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C−History
History · Basile

Basile’s post office opened in 1909, and 13% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 20% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Below: maps from 1920 on and the census since 1920.

1909first post office
0on the National Register
13%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Basile began

When was Basile founded?

1909

The Basile post office opened in 1909, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 552 in 19202020 census: 1,214117 years

How historic is Basile?

C−

More historic than 20% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Basile post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade

What drives Basile’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Basile is more historic than 20% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.

C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Basile’s overall grade.
Founding era1909, from the first post office: founded 1900–1944, an older era than 9% of U.S. townsDHomes built before 194013.4% of homes (±7.8) · typical LA town 3.4% · U.S. 8.4%BNational 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 20%
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 Basile’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 C. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±7.8 points). 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 Basile’s 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 Basile are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 2,635 in 1980; 1,214 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Basile’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Basile, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,500192019401960198020002020Peak: 2,635

Peaked at 2,635 in 1980; 1,214 people lived here in 2020.

11 censuses, 1920–2020.

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

The story so far

Basile, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Basile yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Basile is a town in Acadia and Evangeline parishes in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The population was 1,214 in 2020. The Acadia Parish portion of Basile is part of the Crowley Micropolitan Statistical Area.

Its first post office opened in 1909. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 1,821 to 1,214 (-33%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Basile, 1909 to 1980

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1909Post officeThe Basile post office opens
  3. 1947On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  4. 1952Born hereJohn Douglas Deshotel is born here
  5. 1980CensusPopulation peaks at 2,635
By decade

Basile, decade by decade

Today1 recent
LAMap-doton-Basile2004LAMap-doton-Basile
On the map

Basile on the map, 1947 to 1985

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

Basile on the 1947 USGS mapBasile on the 1960 USGS mapBasile on the 1971 USGS mapBasile on the 1985 USGS map1947Basile sheet · 1:31,680

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

Every building

Basile, building by building, 1920

Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a sheet.

Basile fire insurance map, 1920, sheet 11920Sheet 1 of 2
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

Questions about Basile’s history

What year was Basile founded?

The Basile post office opened in 1909, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Basile rank for history?

Basile is more historic than 20% 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 Basile?

13% of Basile’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.8 points), against a typical 3.4% for a Louisiana town; the median home was built in 1976.

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).

From Wikimedia Commons (1), 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), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.