Slidell's birth coincided with the arrival of the New Orleans and Northeastern Railroad, which surveyed the townsite in 1883. At the time the parish was already well known for its fine clay deposits, which had furnished the raw material for brick making since well before the Civil War. When Swiss immigrant Fritz Salmen arrived in 1886, Slidell became a center of brickmaking. With his two brothers, Jacob and Albert, Fritz established a small brickworks in which the employees made bricks by hand. True entrepreneurs, the brothers soon branched out, establishing The Salmen Brothers Brick and Lumber Company in 1886. Next, they expanded into shipbuilding in 1914 and then this portion of the business branched off into its own company, the Slidell Shipbuilding Corporation on Bayou Bonfouca. After the economic boom years during World War I, Fritz and Albert, the surviving brothers, began to cut back their operations. By 1926, a new company owned the original brick and lumber plant, but the Salmen brothers, in their seventies, operated a smaller brick and lumber plant along the bayou. The Salmen House is located at 127 Cleveland Ave. in Slidell. The house is now a restaurant and special event venue. Groups tours can be arranged by calling 1.866.672.8866, visit Patton's for dining information.
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