History

Earliest known settlement by Europeans was in 1800 by Jacques Dreux. In 1813 John Wharton Collins established a town here with the name of Wharton.

The city was renamed after General Leonard Covington, a hero of the War of 1812.

Commerce was brought here by boat up the Bogue Falaya, which connects through the Tchefuncte River to Lake Pontchartrain.

In 1888 the railroad came to town.

In the late 20th century many people who worked in New Orleans started living in Covington, commuting across Lake Pontchartrain on the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway. Population continues to grow, bringing Covington ever more into the Greater New Orleans Metropolitan area. In 2003, Covington elected its first female and first Republican mayor, Candace Watkins.

Following the devastation of Hurricane Katrina on August 29, 2005, Covington along with the rest of the North Shore of Lake Pontchartrain experienced a massive population boom as a result of many former inhabitants of the New Orleans area being forced to move out of their storm ravaged homes. A large amount of the people moving to Covington were from St. Bernard Parish, in particular those from Chalmette (nicknamed "Chalmations") and transients looking for work as a cheap labor force. As of the end of 2005 it remains to be seen how many of these new residents will choose to stay in Covington, although many are beginning to refer to the area as "St. Tammanard Parish".

On the night of September 28, 2006, the City Hall and adjacent Police Department sustained heavy damage in a fire. John M. Thompson, who moved to Covington from Chalmette after Hurricane Katrina destroyed his home, was booked on a federal arson charge after setting the fire with a cigarette and hurricane evacuation pamphlets. The fire caused at least $350,000 in damage, and the council chambers will likely have to be demolished and rebuilt