In 1930, the St. Tammany chamber of commerce was sending out this map and area community information.
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Text from the above printed material:
FACTS ABOUT ST. TAMMANY PARISH
(from a 1930 Chamber of Commerce information sheet)
St. Tammany Parish (County) is one of the larger of the Southeast Louisiana parishes, adjoining the State of Mississippi at the Gulf Coast. It is one of the oldest settled communities in the state and originally was a part of West Florida. It is comprised in the district known as the Florida Parishes.
St. Tammany Parish forms almost the entire upper or north shore of Lake Pontchartrain opposite New Orleans, which is about twenty miles distant. It is connected with that city by three railroads, highways and ferries.
There is every opportunity in St. Tammany for the investor and homeseeker when its wonderful natural advantages and beauty are considered along with its proximity to New Orleans, the South's largest city.
St. Tammany Parish is the most healthful spot in America. It includes within its confines the world-famous Ozone Belt, and its water supply from springs and artesian wells is abundant and pure. Waters from some of its springs are bottled and widely distributed for their medicinal qualities. Many people are attracted to the Parish because of its general healthfulness. The death rate in St. Tammany is only 9.3 or 1,000, including nonresidents, compared with 14.5 for California; 14.6 for Florida; 11.8 for Mississippi; 18.2 for Louisiana as a whole; 14.67 for the United States as a whole.
The maximum of outdoor life may be enjoyed in St. Tammany in fishing, bathing and boating on its numerous fresh water streams and on Lake Pontchartrain (salt), golfing, automobiling over its two hundred miles of improved highways and hunting. Its streams and the lake offer a paradise for the fisherman and in the hunting season there is an abundance of game. Many of the streams are navigable far in to the interior and offer beautiful scenic trips and harbors for the yachtsman. The map on the reverse of this page shows the streams.
St. Tammany Parish with its nearly two hundred miles of hard surfaced highways has the most complete system of good roads of any Parish in Louisiana. Practically every section of the Parish already is reached by a good road and recent bond elections have provided for the construction of several new highways that will complete the Parish system.
In addition to the Parish highways there are trunk lines that connect with the principal State and National highways or form parts of them. The highway system is shown in red lines on the map.
The principal towns of St Tammany are Covington, the Parish seat of government, business center and from which radiate highways to all sections of the Parish; Slidell, industrial center at which are located a number of large manufacturing enterprises and a ship building plant; Madisonville, center of the strawberry and rice industry of the Parish, deep water harbor and location of a ship building plant; Mandeville, on Lake Pontchartrain, one of the most popular all-year resorts in the Gulf section; and Abita Springs, noted throughout the country as a health resort because of the purity and curative quality of its waters. All of these places offer delightful surroundings for the homeseeker. Good hotel accommodations also are available.
Soils throughout the Parish are productive of a wide variety of farm products, vegetables and fruit. The drainage is excellent because of the numerous water courses that run through the Parish. The principal staple farm products include cotton, cern, sugar cane, rice and potatoes. There are approximately 570,000 acres of land in the Parish including about 150,000 acres of merchantable standing timber. The greater part of the remainder of this land is subject to agricultural development. The mean annual temperature of St. Tammany is 66.9 degrees and the average annual rainfall is 61 inches.
Truck farming in St. Tammany has proven very profitable and large quantities of beans, sweet peppers, canteloupes and water melons are shipped to outside markets annually, besides the supply for the local markets throughout the Parish.
Strawberries
Strawberries have become one of the most profitable crops raised in St. Tammany and last season were moved in car lots. One of the largest strawberry farms in the South is located in the Parish. Strawberries raised here command top price's. Buyers are located in the Parish which insures immediate cash sales.
Satsuma oranges grow to perfection in St. Tammany and will be shipped during the coming season in car lots as several large orchards will come into full bearing this year. There are more than 50,000 grove trees in the Parish and more than 10 ,000 nursery stock trees awaiting replanting.
Pecans, pears, peaches,, several varieties of grapes and figs are grown successfully for commercial use.
The poultry industry is developing rapidly in St. Tammany and already there are several large farms. Most of these are devoted to the sale of baby chicks and breeding stock. The New Orleans market will take all the poultry and eggs raised here as much of the supply for that city comes from outside the State.
Except for local consumption the dairy industry is only partially developed.
Forage crops, including alfalfa, grow to perfection in many portions of the Parish and ideal locations may be found for the establishment of large dairy enterprises. The New Orleans market will consume all the dairy products produced here.
There is ample range well stocked with grasses and the sheep and cattle industry is proving profitable.
Bees
One of the new industries in the Parish is bee culture. One enterprise alone will ship more than 50,000 queen bees and packages of bees during the coming season. Bee experts from government agencies declare conditions are ideal in this Parish for the propagation of bees.
Industrial opportunities include ideal locations for a large electric plant, extension of brick and tile manufacturing plants, extension of plants for the manufacture of turpentine and tar products from pine logs and stumps taken from cut over land, creamery, fruit and vegetable canning plants.
The Illinois Central Railroad, New Orleans Great Northern Railroad and the Southern Railway serve St. Tammany and give excellent service in moving its products to markets. In another year the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad will be operating its trains into and through the Parish.
Electric power already is available in all of the towns and many rural communities. The lines will be extended to cover other sections at an early date.
One of the best public school systems in Louisiana is maintained for the full term of nine months. Modern school buildings have been provided and there is every facility to give children educational advantages through high school. High schools are conveniently located in the Parish as well as grammar schools. There are also private and denominational schools at several points.
Churches of the leading denominations are located at the principal points in the Parish and in several rural sections.
Banking houses with resources exceeding $3,000,000.00 are available at five points in the Parish, and there are building and loan associations with ample funds to assist home builders.
For any further information, write
ST.
TAMMANY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE,
TAMMANY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE,
Covington, Louisiana
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