The story so far
Avondale, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Avondale yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 4,954 to 4,582 (-8%).
DHistory
History · Avondale
Half of Avondale’s homes were built after 1972
More historic than 5% of U.S. towns · #146 of 161 in Louisiana. What drives it
Most of Avondale was built recently: 0.5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1972. Below: 11 old photos and papers, maps from 1891 on, and the census since 1980.
0on the National Register
0.5%homes built before 1940
11old photos & papers
Quick answers
About Avondale’s history
How historic is Avondale?
D
What drives the grade ↓More historic than 5% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
History grade
What drives Avondale’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Avondale is more historic than 5% of U.S. towns, #146 of 161 in Louisiana. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
D
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Avondale’s overall grade.
Founding eraNo founding year we can rely on, so the grade uses the other two–Homes built before 19400.5% of homes (±0.8) · typical LA town 3.4% · U.S. 8.4%DNational 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 5%
NewerOlder
Louisiana towns of 2,500+ (161)Ahead of 9%
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 Avondale’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 two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share (±0.8 points) is firm at this size.
Founding year: our sources. 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 Avondale’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
★ What stands out · On the map
Avondale on the map, 1891 to 1992
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Avondale. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1891New Orleans 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 Avondale.
Timeline
Avondale, 1891 to 1987
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
By decade
Avondale, decade by decade
3 decades in the archive, from the 1960s to the 1980s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
1960s–1980s11 items
1965Winn-Dixie Grand Opening Avondale 1965 Press Photo
1973WORKMEN SANDBLAST WITH "BLACK BEAUTY," SLAG FROM STEE…
1987Covered Hopper, MP
1987Southern Pacific SP 2702 (MP15AC)
1987Southern Pacific SP 2704 (MP15AC)
1987Southern Pacific SP 2759 (MP15AC)
1987Southern Pacific SP 3323 (GP9)
1987Southern Pacific SP 5101 (B23-7)
1987Southern Pacific SP 7768 (B36-7)
1987Southern Pacific Tank
1987Union Pacific UP 1593 (GP15-1)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 albumToday7 recent
2009US Navy 090823-N-2147L-001 Lt. Cmdr. Laura Bender, co…
2009US Navy 090821-N-2147L-001 Information Systems Techni…
2009US Navy 090815-N-2147L-001 Cmdr. Curt Jones, right, c…
2009US Navy 090723-N-7090S-103 The first crew of the amph…
2008USS New York christening
2008US Navy 080110-N-8273J-113 Adm. Gary Roughead, Chief …
2006USS New York (LPD-21)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.
Retake this viewWinn-Dixie Grand Opening Avondale 1965 Press Photo, 1965
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Avondale’s page.
Retake this view · +15People over time
Avondale, census by census
Between 4,582 and 6,699 people in every census since 1980.
5 censuses, 1980–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Avondale’s Wikipedia page.
Places that used to be
Places now gone and burying grounds
Gone or out of use
Avondale Oil FieldoilfieldAvondale Plantationlocale
1cemetery inside Avondale
Our Lady of the Angels
Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Help out
Finish Avondale’s story
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
3 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.Stories next door
History across the town line
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Questions about Avondale’s history
How does Avondale rank for history?
Avondale is more historic than 5% of U.S. towns, #146 of 161 in Louisiana. 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 Avondale?
0.5% of Avondale’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 3.4% for a Louisiana town; the median home was built in 1972.
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 Wikimedia Commons (18), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) 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.