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History · Athens

Athens’ post office opened in 1846

Most of Athens was built recently: 10% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1968. Below: maps from 1949 on and the census since 1910.

1846first post office
0on the National Register
10%homes built before 1940
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Photo: Billy Hathorn · CC BY-SA 3.0
Quick answers

How Athens began

When was Athens founded?

1846

The Athens post office opened in 1846, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1902. Another post office, Russellville (1828), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 514 in 19102020 census: 237180 years
Founding year: the first Athens post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1902.The full story ↓

What stands out about Athens’ past

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

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Athens are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Deep rootsA post office since 1846: 180 years of Athens.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Athens’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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Timeline

Athens, 1828 to 1949

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1828Post officeThe Russellville post office opens
  3. 1846Post officeThe Russellville post office closes
  4. 1846Post officeThe Athens post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1949On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
The story

How Athens came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Athens.

Read it all →

The village was named after the ancient city of Athens, capital of Greece. Athens became the parish seat of Claiborne Parish in 1846, but in 1848, fire destroyed the courthouse and all the records in it. Soon thereafter, the Claiborne Parish Police Jury decided to move the parish seat to its present location in Homer.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Athens, decade by decade

Today6 recent
Companion barns in the piney woods of north Louisiana's Claiborne Parish, near the town of Athens2020Companion barns in the piney woods of north Louisiana…Dirt road and rural landscape in north Louisiana's Claiborne Parish, near the town of Athens2020Dirt road and rural landscape in north Louisiana's Cl…Salem Cemetery in Athens, LA IMG 36362010Salem Cemetery in Athens, LA IMG 3636Hay field north of Athens, LA IMG 36382010Hay field north of Athens, LA IMG 3638Athens, LA, water tower IMG 36312010Athens, LA, water tower IMG 3631LAMap-doton-Athens2004LAMap-doton-Athens
On the map

Athens on the map, 1949 to 1986

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

Athens on the 1949 USGS mapAthens on the 1950 USGS mapAthens on the 1969 USGS mapAthens on the 1986 USGS map1949Gibsland 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 Athens.

People over time

Athens, census by census

0100200300400500192019401960198020002020Peak: 514

Between 237 and 514 people in every census since 1910.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

Athens’s post office has been open since 1846. Another post office, Russellville, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Russellville
1828–1846
Athens
1846–today
18201920today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Russellville
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Athens
AtkinsSalem

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Questions about Athens’ history

What year was Athens founded?

The Athens post office opened in 1846, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1902.

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 (4), the Library of Congress (2), 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.