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History · Arnaudville

Arnaudville’s post office opened in 1854, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

Most of Arnaudville was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1976. Its Register listing is the St. Luke General Hospital. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1940 on, and the census since 1880.

1854first post office
1on the National Register
5%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Arnaudville began

When was Arnaudville founded?

1854

The Arnaudville post office opened in 1854, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1870.

First census: 140 in 18802020 census: 1,009172 years
Founding year: the first Arnaudville post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1870.The full story ↓

What stands out about Arnaudville’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 2 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 1,679 in 1980; 1,009 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Arnaudville’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Arnaudville’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old view1940 Census Enumeration District Maps -…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Arnaudville, census by census

02004006008001,0001,2001,4001,6001,80018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 1,679

Peaked at 1,679 in 1980; 1,009 people lived here in 2020.

14 censuses, 1880–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Arnaudville’s Wikipedia page.

The story

How Arnaudville came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Arnaudville.

Read it all →

On the original site of an Attakapas Indian village, Arnaudville is one of the oldest remaining towns in St. Landry Parish. First settled by the French in the late 18th century and called La Murière, it was later known as La Jonction which translates from French as "The Junction," a tribute to the fact that the town is centered by the intersection of Bayou Teche and Bayou Fusilier. By the 19th century, the town was re-named once again, this time after the Arnaud family, which had donated a large amount of land to the town to establish a church for all (which still exists today).

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Arnaudville, 1854 to 1980

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1854Post officeThe Arnaudville post office opens
  3. 1880In the archive1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Louisiana (LA) - St. Landry Parish - Arnaudville …
  4. 20th century
  5. 1940On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  6. 1980CensusPopulation peaks at 1,679
By decade

Arnaudville, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1880s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1880s2 items
1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Louisiana (LA) - St. Landry Parish - Arnaudville - ED 49-1818801940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Louisiana (LA…1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Louisiana (LA) - St. Martin Parish - Arnaudville - ED 50-1218801940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Louisiana (LA…
1890s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Today4 recent
Jars of gumbo ready for pressure2008Jars of gumbo ready for pressureHomemade by Marie Hebert - Gumbo cooking2008Homemade by Marie Hebert - Gumbo cookingCanning jars - Gumbo cooking2008Canning jars - Gumbo cookingArnaudville Louisiana at night - Fire and Water2008Arnaudville Louisiana at night - Fire and Water
On the map

Arnaudville on the map, 1940 to 1970

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Arnaudville. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Arnaudville on the 1940 USGS mapArnaudville on the 1963 USGS mapArnaudville on the 1970 USGS map1940Arnaudville sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Arnaudville.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Louisiana (LA) - St. Landry Parish - Arnaudville - ED 49-18
Retake this view1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Louisiana (LA) - St. Landry Parish - Arnaudville - ED 49-18, 1880

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Arnaudville’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Arnaudville

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
2025
St. Luke General Hospital
St. Luke General Hospital
Buildings
All 1 listings
St. Luke General HospitalBuilding · listed 2025

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Questions about Arnaudville’s history

What year was Arnaudville founded?

The Arnaudville post office opened in 1854, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1870.

What is on the National Register in Arnaudville?

One place: the St. Luke General Hospital (listed 2025).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (6), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, 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.