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Slidell is located at 30°16'45" North, 89°46'40" West (30.279040, -89.777744) 1.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 31.4 km˛ (12.1 mi˛). 30.5 km˛ (11.8 mi˛) of it is land and 0.8 km˛ (0.3 mi˛) of it is water. The total area is 2.64% water.
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.
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. Col. Leon Fremeaux drew up the original plans for the city, naming the largest street for Erlanger and a smaller for himself. Ironically, Fremeaux Avenue is now a major artery, far overshadowing Erlanger Avenue.
Around 1910, Slidell began a period of economic and industrialFor other uses of this term, see Industry (disambiguation An industry is an area of economic production which involves large amounts of upfront capital investment before any profit can be realized. The most successful industries in a given sector tend, to growth. A large creosoteCreosote is the name used for a variety of products: wood creosote, coal tar creosote, coal tar, coal tar pitch, and coal tar pitch volatiles. These products are mixtures of many chemicals such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (known as PAHs), phenol, plant was built, and Slidell became a major producer of bricksA brick is a block made of kiln-fired material, usually clay or ground shale. Clay bricks are formed in a moulding (the soft mud method), or in commercial manufacture more frequently by extruding clay through a die and then wire-cutting them to the proper. A lumber mill and shipyard were also built. With the coming of Interstates 10Interstate 10 or I-10 is the southernmost coast-to-coast interstate highway in the United States. It stretches from California Highway 1, or the Pacific Coast Highway in Santa Monica, California to Jacksonville, Florida, ending at Interstate 95. A sign ne and 12Interstate 12 is an intrastate interstate highway located entirely within the state of Louisiana, United States. It goes from Baton Rouge, Louisiana to Alton, Louisiana, and meets with Interstate 10 at both locations. Length Major Cities Along the Route B, 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 programThe National Aeronautics and Space Administration NASA (established 1958) is the government agency responsible for the United States of America's space program and long-term general aerospace research. A civilian organization, it conducts (or oversees) re the 1960s, the New Orleans area became a hotbed of activity. The opening of NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility , a computer center on Gause Boulevard, and the John C. Stennis Space Center in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi nearly tripled Slidell's population over a period of ten years, as Slidell found itself becoming a major suburb.
Slidell hosts several parading krewes each Carnival season, and is the westernmost outpost of the moon pie as a significant Mardi Gras throw.