In 1909 the Governor of Louisiana, Jared Y. Sanders Sr., visited Covington to give a speech to the statewide meeting of the Louisiana Press Association. Here are a few excerpts from that speech...
St. Tammany Farmer-May 15, 1909
GOVERNOR'S ADDRESS Delivered Before Louisiana Press Association.
Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen: I see that I am down on the bill of fare to welcome the delegates of this Association to Covington. I presume that this pleasure has been extended to me for the reason that I am a quasi-resident of this Parish and of this town of Covington.
It is not necessary for me to say tnat the people of St. Tammany Parish and of the Town of Covington welcome the delegates of this Convention most heartily. I believe what we have already seen and what the good people have in store for us speaks for the hospitality of these good people better than any words of mine could express.
We are glad to have you here in Covington, because we would like to have all the people of the State of Louisiana know what this splendid parish is and has and hopes to be.
In the trip you all took to-day, you rode on the first trolley line that has ever been built through any rural community in the State of Louisiana.
You also took a trip on one of the fastest boats there ever was and over one of the most beautiful and picturesque rivers. You went up the most beautiful Tchefuncta river to one of the greatest industrial lumber mills in this section of this State. That is some of the few things that you have seen in Covington and St. Tammany Parish.
If every delegate of this meeting would devote twelve hours a day he would find when he left here that there was a great many of the beauties of this town and parish that he had not visited.
Covington is the healthiest spot in the world, so accredited and said to be by those in authority in that line. Here they have the pure water, and I am told, other things to drink, and the forests are full of ozone.
When you go back home we want you to take back with you pleasant memories of your stay in our town. While you are here everything is yours. If you want anything and you don't have it ask for it, because if Covington and Covington people are renowned for anything it is for their kindness and hospitality.
