Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 5% of U.S. towns · #146 of 161 in Louisiana. What drives it
Most of Brownsville was built recently: 0.5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1987. Below: 2 old photos and papers and maps from 1940 on.
More historic than 5% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Brownsville 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.
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 Brownsville’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.
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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Brownsville’s history is told.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Brownsville yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Brownsville is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Ouachita Parish, Louisiana, United States. As of the 2020 census, Brownsville had a population of 4,353.
Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 4,317 in 2010, 4,353 in 2020.
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
One decade in the archive so far: the 1860s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Brownsville. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Brownsville.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Brownsville’s page.
Retake this view · +15Nobody well known was born in Brownsville itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Old hamlets and crossroads still carry their names on the map.
Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Brownsville 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.
0.5% of Brownsville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 3.4% for a Louisiana town; the median home was built in 1987.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (2), the Library of Congress (1), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps 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.
1864
1864
2004
