Hammond is the largest city in Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana, United States, located 45 miles east of Baton Rouge and 45 miles northwest of New Orleans. Hammond began as a settlement of Swedish immigrant Peter Hammond, however it was the coming of the New Orleans, Jackson, and Great Northern Railroad that insured its existence in the coming years. The train’s arrival in 1854 prompted land speculation and brought many new people to the area. An early entrepreneur was Charles Emery Cate, who chose to settle in the area because of its good climate, natural spring water, and thick pine forests. He found the area attractive as a location for a Confederate army shoe factory, which was discovered and burned by Federal troops in 1862. During the post-war period, Cate and other residents laid out the streets and lined them with oak trees. These trees remain today and make Hammond a distinctive, beautiful city (Hammond, 2017).
Citation
(2017). History – Hammond Historic District. Retrieved from hammondhistoricdistrict.org.
How it all Began 