Hammond is the largest city in Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana, United States, located east of

Baton Rouge Baton Rouge ( ; , ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It had a population of 227,470 at the 2020 United States census, making it List of municipalities in Louisiana, Louisiana's second-m ...

and northwest of

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

. Its population was 20,019 in the 2010 U.S. census, and 21,359 at the 2020

population estimates program The Population Estimates Program (PEP) is a program of the U.S. Census Bureau that publishes annual population estimates and estimates of birth, death, and international migration rates for people in the United States. In addition to publishing t ...

. Hammond is home to

Southeastern Louisiana University Southeastern Louisiana University (Southeastern) is a public university in Hammond, Louisiana. It was founded in 1925 by Linus A. Sims as Hammond Junior College. Sims succeeded in getting the campus moved to north Hammond in 1928, when it beca ...

. It is the principal city of the Hammond metropolitan statistical area, which includes all of Tangipahoa Parish and is a part of the Baton Rouge-Hammond combined statistical area.

History

Ponchatoula Creek Southeastern footbridge

19th century

The city is named for Peter Hammond (1798–1870), the surname anglicized from Peter av Hammerdal (Peter of Hammerdal) — a Swedish immigrant known as the first European settler, arriving around 1818. Peter, a sailor, had been briefly imprisoned by the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

Dartmoor Prison HM Prison Dartmoor is a Prison security categories in the United Kingdom, Category C men's prison, located in Princetown, England, Princetown, high on Dartmoor in the English county of Devon. Its high granite walls dominate this area of the mo ...

during the

Napoleonic Wars {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Napoleonic Wars , partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars , image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg , caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...

. He escaped during a prison riot, made his way back to sea, and later reached

. Hammond used his savings to buy then-inexpensive land northwest of Lake Pontchartrain. He developed a plantation to cultivate trees, which he made into masts, charcoal, and other products for the maritime industry in New Orleans. He transported the goods by oxcart to the head of navigation on the Natalbany River at Springfield. He held at least 30 enslaved African Americans before the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

. Hammond lost his wealth during the war, as Union soldiers raided his property. In 1854, the New Orleans, Jackson and Great Northern Railroad (later the Illinois Central Railroad, now

Canadian National Railway The Canadian National Railway Company () is a Canadian Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern and Southern United States. CN is Canada's largest railway, in terms of both revenue a ...

) came through the area, launching the town's emergence as a commercial and transport center. The point where the railroad met the trail to Springfield was at first known as Hammond's Crossing. During the Civil War, the city was a shoe-making center for the

Confederate States Army The Confederate States Army (CSA), also called the Confederate army or the Southern army, was the Military forces of the Confederate States, military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) duri ...

. Charles Emery Cate developed the shoe industry after buying land in the city in 1860 for his home, a shoe factory, a tannery, and a sawmill. Toward the end of the war, Cate laid out the town's grid, using the rail line as a guide and naming several of the streets after his sons. Also, Cate Street is named for him. After the Civil War, light industry and commercial activities were attracted to the town. By the end of the 19th century, Hammond had become a stopping point for northern rail passengers traveling south and for New Orleanians heading north to escape seasonal summer yellow fever outbreaks. The city later became a shipping point for strawberries. A state historical plaque downtown marks it as "Strawberry Capital of America".

20th and 21st centuries

In the 1920s, David William Thomas edited a weekly newspaper in Hammond prior to moving to

Minden Minden () is a middle-sized town in the very north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, the largest town in population between Bielefeld and Hanover. It is the capital of the district () of Minden-Lübbecke, situated in the cultural region ...

, the seat of Webster Parish. There, he was elected mayor in 1936. In 1932, Hodding Carter founded the ''Hammond Daily Courier'', which he left in 1939 to move to

Greenville, Mississippi Greenville is the List of municipalities in Mississippi, ninth-most populous city in the U.S. state of Mississippi, and the largest city by population in the Mississippi Delta region. It is the county seat of Washington County, Mississippi, Was ...

. The paper closed. Carter later received a

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prizes () are 23 annual awards given by Columbia University in New York City for achievements in the United States in "journalism, arts and letters". They were established in 1917 by the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made his fo ...

for his reporting on the Civil Rights Movement. In 1944, the Tangipahoa Parish Library – Hammond branch was established. Since 1959, '' The Daily Star'' has been Hammond's locally published daily newspaper. During World War II, the Hammond Airport (now Hammond Northshore Regional Airport) served as a detention camp for prisoners of war from

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

. Additionally, the U.S. Army established and used the Hammond Bombing and Gunnery Range east of the city. In the early 21st century, Army Corps of Engineers searched for remaining explosives in this area. Today, Hammond is intersected by Interstates 12 and 55. Its airport has a long runway which serves as a backup landing site for

Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport is an international airport under Class B airspace in the City of Kenner, Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, United States. It is owned by the City of New Orleans and is west of downtown New ...

. It is also a major training site for the Louisiana Army National Guard, and the home base for the Louisiana Air National Guard's 236th Combat Communications Squadron. About south of the city, on both the railroad and I–55, lies Port Manchac, which provides egress via Lake Pontchartrain to the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico () is an oceanic basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, mostly surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north, and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States; on the southw ...

. The combination of highway-rail-air-sea transportation has transformed modern Hammond from a strawberry capital to a transportation capital. The city hosts numerous warehouses and is a distribution point for

Walmart Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores in the United States and 23 other ...

and other major businesses.

in Hammond offers the state's only academic degree in

supply chain management In commerce, supply chain management (SCM) deals with a system of procurement (purchasing raw materials/components), operations management, logistics and marketing channels, through which raw materials can be developed into finished produc ...

. In 1953, John Desmond opened the first architectural firm in Hammond. He was chief architect of the Tangipahoa Parish School Board for some two decades before he relocated to

. Among the city's cultural resources is the Tangipahoa African American Heritage Museum. This is one of the destinations on the Louisiana African American Heritage Trail. Southeastern took over the Columbia Theatre in the designated Hammond Historic District to use as a downtown cultural venue. The former movie theater was constructed in 1928 and renovated by the university in the 1990s for $5.6 million. On August 29, 2021, Hammond suffered a direct strike by the eastern eyewall of Hurricane Ida. It dropped more than of rain, and caused severe flash flooding, and significant wind damage.

Geography

According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the city has a total area of , of which is land and 0.08% is water.

Climate

The climate in this area is characterized by hot, humid summers and generally mild to cool winters. According to the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

system, Hammond has a

humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a subtropical -temperate climate type, characterized by long and hot summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between ...

, ''Cfa'' on climate maps.

Demographics

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 19,584 people, 6,871 households, and 3,972 families residing in the city.

Education

(SLU), based in Hammond, is one of the state's regional universities and one of the city's largest employers. It was established in 1925 through the efforts of the educator Linus A. Sims, then principal of Hammond High School. The city is also home to Northshore Technical Community College. There are also two vocational colleges in the city, Petra College and Compass Career College, both of which offer allied health and medical certifications. The city's public schools are part of the Tangipahoa Parish School System and include Hammond High Magnet School, Hammond Junior High, Eastside Elementary, Westside Elementary, SLU Laboratory School, and Crystal Academy (an alternative school). The

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

operates two schools in Hammond: Holy Ghost Catholic School (pre-kindergarten through 8th grades) and Saint Thomas Aquinas High School, which is just north of the city. In addition, Trafton Academy (pre-K through 8th) and Oaks Montessori School (pre-K through 8th) are private schools serving area students. In 2018, press reports indicated that only 74% of the local population held high school diplomas. In this respect, Hammond ranks among the bottom 25 cities nationally and is comparable to

Salem, Oregon Salem ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Oregon, and the county seat of Marion County, Oregon, Marion County. It is located in the center of the Willamette Valley alongside the Willamette River, w ...

, and

Tucson, Arizona Tucson (; ; ) is a city in Pima County, Arizona, United States, and its county seat. It is the second-most populous city in Arizona, behind Phoenix, Arizona, Phoenix, with a population of 542,630 in the 2020 United States census. The Tucson ...

. With only 20% of people having a college degree, the city was in the bottom quarter nationwide in this ranking too. Schools in this district are ranked in the lower 50% of public schools in the state. The TPPS had 19,500 students enrolled for the 2020-2021 academic year and an annual budget of $219 million.

Sports, parks, and recreation

The Southeastern Louisiana Lions sports teams use multiple venues in Hammond. Chappapeela Sports Park hosts American football, baseball, basketball, lacrosse, soccer, softball and volleyball. There are a few public parks in Hammond including Cate Square park, Zemurray Park, North Oaks Park, Mooney Avenue Park, Clarke Park, Martin Luther King Park, Jackson Park, and Hammond Dreamland Park. There is a public pool located at Zemurray Park. In addition to youth recreational sports and camps, there are adult flag football, basketball, kickball, and volleyball leagues. Other programs are available for adults including Line Dancing, Zumba, and Crafting.

Media

Hammond is overlapped by most of the

mass media Mass media include the diverse arrays of media that reach a large audience via mass communication. Broadcast media transmit information electronically via media such as films, radio, recorded music, or television. Digital media comprises b ...

in Baton Rouge and New Orleans, although over-the-air television reception is available. The city has the following news and entertainment media of its own: * Action News 17 area Charter Communications Channel 197: virtual television internet streaming freely available at the Action News 17 site * ''Daily Star'' newspaper * KSLU FM 90.9 (

) * WZEN-LP FM 107.9 * WFPR AM 1400 * WHMD FM 107.1 radio (also known as "Kajun Radio") * WTGG FM 96.5

Government and infrastructure

The Louisiana Office of Juvenile Justice operates the Hammond Office in Hammond. The

United States Postal Service The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or simply the Postal Service, is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the executive branch of the federal governmen ...

operates the Hammond Post Office.

Law enforcement and crime

Hammond is served by five police agencies: * Hammond Police Department (HPD) – the main municipal police department of the city * Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff's Office (TPSO) – the parish level police agency *

Police Department (SLUPD) – the police force responsible for law enforcement on all properties owned by SLU * 7th Ward City Court Marshal's Office * Louisiana State Police (LSP) The Hammond Police Department is headquartered at 120 S Oak St. The city's uniform crime reporting statistics are available on the FBI UCR website. Hammond has suffered from exceptionally high crime rates for many years. Louisiana has been ranked the #1 most violent state in the United States, and Hammond is ranked as the fifth most violent city in the state based on crimes per capita. ''Crime Rates (per 100,000): US Average vs Hammond, Louisiana''

Health care

Hammond and its immediate environs have a number of hospitals, including North Oaks Medical Center on

U.S. Route 51 U.S. Route 51 or U.S. Highway 51 (US 51) is a major south–north United States highway that extends from the western suburbs of New Orleans, Louisiana, to within of the Wisconsin–Michigan state line. As most of the United States Numbered Hi ...

Business Business is the practice of making one's living or making money by producing or Trade, buying and selling Product (business), products (such as goods and Service (economics), services). It is also "any activity or enterprise entered into for ...

between Hammond and Ponchatoula. North Oaks is one of the largest hospitals in Louisiana and helps serve the teaching needs of

's College of Nursing & Health Sciences.

Transportation

Hammond has railways, highways (including the intersection of two interstates), and air travel/transport.

Passenger rail

Both the southbound and northbound daily '' City of New Orleans'' schedules have afternoon stops in Hammond, so Amtrak Superliner trains are a common sight. About 15,000 passengers use the station every year. Many are coming from or going to Baton Rouge, some west. The Queen Anne-style station (1912), situated at the center of town, was renovated in 2008, with an ADA-compliant platform added soon after that.

Highways

Part of Hammond's success is due to its location at the junction of two heavily traveled interstate highways: * I-12

Interstate 12, from Baton Rouge to Slidell, is a shortcut for

Interstate 10 Interstate 10 (I-10) is the southernmost transcontinental highway in the Interstate Highway System of the United States. It is the fourth-longest Interstate in the country at , following I-90, I-80, and I-40. It was part of the origina ...

drivers to avoid congestion in New Orleans. * I-55

Interstate 55 Interstate 55 (I-55) is a major Interstate Highway in the central United States. As with most primary Interstates that end in a five, it is a major cross-country, north–south route, connecting the Gulf of Mexico to the Great Lakes. The ...

, from Laplace (west of New Orleans) to Chicago, also passes through

Jackson, Mississippi Jackson is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Mississippi, most populous city of the U.S. state of Mississippi. The city sits on the Pearl River (Mississippi–Louisiana), Pearl River and is locate ...

, Memphis, and St. Louis. Hammond is from Baton Rouge, from New Orleans, from

Gulfport, Mississippi Gulfport ( ) is a city in Harrison County, Mississippi, United States, and its co-county seat. It had a population of 72,926 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Mississippi, second-most populous ...

, and from Jackson, Mississippi. Two U.S. highways serve the city: * US 51

( Morrison Boulevard) splits from I-55 between Hammond and Ponchatoula and parallels I-55 northward through the city's western side. U.S. 51 Business, which follows the original route of U.S. 51, leaves the parent 51 south of Ponchatoula and rejoins it after meeting US 190 in downtown Hammond and forming a concurrency with 190 until it meets US 51. * US 190

U.S. Route 190 (Thomas Street / Morris Avenue) parallels I-12 and goes east–west through the city's commercial and historic downtown areas. State highways serving the area include: * LA 443 (Morris Road) * LA 1040 (Chauvin Drive and Old Baton Rouge Highway) * LA 1064 (Natalbany Road, River Road) * LA 1065 (North Cherry Street) * LA 1067 (Old Covington Highway; decommissioned in 2000) * LA 1249 (Pumpkin Center Road) * LA 3158 (Airport Road) * LA 3234 (University Avenue, continuation of Wardline Road, serving Southeastern Louisiana University) * LA 3260 (West Church Street Extension; decommissioned in 2018)

Airport

The Hammond Northshore Regional Airport has a runway long enough to land the

Concorde Concorde () is a retired Anglo-French supersonic airliner jointly developed and manufactured by Sud Aviation and the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC). Studies started in 1954, and France and the United Kingdom signed a treaty establishin ...

(1976–2003) and to serve as back-up for

. The largest unit of the Louisiana Army National Guard is stationed at Hammond, adjacent to the site. The airport is also the home base for the 236th Combat Communications Squadron of the Louisiana Air National Guard. The airport has no regularly scheduled passenger service but is convenient for charter flights and corporate aviation purposes.

Notable people

* Robert Alford, cornerback for

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division. The ...

* Kayla Ard, Head Coach for

Utah State University Utah State University (USU or Utah State) is a public university, public land grant colleges, land-grant research university with its main campus in Logan, Utah, United States. Founded in 1888 under the Morrill Land-Grant Acts as Utah's federal ...

Women's Basketball * George W. Bond, former president of

Louisiana Tech University Louisiana Tech University (Louisiana Tech, La. Tech, or simply Tech) is a public university, public research university in Ruston, Louisiana, United States. It is part of the University of Louisiana System and Carnegie Classification of Institu ...

(1928–1936) * George S. Bowman Jr., Major general, U.S. Marine Corps and veteran of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Korea Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...

and

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

* Josh Brooks, athletic director for the

University of Georgia The University of Georgia (UGA or Georgia) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Athens, Georgia, United States. Chartered in 1785, it is the oldest public university in th ...

* Alyssa Carson, space enthusiast and astronaut hopeful * Sally Clausen, president of Southeastern Louisiana University, 1995–2001 * Wade Miley, baseball pitcher for

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. The Brewers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Di ...

* James H. Morrison, U.S. Representative for Louisiana, 1943–1967 *

Kim Mulkey Kimberly Duane Mulkey (born May 17, 1962) is an American college basketball coach and former player. Since 2021, she has been the head coach for Louisiana State University's LSU Tigers women's basketball, women's basketball team. A Pan-American ...

head coach A head coach, senior coach, or manager is a professional responsible for training and developing athletes within a sports team. This role often has a higher public profile and salary than other coaching positions. In some sports, such as associat ...

for LSU Tigers women's basketball * Jimmy Noone, musician and bandleader * Todd O'Neill, singer * Cindy Robbins, actress * Robin Roberts, host of ''

Good Morning America ''Good Morning America'', often abbreviated as ''GMA'', is an American breakfast television, morning television program that is broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends wit ...

'' * Dr. Charles Smith, artist * Jamie Lynn Spears, actress and country music singer * Tyjae Spears,

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense ...

for the

Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. They play the ...

In popular media

* The city was the base for production of the first season of the NBC

television series A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, and cable, or distributed digitally on streaming plat ...

'' In the Heat of the Night'', starring Carroll O'Connor and airing in 1988. This series was adapted from the 1967 film of the same name. * "Hammond Song", written by Maggie Roche of The Roches, documents moving to Hammond after becoming disillusioned with the music industry.

Gallery

File:2012-03-20 Hammond LA Amtrak station.JPG, Known locally as the Depot, the

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak (; ), is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates intercity rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...

station dates from 1912. Refurbished with a raised passenger platform, the station offers direct service to New Orleans and Chicago on routes owned by the Canadian National Railway. File:LA 1065 Hammond terminus Dantone.JPG, Intersection of LA 1065 (North Cherry Street) and US 190 (East Thomas Street) in Hammond's Historic District: The building in the background is Dantone's Grocery, founded in 1912 by Italian immigrants. File:Hammond, Louisiana.jpg, Part of the original (1854) route of the New Orleans, Jackson and Great Northern railway, still operational in the Canadian National Railway line at this

railroad crossing A level crossing is an intersection where a railway line crosses a road, path, or (in rare situations) airport runway, at the same level, as opposed to the railway line or the road etc. crossing over or under using an overpass or tunnel. The ...

in Hammond File:McgheeHallWM.jpg, Lucius McGehee Hall on the campus of Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond is a sturdy example of Depression Gothic architecture. It is on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

References

External links

City of Hammond

Hammond Chamber of Commerce

Hammond Historic District

''The Daily Star''

MyHammond–MyPonchatoula directory
{{authority control Cities in Louisiana Cities in Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana Louisiana African American Heritage Trail Populated places established in 1818 Swedish-American history Sweden–United States relations World War II prisoner-of-war camps in the United States