Springfield

Springfield's leaders turned down the railroad, and the town paid for it. When the New Orleans, Jackson & Great Northern Railroad was built in 1854 it bypassed Springfield, which cost the town its role as a shipping point. Named for its artesian springs, the town was left on the parish boundary when Tangipahoa Parish was created in 1868, and the seat of government later moved away. St. John's University carried on in Springfield until it closed in 2005. Peter Hammond, the man Hammond is named for, once moved lumber and goods through here to supply oceangoing ships.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Tickfaw State Park — 5.9 mi
  A floodplain park on the Tickfaw River, with cypress-tupelo swamp, bottomland hardwoods and about 4.75 miles of trails and boardwalks, plus a nature center with an 800-gallon river aquarium.

More markers nearby

• Springfield's Role in West Florida Revolution — steps away
• Carter Plantation — 1.8 mi
• Hungarian Settlement — 4.0 mi
• Albany, Louisiana — 5.4 mi