A history of Ponchatoula,
since 1820
Postcards, papers and photographs of Ponchatoula from public archives, woven together by decade. Neighbors fill in the gaps.
The story
from WikipediaRead it all ↗The city of Ponchatoula was founded when the railroad from Jackson, Mississippi to New Orleans was constructed through this area in the 1850s. The New Orleans, Jackson and Great Northern Railroad Company hired an experienced civil engineer, James B. Clarke (ca. 1809–1861) to survey the projected railroad route, establish railroad depot sites, buy timber for bridges and railroad ties, and do the other tasks necessary to construct the railroad.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Timeline
built from the dates on the items belowFinish Ponchatoula’s story
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
1 of 10 decades since 1900 have photos 🔁Retake an old viewPontchatoulaBeachWPA1930s, 1930: stand where they stood+15 📦Share a family photoSign in to add one+10Ponchatoula, decade by decade
1990s
3 historic places in Ponchatoula
Ponchatoula has 3 listings on the National Register, and they protect 50 historic buildings, because Ponchatoula Commercial Historic District alone counts 48.
Where they are
When they were listed
Listed 1982Ponchatoula Commercial Historic DistrictListed 2012Ponchatoula Commercial Historic District (Boundary Increase and Decrease)Listed 1980Nichols HouseThen & now
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as PontchatoulaBeachWPA1930s (1930) and it appears here side by side.
🔁 Retake this view · +15Stories next door
nearby towns’ historyFrom Wikimedia Commons (2) and the Library of Congress (4). Images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.