Slidell - The Building of a Railroad - The Building of a City
Olde Towne
Entering a period of rapid growth, on November 13, 1888, the town was incorporated while it was still but a fledgling flag station. The town was described as spanning 3 miles from north to south and 2 miles east to west in the form of a reversed "L-shape."
Corporate limits shortly thereafter increased by incorporating a northeastern portion of the John Guzman tract. Roughly, the expanded street boundaries were Fremaux Avenue to Fifth Street, then Cousin Street to Carey and to Front Street, then back to Fremaux Avenue.
Fritz Salmen - The Builder
One of the early arrivals to Slidell was Fritz Salmen, who arrived in 1884 to buy some of the Guzman lands near the tracks. Salmen had spent a number of years in Handsboro, Mississippi, now an historic region of Gulfport. During the years spent at Handsboro, the Salmen brothers had learned the technical advances in lumbering, shipbuilding, and brickmaking.
Having developed such skills, it wasn't long before Salmen established his brickworks using the high quality clay found in the area. His original brickyard was located just north of the train station on Front Street. With his acquired profits he purchased more land and in 1887, he sent for his brother, Jacob, to join him, and in 1890, a second brother, Albert, joined the group in uniting their forces and business acumen.
In 1890, the Salmen sawmill was added to their growing property acquisitions between the railroad tracks and Bayou Bonfouca. About the same time, Salmen Brick and Lumber Company added a small shipyard and shipbuilding operations on the west side of Bayou Bonfouca to transport their products to nearby ports.
The company extended their operations in Slidell to include offices and warehouses in New Orleans, Tickfaw, and Onville. Their large retail yards in New Orleans dealt with a large variety of building materials, including Portland cement, lime, and plaster as well as lumber, brick, and ornamental materials. Commercial lines were also opened into Central and South America.
In 1910, the company employed 800 persons, and at its general store, twenty clerks industriously worked at the "Commissary" on Front Street which had become the largest merchandise store in St. Tammany Parish.
The company even expanded into timbering operations with its own seventy-five-mile railroad with four engines and 250 rail-cars. The track connected with the N.O.G.N. railroad giving it country-wide access. As a full-support operation, there was
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