Bossier City’s post office opened in 1891, and 4 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 46% of U.S. towns · #61 of 161 in Louisiana. What drives it
Most of Bossier City was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1980. 4 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 249 buildings. Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1932 on, and the census since 1890.
From Bossier City’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers
How Bossier City began
When was Bossier City founded?
1891
The Bossier City post office opened in 1891, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1907. Four smaller post offices, Curtis (1888), Brownlee (1890) and Bossier (1894), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
First census: 202 in 18902020 census: 62,701135 years
How historic is Bossier City?
B−
More historic than 46% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Bossier City post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1907.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Bossier City’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Bossier City is more historic than 46% of U.S. towns, #61 of 161 in Louisiana. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Bossier City’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 Bossier City’s 40.5 sits above most of its state (81% of Louisiana towns have fewer) while its 255 historic buildings outnumber those of 95% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to B+. The pre-1940 share (±0.8 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata gives 1907.
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 Bossier City’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
In the 1830s, the area of Bossier City was the plantation Elysian Grove, which was purchased by James Cane and his second wife Mary Doal Cilley Bennett Cane.
Cane had come to the area with his first wife Rebecca Bennett, and her brother, William Bennett, and his wife Mary Doal (née Cille)y Bennett. They ran a trading post across the river on what was then Caddo Indian territory, a portion called "Bennett's Bluff". The trading post partners became a one-seventh partner in the new Shreve Town, which eventually developed as Shreveport.
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.
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.
The Bossier City post office opened in 1891, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1907.
How does Bossier City rank for history?
Bossier City is more historic than 46% of U.S. towns, #61 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 Bossier City?
4 listings: 3 buildings and 1 historic district, the Barksdale Field Historic District, with 249 contributing buildings. 255 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Bossier City?
2% of Bossier City’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 3.4% for a Louisiana town; the median home was built in 1980.
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), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (4), 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) 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.
1976
