Alphabet File page 385
The New Orleans, Mobile and Chattanooga Railroad (later L&N) was started in 1869 and completed in 20 months from Mobile to New Orleans (139 mile route with six major water crossings).
There were two stops made in Waveland; Waveland Avenue and Nicholson Avenue (Ulmansville). Montgomery Station was an early name for the city of Waveland. Waveland was once a part of Shieldsboro until March 1888 when it applied for a charter as a separate municipality. The first mayor was L.H. Fairchild and two alderman, Alfred A. Ulman, a successful woolenmiller and Olus Burgeois, town marshall. The post office was established in October 1875 with Joseph Carrio as the first Postmaster.
The major business in the 1880's was the Ulman Woolen Mill located on Nicholson Avenue. Wool blankets and black and white plaid shawls were the principal product of the mill. Jeff Davis Avenue was opened to build homes for the mill workers.
The Town Hall was built in 1893 on land donated by Jesse P. Coleman. Coleman Avenue was named after the late Congressman H. Dudley Coleman from Louisiana who owned a summer home on the beach there for approximately fifty years.
The Pioneer merchants included Fortune O. Kroll Sr., whose grocery was by the Waveland train depot and J. B. Ulman whose merchandise store on Nicholson Avenue burned in 1894.
The current City Hall (formerly a school) was built between 1906-1908 during the administration of Thos. J. Bourgeois as mayor. Ferd. Raymond was the builder and in 1907 Nellie Tyler and Gertrude Cazeneuve were the teachers.
Mrs. Eliza Poitevant Nicholson was a pioneer woman journalist in the South who wrote under the pen name "Pearl Rivers". She lived at Fort Nicholson and was the editor and the proprietor of the New Orleans Daily Picayune. "Lyrics" by Pearl Rivers was published in 1878.
The poll books for 1911-1912 listed 130 voters in Waveland and 123 for Kiln. The 1920 census for Waveland listed the population as 431 (663 in 1930). The salary for Mayor Thos. J. Bourgeois in 1912 was $25.00/month.
Front Street (now Beach Boulevard) was initially a shell road. The street commissioner paid 8 cents a barrel for hauling shells in 1913. Thirteen miles of seawall constructed at a cost of 1.25 million dollars was dedicated in August 1929.
Brown's Vineyard was established in 1872 by Fred W. Brown of Germany and was known for its champagnes and scuppernong wine. A beautiful orchard and colony of alligators added color to the oldest and largest vineyard on the Coast. It was located in the vicinity of Lil' Ray's Restaurant.
In January 1913, the Bay St. Louis Ice, Light and Bottling Works contracted to light the streets in Waveland. The Nicholson Avenue Theatre opened in 1921. Mr. Wm. Surgi opened a show in Waveland in 1925 and Mr. Ed Ortte operated "The Gulf" cinema in June of 1937. The Waveland Drug Store opened in June 1929 with C. K. Herlihy as manager and druggist.
The Waveland Baseball team of 1931 was called the Sentinals and in 1932 were called the Green Sox.
Gala street dances welcomed the summer visitors in June 1933 and a barn dance was held in the Town Hall in May 1936. The municipal pier was built at the head of Coleman Avenue in April 1945. Coney Island of the South operated 15 riding devices at 10 cents a ride at Jackson Ridge in June 1950. The carnival spirit was nurtured by the Krewe of Nerieds in 1966 and later Triton in 1975. A group of men who later chartered themselves as the Waveland Civic Association (1976) started having St. Patricks parades in 1964.
The public opening of Buccaneer State Park occurred in March 1976.
The new brick school building was completed in June 1930 at a cost of $12,500 during the administration of Mayor George Herlihy. Eight pupils graduated from the 8th grade. Mrs. W. O. Sylvester was principal. This is currently our Civic Center. The Waveland Elementary School was completed in March 1972.
Gulfside Assembly (1925), the Dielmann Evangelical Center (1927 - 1931), and Holy Cross Ville (1908) provided camping opportunities for visitors during the summer. In September 1931 over three thousand people attended the Gulfside Song Fest to hear a chorus of over 500 voices.
The following is from July 28, 1933 newspaper. "People have confidence in our town and are looking forward to the time when we annex New Orleans to Waveland".
The local newspaper, "The Waveland Advocate" was published between December 1959 and February 1961. On September 19th, 1947 the "47" hurricane struck Waveland leaving five dead. Rainfall was over eight inches and winds exceeded 100 mph at 9:00 a.m. with tides over 12 feet above normal by 10:00 a.m. August 17th is a special civic holiday for prayer and thanksgiving to remember Camille in 1969. Ninety percent of the six miles of beach front homes were destroyed leaving a city without drinking water, gas, phones or electricity. A marker of thanks was dedicated in May 1972 to the citizens who refused to abandon their city and the help from government agencies, organizations, churches and individuals. The 1960 census listed a population of 1,106 with 90% white, 10% non-white, 49% males, and 51% females.
In October 1974, Our Shopping Center opened with seventeen stores. In August 1974, the City of Waveland was listed as a separate section in the South Central Bell Telephone book.
A round trip fare on the L&N to New Orleans in July 1930 was $2.40. During World War II blackout and dim-out regulations were enforced to control shore lighting.
The "Echo" newspaper quote on April 29, 1916 was "There is always something doing politically in Waveland". Thomas J. Bourgeois, Sr. held the office of Mayor for 23 years (interrupted/staggered terms) while Garfield Ladner who beat him by one vote in November 1942 held office for 31 years before his death in December 1973.
Evariste V. Bourgeois died in 1935 after operating a meat market on the beach at the head of Market Street over fifty years. His son, Thomas J. Bourgeois, was mayor for twenty-three years. Elwood Bourgeois was Thomas's son and the first Waveland resident missing in action during World War II. The park by Waveland Avenue was dedicated to his memory.
DO YOU REMEMBER????? Barber shops: Luke Marengo, Chris Ladner Zimmerman's Beer Garden Mollere's Chicken burger Pine Burr Restaurant The Broadview Restaurant Batey's Gulf Service Station Zimmerman's Pan Am Service Station Miller's Texaco Garage Schrimshaw's Grocery Chadwick's Trading Post Waveland Roller Skating Rink H. G. Hill Store Waveland Mercentile Store, Jno. Morrere owner Sidney Bourgeois' Waveland Food Store E. B. Mollere Zoo and IGA store Haverty's Grocery and Restaurant Supreme Ice Cream Parlor Waveland Bakery Bobby Ann Bakery on Sobral Street (Terrace Street) Hearts of Love Benevolent Society Redo's Diary Queen Villere's Lounge Bob's Service Station Markel's Industry on Coleman Avenue Wilcox on Coleman Avenue the Waveland Clinic, Dr. J. Levens and Dr. M. Dodson Colson's Seafood Market (Source of above unknown)
1892 Waveland -Described in 1892 by Catherine Cole
What a pretty name it is to be sure; how inviting it sounds--but not prettier nor more inviting than the water-side resort to which it belongs. This is strictly the place of homes. Neither shops nor hotels disturb the domestic tranquillity of this beautiful place, bordered on one side by the sea and on the other by bright and cheerful residences. Here and there a slender wedge of forest slips furtively down to the sea, but these lapses into a primeval condition are most infrequent, and already Waveland has begun to grow inward.