The story
Read it all →How Ama came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Ama.
Ama was named in honor of Amazalie Perret, the postmaster's daughter.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
DHistory
History · Ama
Ama’s post office opened in 1891
More historic than 11% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Most of Ama was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1989. Below: maps from 1891 on and the census since 2000.
1891first post office
0on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
2famous people
Quick answers
How Ama began
When was Ama founded?
1891
The Ama post office opened in 1891, the earliest record of the town by name.
First census: 1,285 in 20002020 census: 1,290135 years
How historic is Ama?
D
What drives the grade ↓More historic than 11% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Ama post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Ama’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Ama is more historic than 11% of U.S. towns. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
D
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Ama’s overall grade.
Founding era1891, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19400.0% of homes (±2.3) · typical LA town 3.4% · U.S. 8.4%D−National RegisterNo listings counted · typical LA town 3.8 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 11%
NewerOlder
Louisiana towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Louisiana town has 3.8 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Ama’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (21% of Louisiana towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D− to D. The pre-1940 share (±2.3 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
What stands out about Ama’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Ama’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Ama’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.On the map
Ama on the map, 1891 to 1992
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Ama. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1891Hahnville sheet · 1:62,500U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Ama.
Timeline
Ama, 1891 to 1982
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1891Post officeThe Ama post office opens
- 1891
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey - 20th century
- 1969
Born herePokey Chatman is born here - 1982
Born hereDawan Landry is born here
By decade
No old photos in the archives yet
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
Add from your albumPeople over time
Ama, census by census
Between 1,285 and 1,316 people in every census since 2000.
3 censuses, 2000–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Ama’s Wikipedia page.
Famous people
See all →2 famous people were born in Ama
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Places that used to be
Old corners and places now gone
Ama’s post office has been open since 1891.
Hamlets and corners on the map
Salix
Gone or out of use
Ama Stationlocale
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Stories next door
History across the town line
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Questions about Ama’s history
What year was Ama founded?
The Ama post office opened in 1891, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Ama rank for history?
Ama is more historic than 11% of U.S. towns. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
How old are the homes in Ama?
0.0% of Ama’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.3 points), against a typical 3.4% for a Louisiana town; the median home was built in 1989.
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
Start a conversation
Sources
Where this page comes from
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.