Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 32% of U.S. towns · #83 of 161 in Louisiana. What drives it
Most of Brusly was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1988. 3 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 35 buildings. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1940 on, and the census since 1880.
Brusly dates its founding to 1901 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1880.
More historic than 32% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Brusly is more historic than 32% of U.S. towns, #83 of 161 in Louisiana. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age 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 Brusly’s 143 sits above most of its state (93% of Louisiana towns have fewer) while its 37 historic buildings outnumber those of 83% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: Wikipedia (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 →
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 Brusly’s history is told.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Brusly’s post office has been open since 1906. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From Wikipedia’s history of Brusly.
The town was established in 1901. Its Brusly High School bears the nickname, the Panthers. Its colors are red, white and black. Newly elected State Representative Edmond Jordan graduated from Brusly High School in 1989.
The Cinclare Sugar Mill Historic District is located just north of town on Louisiana Highway 1.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
Born hereEdmond Jordan is born hereEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Brusly. 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 Brusly.
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 Brusly’s page.
Retake this view · +15Between 216 and 2,589 people in every census since 1880.
14 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Brusly’s Wikipedia page.
In 1901, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Brusly’s post office opened in 1840, and the census of 1880 counted 216 people here.
Brusly is more historic than 32% of U.S. towns, #83 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.
Three places: the Hebert House (listed 1993), the Brusly High School Gymnasium, Old (2007) and the Cinclare Sugar Mill Historic District (1998).
2% of Brusly’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 1988.
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 (1), the Library of Congress (2), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (3), 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.
Date?
2021
2006
