Echoes From The Attic and Poems, WOODLAND PARK, Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana
Submitted to the USGenWeb Archives by Don Johnson, Jan. 2001
Typed by Belford Carver
Written by by Edna F. Campbell
Copyrighted by Edna F. Campbell
With special thanks to her family for permission to use her works.

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SUBDIVISION

EARLY SETTLERS STILL CLAIM WOODLAND PARK AS HOME

Two local realtors, Messrs. Eldridge Carroll and E. V. Preston, in the early 1920s, 
caught a vision of worthwhile expansion for Hammond.  They bargained for a large 
tract of land on the east side which they named Woodland Park.

Mr. Carroll was the brother of Mr. Wilbur Carroll and Mr. Preston the grandfather 
of Mrs. Polk Hebert.

Their very first movement involved clearing the land, using a primitive procedure 
with a mule team and many hours of manual labor.  They planted rows and rows of 
trees.  One of the recalled notes of interest, was the placing of small birdhouses 
in trees and branches as a drawing card attraction.

An upset was first evidenced when the project was quite new, a nearby resident, 
while burning trash, caused a large fire and all of the small trees were ruined, 
and this planting project had to begin anew.

Early settlers recall that the first homebuilders in the new section included Mrs. 
Cecilia Fay, the mother of Joe Fay, remembered by many localites as a newspaper 
agent; the George Hoggatts, and the George C. Baileys.  The Baileys, who purchased 
their plot in 1922 are the only one of the three named, who have remained in the 
same location.  The Henry Gainey family moved there shortly afterward.

The real estate enterprisers met with another disappointment several years later, 
when their continuous row of trees, then of several years growth were uprooted in 
entirety.  Although the culprits were not discovered it wasgenerally conceived 
that the trees were used by the offenders for Christmas sales as it was at that 
seasonal time.

The William H. LaDew estate was just behind the boundary line.  A boulevard was 
laid out and the streets were Easy and Fern.  Parker was the name used to 
designate the Boulevard, which was to honor the current governor, John M. Parker.

A much greater discouragement came to the enterprisers when the 1929 depression 
dealt its fatal blow.  They had borrowed the money with which to finance the 
addition, and under this financial downgrade the land was lost, and the bank had 
to reclaim most of the plots.  Later the plots were sold to individuals by the 
bank.

Among the early home builders at a slightly later date were Mr. and Mrs. Leon Ford, 
Jr., and Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Warner.  Today this is a beautiful section of Hammond.

(From ECHOES IN THE ATTIC, II, 1967, by Edna F. Campbell)