's history, its personalities, and how the hurricane had threatened the community. The project was part of a college senior report.
With her permission, I have scanned the booklet, and it is available for download.
The Beginning: Pre-Incorporation
The area around the city of Slidell first was home to Native Americans. These consisted of Choctaw, Bayougoula, and other small tribes such as the Acolopissa.
These Indians either moved west to escape the further encroachment of white settlers or died due to new diseases introduced by these settlers. In the early eighteenth century, a few intrepid French explorers settled along the banks of Bayou Bonfouca and Bayou Liberty (Ellis 15).
The first recorded settler is Pierre Brou, an Indian trader, and Bertrand Jaffre, who owned a pitch and tar works where Bayou Bonfouca and Bayou Liberty connect (Ellis 17). Jaffre, other wise known as "La Liberte,"is the namesake for Bayou Liberty (Ellis 17).
Other early settlers' names consist of Francois Hery, a planter who also owned a tar works near Jaffre's (Ellis 17). Settlers utilized the early Northshore, for its natural resources such as tar, pine, bricks, and prime cattle grazing lands. Smuggling was another prime occupation noted for the area.
In August 4, 1812, when the United States government added the Florida Parishes to Louisiana, the population of St. Tammany Parish was 1,700 free people and 300 slaves (Ellis 22). A few large landholders in the Slidell area were Gusman (or Guzman), Cousin, and Plauche. John Gusman inherited approximately 5000 acres in the Slidell area namely around south Slidell and Eden Isles (Ellis 61).
These landholders received their grants from the five different countries that presided over the Florida Parishes and even today, some are contested in courts, as they were greatly in the past. The streets in Slidell's Old Towne are named after these landholders and prominent families. These settlers were living in an unincorporated area until 1882 when railroad interests showed up in the Slidell area.
The Beginning: Small Town
The New Orleans and Northeastern Railroad (N.O.N.E.) was searching for an area of high ground between New Orleans and Meridian, Mississippi to establish a railroad (Fritchie 13). Once this prime area was discovered, the large forests surrounding the area proved significantly vital.
The timbers were used to create the enormous railway trestle that would connect New Orleans and Slidell. The immediate industry that sprang up was the Creosote plant, used to preserve the timbers, which was dismantled in the early 1990's due to health problems in the area.
"The creosote process began with soaking and boiling the timbers in oil, then, under pressure, the oil was forced into the heated wood (Ellis 51)." Baron Frederick Erlanger, the financier of the railroad project, married the politician John Slidell's daughter and named the city for his deceased father-in-law.
The engineer who designed the layout of the town was Mr. G. Bouscaren who has a street named after him, same as Fremaux for the surveyor, Colonel Leon Fremaux.
Slidell officially became a Louisiana city on November 13, 1888 (Fritchie 14). A few industries that developed were the Salmen brickyard as well as the Salmen shipyard. The Salmen brothers also established a short railroad extending to Lacombe for their shipping interests.
They also dabbled in quite a number of interests such as: Slidell Shipbuilding Co., Gulf Coast Transport Co., Forest Products Co., and Slidell Live Stocks and Farms Co. (Fritchie 28). Another shipyard in use during Slidell's early years was the Canulette shipyard. During World War I, the shipyards in Slidell made a significant contribution to the war effort.
During the depression, the hard times were felt especially in the shipyard because they lost numerous government contracts. The St. Joe brickyard near modern Pearl River is still in use and designated as a historical place on the National Historic Register (Fritchie 16).
A few early influential and involved citizens were the Perillouxs, Neuhausers, and Roberts. The Perilloux family owned a saloon and were members of the prominent citizenry. Mr. Neuhauser, a railroad employee, established the Neuhauser store and was still a prominent member of society until the 1970's when the family name died out.
The Robert family had retained vast amounts of land in the Slidell area and the name Robert Street is dedicated to that family.
The area where these families established themselves are in Slidell's oldest sections of town. Many of these families have been forgotten as Slidell has grown at an incredible rate.
Mrs. Brugier-Jahraus who was a prominent real estate agent donated the land for Slidell High School and St. Tammany Hospital, now Slidell Memorial Hospital. The prominent physician, Mr. J. Feaston Polk, was also a member of the United States Navy.
The Carollo family originated in Palermo, Italy and arrived in the United States to develop interests in the Slidell area such as the Arcade theatre. Mr. Peter Pravata operated the first auto sales lot and expanded to include a full automotive garage.
The Pravata brothers also operated the first fire station upon their own benefit.
In the 1960's and 70's, as the United States began and expanded its space program, Slidell received numerous population booms. Michoud in New Orleans, John C. Stennis Space Center in Mississippi, and DESA in Slidell contributed to the rapid growth the area experienced.
The growth from the early 1980's to present day is amazing, yet also sad because the rapid urbanization of the area will not be stifled in the least. Unfortunately,
the growth is so quick and immense that the area is not always able to keep up and frequently traffic and other problems arise. Another contribution to growth was the development of three major interstates in Slidell. 1-10, 1-12, and 1-59 all connect in the southeast corner of the city. This critical development is emphasized in the city's flag.
The most recent devastation the area experienced was Hurricane Katrina. The Category 5 hurricane tore through New Orleans and the Gulf Coast, hitting Slidell, situated in between, immensely hard. Many subdivisions were erased due to the immense storm surge and tree damage was widespread.
The city has made a strong comeback, but areas such as Old Towne greatly feel the effects with the majority of the homes and businesses still closed.
As of 2000, the population of Slidell (including the unincorporated areas) is 25, 695. This has also greatly changed due to Hurricane Katrina with an influx of people from the New Orleans area. An interesting example of the effects of Katrina, is the local Wal-Marts are no longer operating twenty-four hours due to a personnel shortage, which many businesses are experiencing.
Bibliography
Culpeper, "farewell to "rat's nest road"." Home Builder 2(1972): 8.
Ellis, Dan. Slidell "Camellia City". first. 1999.
Fritchie, Jr., Charles J. . Notes on Slidell History. first . Slidell: Guardians of
Slidell History, 1999.
Threlkeld, Scott. "Slidell: 100 Years and Growing." The Times Picayune.
Gilger, Kristin. "1988-1989 Photo Calendar Slidell." The Times Picayune.
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Acknowledgements
Thank you to the Slidell Museum for being immensely helpful and patient as I used a good bit of their time. Mrs. Carol Wolfram from The Times Picayune Tammany Talk. She gave me her free time in an endeavor to help.
The Slidell Museum
Mrs. Maris Pravata Leitz, an especial thank you for loaning your father's papers to a mere college student. Without them I would have been lost.
Slidell's First Fire Station
Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church
The Slidell Train Station
The Triangle Service Station
