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Tangipahoa is named for a Native American tribe that once lived the area between the Pearl River and the Mississippi. The Tangipahoa were a Muskogean speaking tribe. Originally located along the Pearl River, they were forced by more powerful oppressors including Indians, French, and English to move farther west.  One group settled on the west-bank of the Mississippi where they lived until being defeated by the Houma and Okelousas, They then retreated to the Pearl River area. Over the years their tribe  rapidly lost numbers, merged with other tribes, and finally disappeared.

The name Tangipahoa is Choctaw and is believed to mean "cornstalk" or "corncob". The Choctaw themselves translated it to mean "corncob", however, the Choctaw Dictionary fails to record the word "pahpha"

The Tangipahoa Parish is part of the area known as the Florida parishes. It was established on March 6, 1869, the last of the Florida parishes. It was cut from several surround parishes as a right-away for a railroad from New Orleans to Natchez. The parish seat is Amite along the railroad, highway 51, and Interstate 55.

The parish has 790.3 square miles (51 miles long, north to south, and 18 miles wide). Click here for info of town names from "Rootsweb.com" The topography of the parish extends from low flat land in the south to rolling hills in the north. It is the center of the strawberry industry in the South. Ponchartoula on the south end - population 5,475- is already recognized as the "Strawberry Capital of the World". The town also holds the title of America's Antique City". The town takes its name from the Choctaw word for "hanging hair" (Spanish moss).

There are 42 schools in the parish, 35 public and 7 private.

For photos of my drive up highway 51, click here.
For political information about who and where, click here.
For addresses to parish cities, click here.
For Tangipahoa Parish Links, click here.
For Kentwood information including Britney Spears, click here.