Slidell, Louisiana

"Slidell" redirects here. For the politician, see John Slidell.

Slidell (Template:PronEng) is a city situated on the northeast shore of Lake Pontchartrain in St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 25,695 at the 2000 census. The Greater Slidell Community has a population of about 90,000. It is part of the New Orleans–Metairie–Kenner Metropolitan Statistical Area.

History

Beginning

Slidell was founded on the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain in 1882 and 1883 during construction of the New Orleans and Northeastern Railroad (N.O.N.E.). The N.O.N.E. line connected New Orleans to Meridian, Mississippi. The town was named in honor of American politician John Slidell, father in law of real estate developer Baron Frederic Emile d'Erlanger and officially chartered by the Louisiana State Legislature in 1888.

Twentieth Century

The city of Slidell celebrated its centennial in 1988

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. Following the construction of Interstate 10, Interstate 59, and Interstate 12, Slidell became a major crossroads for those traversing the Gulf States.

In 1915, the creosote plant burned to the ground killing 55 workers and 3 firefighters. The plant was rebuilt on Bayou Lane, closer to a water source and closer to a fire station. Eventually, creosote polluted the bayou which was a source of drinking water for many of Slidell's residents. The creosote plant was abandoned in 1986 and then became an EPA Superfund site. The canal was dredged and waste incinerated until completion of the cleanup in 1996. At that time a boat launch was built and Heritage Park was constructed on the former site.

With the advent of the U.S. space program in the 1960s, NASA opened the Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, the John C. Stennis Space Center in nearby Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, and a NASA computer center on Gause Boulevard. This nearly tripled Slidell's population over a period of ten years, and the city became a major suburb of New Orleans. Slidell is also the location of the National Weather Service forecast office for greater New Orleans.

The city hosts several parade krewes each Carnival season.

Slidell suffered extensive damage from the effects of Hurricane Katrina as the storm made final landfall in St. Tammany Parish, LA and Hancock County, MS on the morning of August 29, 2005. Although the municipal area is located about 2 miles (3.2 km) inland, parts of the city experienced a storm surge in excess of 10 feet (3.0 m). The unincorporated areas of St. Tammany Parish, to the south and east, often commonly referred to as Slidell, experienced a storm surge of 13–16 feet (4.0–4.9 m).

Geography

Slidell is located at 30°16′45″N 89°46′40″W (30.279040, -89.777744)Template:GR and has an elevation of 3 feet (0.9 m)Template:GR. It is at the southeastern tip of St. Tammany Parish in Louisiana's Ozone Belt and is approximately three miles from the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 12.1 square miles (31.4 km²), of which, 11.8 square miles (30.5 km²) of it is land and 0.3 square miles (0.8 km²) of it (2.64%) is water.

Climate

Slidell has a humid subtropical climate, with short, generally mild winters (slightly colder than the Southshore part of the New Orleans area) and hot, humid summers. Precipitation in winter usually accompanies the passing of a cold front. Hurricanes also pose a threat to the area, and the city is vulnerable because of its low elevation.

Climate data for Slidell, LA
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Source:

Demographics

As of the censusTemplate:GR of 2000, there were 25,695 people, 9,480 households, and 7,157 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,178.5 people per square mile (841.5/km²). There were 10,133 housing units at an average density of 859.1/sq mi (131.8/km²). 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.

Of the 9,480 households, 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 Schools. There are three public high schools in Slidell: Northshore High School, Salmen High School, and Slidell High School, and two private high schools: Pope John Paul II High School (affiliated with the Catholic church) and First Baptist Christian School.

Transportation

Amtrak's daily Crescent connects Slidell with New York City; Philadelphia, PA; Baltimore, MD; Washington, D.C.; Charlotte, NC; Atlanta, GA; Birmingham, AL and New Orleans, LA. The Amtrak station is situated on Front Street.

Slidell is located on the southwest corner of the intersection of I-10, I-12 and I-59 and U.S. Highway 11. The I-10 Twin Span Bridge runs from Slidell over Lake Pontchartrain to New Orleans East.

Rather than using the airport codes of ASD and KASD for the existing Slidell Airport, or NEW and KNEW for the original New Orleans Lakefront Airport, or even MSY and KMSY for the Louis Armstrong International Airport, NWSFO Slidell uses IATA airport code "LIX" and ICAO airport code "KLIX" despite not corresponding to any actual airport.

Famous Slidellians

• Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown: world-famous multi-instrumentalist and Grammy Award winner (1924-2005)
• Tony Canzoneri: world boxing champion
• Arthur Chevrolet: Co-founder of the automobile company that bears his name and participant in the inaugural Indianapolis 500. Suffering from depression, Chevrolet retired to Slidell, Louisiana where he later committed suicide in 1946.
• Chris Duhon: former Duke University point guard and current New York Knicks starting point guard; helped Duke to the 2001 NCAA men's basketball championship.
• The Residents: secretive avant-garde music group (who originally claimed to be from Shreveport).
• Mike Fontenot: 2nd baseman for Chicago Cubs. Played college baseball at Louisiana State University.
• John Besh: Chef and owner of LaProvence Restaurant, Restaurant August and Luke. Recently was a finalist on the Food Network show Iron Chef America.
• Juvenile: famous southern rapper, whose home was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina.
• Rich Clementi: Mixed martial arts fighter and UFC veteran who trains and resides in Slidell.
• Matt Forté: Running back for Chicago Bears. Played at Tulane University in New Orleans and Slidell High School.
• P.J. Brown: NBA basketball player.
• Xavier Paul: Outfielder for the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Slidell in the media

• Bayou Liberty is featured in a boat chase scene in the 1973 James Bond film Live and Let Die when James Bond is chased in a motor boat by Dr. Kananga's henchmen in motor launches.
• Chacko George, who was a student at Northshore High School at the time, won the 2000 Jeopardy! Teen Tournament championship.
• Slidell is named in the Lucinda Williams song "Joy" from the 1998 Album Car Wheels on a Gravel Road.
• It is also the title of a song in the 2005 Grayson Capps album If you knew my mind.
• Slidell is mentioned in the song Lake Pontchartrain by Ludo.
• Slidell (boy) is mentioned in the song "Christmas Katie" from the 1999 Widespread Panic album "'Til the Medicine Takes".

External links

• City of Slidell
• St. Petersburg Times Travel article
• Photographs of Hurricane Katrina's destruction in Slidell
• Information About the City of Slidell