Editing Springfield, Louisiana (section)

==History==
Springfield began in the 18th century at one of the northernmost [[head of navigation|points considered to be navigable]] on the [[Natalbany River]]. Between Springfield and [[Lake Maurepas]], [[Ponchatoula Creek]] joins the Natalbany and increases its flow. The town was also connected to the [[Natchez Trace]].

Via the Natalbany, [[Lake Maurepas]], [[Lake Pontchartrain]], and [[Bayou St. John|Bayou Saint John]], Springfield had access to [[New Orleans]] by water. Similarly, at the time (prior to the damming of the channel by [[levee]]s) along the [[Amite River]] and [[Mississippi River]], [[Bayou Manchac]] provided shallow-water access between Springfield and [[Baton Rouge]]. By 1810 Springfield was one of the areas of interest in the rebellion against [[Spanish West Florida|Spain]], which produced the short-lived [[Republic of West Florida]]. Bricks from an old Spanish [[fort]] can still be found, roughly 200 yards in front of today's post office. At this time the area was part of [[St. Helena Parish, Louisiana|St. Helena Parish]], with Livingston Parish created in 1832 from the southern portion of St. Helena.

Springfield served as the Livingston [[County seat|parish seat]] from 1835 to 1872. The town was incorporated in 1838.<ref>[http://www.livingstonparish.com/springfield.htm Photo of Springfield's historical marker], accessed October 4, 2015.</ref> A post office was listed in Springfield, Livingston County (Parish), on October 1, 1846, with Jacob P. Randolph as the postmaster.<ref name="Post offices:">{{cite web | url=https://archive.org/stream/unitedstatesoff02deptgoog#page/n0/mode/1up | title=Table of Post Offices in the United States (1846) | publisher=John T. Tower (Printer, US Government) | work=Public domain, Google books  | date=1846 | accessdate=June 29, 2014 | pages=208}}</ref>

In the early part of the 19th century, Peter av Hammerdal (Peter Hammond), eponym of [[Hammond, Louisiana]], came to do business of transporting lumber and other products for ocean-going ships in [[New Orleans]], via the rivers and lakes south of Springfield.

The Springfield city fathers, fearing a lawless element, declined to allow a [[rail transport|railway]] track to be laid from New Orleans through Springfield and then north.  (This decision gave birth to Ponchatoula, Hammond, [[Amite, Louisiana|Amite]], and other towns.)  The 1854 completion of the [[Illinois Central Railroad|New Orleans, Jackson & Great Northern Railroad]] (now the [[Canadian National Railway]])—which went through [[Hammond, Louisiana|Hammond]], [[Ponchatoula, Louisiana|Ponchatoula]], and [[Manchac, Louisiana|Manchac]]—bypassed Springfield and deprived it of a logistical role.

When [[Tangipahoa Parish]] was formed partly from Livingston Parish in 1868, Springfield was no longer a central location in Livingston Parish. It sat along the new boundary between Livingston and Tangipahoa Parishes. Today's seat of government for Livingston Parish is the city of [[Livingston, Louisiana|Livingston]].