Ponchatoula, Louisiana
Encyclopedia
Ponchatoula is a city in Tangipahoa Parish
, Louisiana
, United States
. The population was 5,180 at the 2000 census. Ponchatoula calls itself the "Strawberry
Capital of the World". It is part of the Hammond
Micropolitan Statistical Area. The current mayor is Bob Zabbia.
, the city has a total area of 4.2 square miles (10.9 km²), all land.
Ponchatoula is located along Interstate 55
and Louisiana Highway 22
, equidistant from New Orleans and Baton Rouge
. In the early 1900s, Ponchatoula was one of only two ways to get to New Orleans by land, giving it the title of "Gateway to New Orleans."
Ponchatoula is a name signifying "falling hair" or "hanging hair" or "flowing hair" from the Choctaw
Pashi "hair" and itula or itola "to fall" or "to hang" or "flowing". The Indian name Ponchatoula means "flowing hair", arrived at by the Indians as a way of expressing the beauty of the location with much moss hanging from the trees. "Ponche" is an Indian word meaning location, an object, or a person. The name is eponymous with the Ponchatoula Creek
, which flows from points north of the city and into the Natalbany River southwest of the city. See Ponchatoula Creek
, USS Ponchatoula (AOG 38)
, and USS Ponchatoula (AO 148)
.
during the American Civil War
. After a light skirmish, Confederate
troops withdrew, and the Sixth Michigan
occupied the town. Historian
John D. Winters
describes the fate of Ponchatoula:
"Women and children scampered about, begging for protection. There was no Confederate force to be found, and suddenly all discipline crumbled. The men went wild, and they were joined in the orgy of pillage by their corpulent commander Colonel
[Thomas S.] Clark. First the depot was sacked, and the men grabbed up bundles and boxes they found stored within. The next targets were the two small stores in the village. The doors were battered in, and the blue-coated soldiers rushed in. The liquor suppy was quickly confiscated. The post office was next. Mail bags were slit open, and letters and newspapers soon littered the streets. The Turkish clad Zouaves . . . came up the railroad and joined in the pillage, raiding the Masonic Hall and taking the silver stars, squares, and other emblems. Private homes were broken into, and everything of value -- fine coverlets, wine, and women's clothes -- was removed. Soon the neat little village was in a shambles.
"Colonel Clark was diasppointed to find no cotton
in Ponchatoula, but he consoled himself by gathering all of the mules and wagons in the vicinity, loading them with valuable turpentine
and resin and with the plunder of the village, and sending them . . . to be loaded aboard waiting schooner
s. The citizens of the town who remained behind were administered the Federal oath of allegiance and promised protection by the officers."
store in South Dakota
. The old train depot has been converted into the Country Market, a series of booths for local craftsmen and artisans. Next door is the Art Car: a train car which has been turned into an art gallery for local painters. In the same block lived Ole' Hardhide, an alligator
credited with "writing" a column in The Ponchatoula Times newspaper. The current Hardhide is the fourth by that name .
Across Highway 22 from Hardhide is the Collinswood School Museum, a former one room schoolhouse which now has local artifacts and quilts on display. Between Collinswood and the tracks stands the Strawberry Train, which is a steam engine and single car which is roped off in such a way that children can safely climb into the engine and car. The Chamber of Commerce's office is located on Highway 22 at the railroad tracks and has information of these and other local sights both in Ponchatoula and in the surrounding area.
, there were 5,180 people, 1,984 households, and 1,372 families residing in the city. The population density
was 1,226.7 people per square mile (473.9/km²). There were 2,175 housing units at an average density of 515.1 per square mile (199.0/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 62.20% White, 36.83% African American, 0.19% Native American, 0.12% Asian, 0.15% from other races
, and 0.50% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.85% of the population.
There were 1,984 households out of which 34.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 41.2% were married couples
living together, 23.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.8% were non-families. 27.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.60 and the average family size was 3.16.
In the city the population was spread out with 29.8% under the age of 18, 9.9% from 18 to 24, 26.9% from 25 to 44, 21.0% from 45 to 64, and 12.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33 years. For every 100 females there were 85.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 79.1 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $22,244, and the median income for a family was $29,583. Males had a median income of $30,285 versus $18,952 for females. The per capita income
for the city was $12,157. About 27.9% of families and 31.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 46.9% of those under age 18 and 15.1% of those age 65 or over.
Festival each April and the annual Oktoberfest each October.
Ponchatoula is noted for its many antique shops along Pine Street (LA 22). These shops are open year-round.
Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana
Tangipahoa Parish is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana, one of the Florida Parishes. The parish seat is Amite City, but the major city is Hammond. As of 2006, the population was 113,137...
, Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The population was 5,180 at the 2000 census. Ponchatoula calls itself the "Strawberry
Strawberry
Fragaria is a genus of flowering plants in the rose family, Rosaceae, commonly known as strawberries for their edible fruits. Although it is commonly thought that strawberries get their name from straw being used as a mulch in cultivating the plants, the etymology of the word is uncertain. There...
Capital of the World". It is part of the Hammond
Hammond, Louisiana
Hammond is the largest city in Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 20,049 at the 2009 census. It is home to Southeastern Louisiana University...
Micropolitan Statistical Area. The current mayor is Bob Zabbia.
Geography
Ponchatoula is located at 30°26′21"N 90°26′33"W (30.439162, -90.442507) and has an elevation of 26 feet (7.9 m). According to the United States Census BureauUnited States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...
, the city has a total area of 4.2 square miles (10.9 km²), all land.
Ponchatoula is located along Interstate 55
Interstate 55
Interstate 55 is an Interstate Highway in the central United States. Its odd number indicates that it is a north–south Interstate Highway. I-55 goes from LaPlace, Louisiana at Interstate 10 to Chicago at U.S. Route 41 , at McCormick Place. A common nickname for the highway is "double...
and Louisiana Highway 22
Louisiana Highway 22
Louisiana Highway 22 is a state highway in Louisiana that serves St. Tammany, Tangipahoa, Livingston, and Ascension Parishes. It spans in a rough east/west direction and is bannered in each cardinal direction ....
, equidistant from New Orleans and Baton Rouge
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Baton Rouge is the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is located in East Baton Rouge Parish and is the second-largest city in the state.Baton Rouge is a major industrial, petrochemical, medical, and research center of the American South...
. In the early 1900s, Ponchatoula was one of only two ways to get to New Orleans by land, giving it the title of "Gateway to New Orleans."
History
Ponchatoula was established as a logging camp in 1820, and incorporated as a town on February 12, 1861. William Akers was the city's first mayor, and is credited with founding the town, establishing it on land he purchased from the federal government in 1832.Ponchatoula is a name signifying "falling hair" or "hanging hair" or "flowing hair" from the Choctaw
Choctaw
The Choctaw are a Native American people originally from the Southeastern United States...
Pashi "hair" and itula or itola "to fall" or "to hang" or "flowing". The Indian name Ponchatoula means "flowing hair", arrived at by the Indians as a way of expressing the beauty of the location with much moss hanging from the trees. "Ponche" is an Indian word meaning location, an object, or a person. The name is eponymous with the Ponchatoula Creek
Ponchatoula Creek
Ponchatoula Creek is a tributary of the Natalbany River in Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana. The two waterways join where a section of the Natalbany forms the boundary between Tangipahoa Parish and Livingston Parish. Ponchatoula Creek originates west of Old US Highway 51, north of Independence...
, which flows from points north of the city and into the Natalbany River southwest of the city. See Ponchatoula Creek
Ponchatoula Creek
Ponchatoula Creek is a tributary of the Natalbany River in Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana. The two waterways join where a section of the Natalbany forms the boundary between Tangipahoa Parish and Livingston Parish. Ponchatoula Creek originates west of Old US Highway 51, north of Independence...
, USS Ponchatoula (AOG 38)
USS Ponchatoula (AOG-38)
USS Ponchatoula was a Mettawee-class gasoline tanker acquired by the U.S. Navy for the dangerous task of transporting gasoline to warships in the fleet, and to remote Navy stations....
, and USS Ponchatoula (AO 148)
USS Ponchatoula (AO-148)
|-See also:* List of auxiliaries of the United States Navy...
.
Civil War
Ponchatoula was pillaged in 1863 by the Union ArmyUnion Army
The Union Army was the land force that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the U.S. Army, the Northern Army and the National Army...
during the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
. After a light skirmish, Confederate
Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...
troops withdrew, and the Sixth Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
occupied the town. Historian
Historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...
John D. Winters
John D. Winters
John David Winters was a historian at Louisiana Tech University in Ruston, Louisiana, best known for his definitive and award-winning study, The Civil War in Louisiana, still in print, published in 1963 and released in paperback in 1991.-Background:Winters was born to John David Winters, Sr...
describes the fate of Ponchatoula:
"Women and children scampered about, begging for protection. There was no Confederate force to be found, and suddenly all discipline crumbled. The men went wild, and they were joined in the orgy of pillage by their corpulent commander Colonel
Colonel
Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...
[Thomas S.] Clark. First the depot was sacked, and the men grabbed up bundles and boxes they found stored within. The next targets were the two small stores in the village. The doors were battered in, and the blue-coated soldiers rushed in. The liquor suppy was quickly confiscated. The post office was next. Mail bags were slit open, and letters and newspapers soon littered the streets. The Turkish clad Zouaves . . . came up the railroad and joined in the pillage, raiding the Masonic Hall and taking the silver stars, squares, and other emblems. Private homes were broken into, and everything of value -- fine coverlets, wine, and women's clothes -- was removed. Soon the neat little village was in a shambles.
"Colonel Clark was diasppointed to find no cotton
Cotton
Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective capsule, around the seeds of cotton plants of the genus Gossypium. The fiber is almost pure cellulose. The botanical purpose of cotton fiber is to aid in seed dispersal....
in Ponchatoula, but he consoled himself by gathering all of the mules and wagons in the vicinity, loading them with valuable turpentine
Turpentine
Turpentine is a fluid obtained by the distillation of resin obtained from trees, mainly pine trees. It is composed of terpenes, mainly the monoterpenes alpha-pinene and beta-pinene...
and resin and with the plunder of the village, and sending them . . . to be loaded aboard waiting schooner
Schooner
A schooner is a type of sailing vessel characterized by the use of fore-and-aft sails on two or more masts with the forward mast being no taller than the rear masts....
s. The citizens of the town who remained behind were administered the Federal oath of allegiance and promised protection by the officers."
Tourism
Ponchatoula is a small town, but it has several tourist attractions including one sign on the outskirt of town with how many miles it lies from the famous Wall DrugWall Drug
Wall Drug Store, often referred to simply as "Wall Drug", is a tourist attraction located in the town of Wall, South Dakota, United States. It is a shopping mall consisting of a drug store, gift shop, restaurants and various other stores. Unlike a traditional shopping mall, all the stores at Wall...
store in South Dakota
South Dakota
South Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux American Indian tribes. Once a part of Dakota Territory, South Dakota became a state on November 2, 1889. The state has an area of and an estimated population of just over...
. The old train depot has been converted into the Country Market, a series of booths for local craftsmen and artisans. Next door is the Art Car: a train car which has been turned into an art gallery for local painters. In the same block lived Ole' Hardhide, an alligator
Alligator
An alligator is a crocodilian in the genus Alligator of the family Alligatoridae. There are two extant alligator species: the American alligator and the Chinese alligator ....
credited with "writing" a column in The Ponchatoula Times newspaper. The current Hardhide is the fourth by that name .
Across Highway 22 from Hardhide is the Collinswood School Museum, a former one room schoolhouse which now has local artifacts and quilts on display. Between Collinswood and the tracks stands the Strawberry Train, which is a steam engine and single car which is roped off in such a way that children can safely climb into the engine and car. The Chamber of Commerce's office is located on Highway 22 at the railroad tracks and has information of these and other local sights both in Ponchatoula and in the surrounding area.
Demographics
As of the 2000 censusCensus
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
, there were 5,180 people, 1,984 households, and 1,372 families residing in the city. The population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...
was 1,226.7 people per square mile (473.9/km²). There were 2,175 housing units at an average density of 515.1 per square mile (199.0/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 62.20% White, 36.83% African American, 0.19% Native American, 0.12% Asian, 0.15% from other races
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, and 0.50% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.85% of the population.
There were 1,984 households out of which 34.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 41.2% were married couples
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
living together, 23.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.8% were non-families. 27.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.60 and the average family size was 3.16.
In the city the population was spread out with 29.8% under the age of 18, 9.9% from 18 to 24, 26.9% from 25 to 44, 21.0% from 45 to 64, and 12.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33 years. For every 100 females there were 85.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 79.1 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $22,244, and the median income for a family was $29,583. Males had a median income of $30,285 versus $18,952 for females. The per capita income
Per capita income
Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...
for the city was $12,157. About 27.9% of families and 31.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 46.9% of those under age 18 and 15.1% of those age 65 or over.
Events
Ponchatoula hosts the annual StrawberryStrawberry
Fragaria is a genus of flowering plants in the rose family, Rosaceae, commonly known as strawberries for their edible fruits. Although it is commonly thought that strawberries get their name from straw being used as a mulch in cultivating the plants, the etymology of the word is uncertain. There...
Festival each April and the annual Oktoberfest each October.
Ponchatoula is noted for its many antique shops along Pine Street (LA 22). These shops are open year-round.
Notable residents
- Lindsey CardinaleLindsey CardinaleLindsey Michelle Cardinale is an American country singer and university student who was the twelfth-place finalist on the fourth season of American Idol in 2005....
- Henry "Tank" PowellHenry "Tank" PowellHenry Watson Powell, known as Henry "Tank" Powell , is an insurance agent in Ponchatoula in Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana, who served as a Republican member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from District 73 from 1996 until term-limited in 2008...
- Steve PughSteve Pugh (Louisiana politician)Stephen E. Pugh, known as Steve Pugh , is a businessman and financial advisor from Ponchatoula, Louisiana, who is a Republican member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from District 73 in Tangipahoa Parish....
- Irma ThomasIrma ThomasIrma Thomas is an American Grammy Award-winning soul and rhythm and blues singer from New Orleans. She is known as the "Soul Queen of New Orleans"....