St. Tammany Past and Present

St. Tammany Native American Settlements

Pierre le Moyne, Sieur de Iberville Early European to explore the in the area.

Over 100 years ago tourists crossed Lake Ponchartrain by steamboat and then a surrey or "tallyho" from Mandeville to Abita Springs and Covington and beyond. The entire trip from New Orleans would take over 5 hours.

Pictured here are travelers walking to and from a steamer that is docked on a pier at Mandeville.

Lake Pontchartrain Causeway

There were many public and private pools that took advantage of the natural springs in St. Tammany Parish.

Mandeville Lakefront Today

This is a photo of an old train ticket from 1874 Try to imagine what the area was like -- in the early 1900's there were over 800 hotel rooms and the trains could bring in over 400 people at a time.

Soon streetcars and trolleys were built to speed the tourist to their destinations from the steam boat piers. The first real train arrived in the late 1880's.

The hotels in the Abita Springs Hotel could accommodate thousands of travelers each night.

Abita Springs Standard Oil Gas Station

Driving oxen in downtown Covington.

There were many hotels at the beginning of the 1900s.

Covington’s Southern Hotel

Downtown Covington Today

Besides having a great tourist industry, St. Tammany Parish also it's citizens making a living from farming, trapping, logging, and as pictured here, making turpentine. Extensive, aggressive logging went on in St. Tammany Parish from the 1850's into the 1900's.

Folsom Attraction

Madisonville Maritime Museum

Mandeville Trailhead

Pearl River Town Hall

View of Slidell’s First Street in the early 1900's

Slidell Heritage Park

Slidell’s Historical Markers

Lake Pontchartrain Boating

Swamp Tours

Pat Brister Parish President Jack Strain St. Tammany Sheriff