Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana

Hammond The largest municipality in the parish is named after Peter Hammond, a Swedish adventurer who was the first settler in the area. The economic story of Hammond began in 1860 when C.E. Cate bought land and constructed a home as well as a shoe factory, tannery and a sawmill. Soon after the Civil War he laid out the town and other light industries and merchandising businesses quickly made Hammond a commercial center for the area. In 1893 a Colonel Henry Robinson built the first of three magnificent hotels on a site facing the railroad tracks near the middle of town. The town became a popular stop for northern visitors who came south for the winter months and for New Orleaneans who wanted to escape Yellow Fever season during the summer. The railroad comes through Hammond, La. in Parish, which becomes a shoemaking center for the Confederacy during the Civil War. Town was planned in the 1860s, and by the early twentieth century was known as the Strawberry Capital of America. Hammond was the first Strawberry Capital of the area. Boxcar loads of the produce were shipped north from the city until competition from California and other states decreased market share.

City of Hammond
P.O. Box 2788, Hammond, LA. 70404
(985) 542-3400

The City Council performs traditional governmental services such as zoning regulations, financing of bond issues, levying of taxes, providing basic services such as police and fire protection, supervising street and road construction and maintenance assuring drainage and overseeing industrial development.

Hammond’s  population
17,639 Total   2000c