Bastrop’s post office opened in 1846, and 5 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 61% of U.S. towns · #41 of 161 in Louisiana. What drives it
Most of Bastrop was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1973. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1886 on, and the census since 1860.
Founding year: the first Bastrop post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1852.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Bastrop’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Bastrop is more historic than 61% of U.S. towns, #41 of 161 in Louisiana. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Bastrop’s overall grade.
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 Bastrop’s 6.5 sits near the middle of its state (59% of Louisiana towns have fewer) while its 6 historic buildings outnumber those of 72% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B− to A−. 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; Wikidata gives 1852.
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 Bastrop’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
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 year, then a sheet.
1886Sheet 1 of 1
Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone
Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
People over time
Bastrop, census by census
Peaked at 15,527 in 1980; 9,691 people lived here in 2020.
16 censuses, 1860–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Bastrop’s Wikipedia page.
Bastrop was founded by Felipe Enrique Neri, Baron de Bastrop, a Dutch businessman accused as an embezzler. He had fled to the then-Spanish colony of Louisiana to escape prosecution and became involved in various land deals. In New Spain, he falsely claimed to be a nobleman. He received a large grant of land, provided that he could settle 450 families on it over the next several years. He was unable to do this, and lost the grant. Afterwards, he moved to Texas, where he claimed to oppose the sale of Louisiana to the United States and became a minor government official. He proved instrumental in Moses Austin's plan (and later, that of his son, Stephen F. Austin) to bring American colonists to what was then northern Mexico.
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.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Bastrop’s history
What year was Bastrop founded?
The Bastrop post office opened in 1846, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1852.
How does Bastrop rank for history?
Bastrop is more historic than 61% of U.S. towns, #41 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.
What is on the National Register in Bastrop?
5 listings: 5 buildings, among them the Christ Episcopal Church (listed 1982, the first). 6 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Bastrop?
4% of Bastrop’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 1973.
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 (3), the Library of Congress (3), the National Register of Historic Places (5), 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), 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.
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