Slidell /slaɪˈdɛl/ is a city on the northeast shore of Lake Pontchartrain in St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana, United States.
Along with a younger brother, Wesley Coke Asbury Gause, Judge Wingate, and several others, he left Shallotte, North Carolina, on February 18, and arrived at Pearlington, Mississippi, on April 14, 1836.
His traveling back and forth from lumber yard to home created a road known today as Gause Boulevard, a major east–west street in the town.
The house stood until the late 1990s, and a small family burial plot still remains where John is buried between his two wives, Lydia Russ and Johanna Frederica VanHeemskerk.
Slidell was founded on the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain in 1882 and 1883 during construction of the New Orleans and Northeastern Railroad (N.O.N.E.).
The town was named in honor of American politician and Confederate ambassador to France John Slidell, and officially chartered by the Louisiana State Legislature in 1888.
[8] With the advent of the U.S. space program in the 1960s, NASA opened the Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, the John C. Stennis Space Center in nearby Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, and a NASA computer center on Gause Boulevard.
The National Weather Service forecast office for the New Orleans and Baton Rouge area is also in Slidell.
[9] Slidell is the headquarters of Vesco Tennis Courts, a privately held firm specializing in construction of hard surfaces for outdoor sports facilities.
The municipal area is about 2 miles (3 km) inland, and parts of the city experienced a storm surge in excess of 10 feet (3.0 m).
The unincorporated areas of St. Tammany Parish, to the south and east, often called Slidell, experienced a storm surge of 13 to 16 feet (4.0 to 4.9 m).
[16] It is in southeastern St. Tammany Parish, located approximately 3 miles (5 km) north of Lake Pontchartrain.
[citation needed] Hurricanes pose a threat to the area, and the city is vulnerable because of its low elevation.
Slidell is the global headquarters for automotive manufacturer and military contractor Textron Marine & Land Systems off Gause Boulevard.
[29] Amtrak’s Crescent serves Slidell station, and offers service to New York City, Washington, D.C., Atlanta, Birmingham, New Orleans, and intermediate points.