On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Bunkie is more historic than 61% of U.S. towns, #39 of 161 in Louisiana. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Bunkie’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 Bunkie’s 18.4 sits above most of its state (75% 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 C+ to B+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.6 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 Bunkie’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Bunkie was founded as a station terminus on the Texas and Pacific Railroad line. It was named for the daughter (whose nickname was "Bunkie") of the original landowner.
The federal post office in town contains a mural, Cotton Pickers, painted in 1939 during the Great Depression by Caroline Speare Rohland. Federally commissioned murals were produced from 1934 to 1943 in the United States through the Section of Painting and Sculpture, later called the Section of Fine Arts, of the Treasury Department. This work was part of the effort by the federal government to employ artists during the difficult Depression years.
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.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Bunkie. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1948Bunkie sheet · 1:62,500
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Bunkie.
Every building
Bunkie, building by building, 1909–1923
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.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Bunkie’s history
What year was Bunkie founded?
The Bunkie post office opened in 1883, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Bunkie rank for history?
Bunkie is more historic than 61% of U.S. towns, #39 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 Bunkie?
5 listings: 5 buildings, among them the Bailey Theatre (listed 1979, the first). 6 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Bunkie?
15% of Bunkie’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.6 points), against a typical 3.4% for a Louisiana town; the median home was built in 1960.
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 (6), 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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