Slidell, Louisiana
Encyclopedia : S : SL : SLI : Slidell, Louisiana
Geography
Slidell is located at (30.279040, -89.777744)[Geographic references#1GR1].According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 31.4 km² (12.1 mi²). 30.5 km² (11.8 mi²) of it is land and 0.8 km² (0.3 mi²) of it (2.64%) is water.
History
In 1882, the New Orleans and Northeastern Railroad began construction on a new railroad connecting New Orleans to Cincinnati, Ohio through Meridian, Mississippi. One of the building camps on the shore of Lake Pontchartrain continued to expand well after the completion of the railroad, and was eventually chartered as a city by the Louisiana State Legislature in 1888.
Though he supposedly never set foot in the town, Slidell takes its name from John Slidell, Confederate revolutionary, major figure in the Trent Affair, and father-in-law to Baron Erlanger, head of the banking syndicate which financed the railroad. Colonel Leon Fremaux drew up the original plans for the city, naming the largest street for Erlanger and a smaller for himself. Ironically, Fremaux Avenue is now a major artery, far overshadowing Erlanger Avenue.
Around 1910, Slidell began a period of economic and industrial growth. A large creosote plant was built, and Slidell became home to St Joe's, a major producer of bricks. A lumber mill and shipyard were also built. With the coming of Interstate highways 10 and 12, Slidell found itself at a major crossroads, becoming a popular overnight stop for travelers who did not want to stay in New Orleans.
With the advent of the U.S. space program the 1960s, the New Orleans area became a hotbed of activity. The opening of NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility, the John C. Stennis Space Center in nearby Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, and a NASA computer center on Gause Boulevard nearly tripled Slidell's population over a period of ten years, as Slidell found itself becoming a major suburb.
Slidell hosts several parade krewes each Carnival season, and is the westernmost outpost of the moon pie as a significant Mardi Gras throw.
Slidell is also the location of the National Weather Service forecast office for greater New Orleans. Rather than using the airport codes of ASD and KASD for the existing Slidell Airport, or NEW and KNEW for the original downtown airport, or even MSY and KMSY for the international airport, NWSFO Slidell uses IATA airport code LIX and ICAO airport code KLIX, despite not corresponding to any actual airport.
Hurricane Katrina
Slidell suffered damage from the effects of Hurricane Katrina which hit the region on August 29 2005. In various parts of the town, damage ranged from significant to devastating. According to maps in the Hurricane Katrina special issue of National Geographic, the storm's eye passed directly over Picayune, MS, less the 20 miles away. Reports say the town was hit by a huge storm surge and that there were around 1,000 dead fish in the city streets. The Old Town and lakefront areas of the city were hit especially hard with many buildings taking on 8 feet (very conservative estimate) of water from the storm surge. The storm surge completely leveled many of the houses in the large and prestigious Oak Harbor and Eden Isles subdivisions (see photos). Most of old fishing camps that lined the lakefront north and south of I-10 were all but erased, with only the wood pilings remaining.
Transportation
Amtrak's daily Crescent train connects Slidell with the cities of New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, Charlotte, Atlanta, Birmingham and New Orleans. The Amtrak train station is situated at 1827 Front Street. Slidell is located on the southeast corner of the intersection of I-10, I-12 and I-59, between I-10 and U.S. Highway 11. "The Twin Span" is the name given to the two bridges, each part of I-10, that run from Slidell over Lake Pontchartrain to New Orleans East. They were built in the 1960's, and because of extensive damage to the west-bound span in Hurricane Katrina, plans of new construction are underway and set to begin in the latter part of 2006. The new bridges will be built alongside the existing span and is expected to be completed in 2010. Each span will consist of three lanes instead of two.Demographics
As of the census[Geographic references#2GR2] of 2000, there were 25,695 people, 9,480 households, and 7,157 families residing in the city. The population density was 841.5/km² (2,178.5/mi²). There were 10,133 housing units at an average density of 131.8/km² (859.1/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 83.13% White, 13.56% African American, 0.49% Native American, 0.72% Asian, 2.05% Hungarian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 0.62% from other races, and 1.43% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.67% of the population.There were 9,480 households out of which 36.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.4% were married couples living together, 14.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 24.5% were non-families. 20.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.67 and the average family size was 3.09.
In the city the population was spread out with 27.0% under the age of 18, 7.6% from 18 to 24, 28.5% from 25 to 44, 23.3% from 45 to 64, and 13.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 92.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.0 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $42,856, and the median income for a family was $48,298. Males had a median income of $40,211 versus $26,050 for females. The per capita income for the city was $19,947. About 9.5% of families and 11.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 17.6% of those under age 18 and 7.9% of those age 65 or over.
Education
Public schools in Slidell are operated by the St. Tammany Parish Public SchoolsFamous people from Slidell
- Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown: world-famous multi-instrumentalist and Grammy Award winner (1924-2005)
- Tony Canzoneri: world boxing champion
- Chacko George: teen Jeopardy! champion
- Chris Duhon: former Duke University point guard and current Chicago Bulls starting point guard; helped Duke to the 2001 NCAA men's basketball championship.
- Lee Harvey Oswald: defector to the USSR in 1959. Suspected assassin of John F. Kennedy.
External links
- [Photographs of Hurricane Katrina's destruction in Slidell] from davidmetraux.com
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