Most of Charenton was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1995. Its Register listing is the Heaton House. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1937 on, and the census since 1990.
Founding year: the first Charenton post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Charenton’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Charenton is more historic than 50% of U.S. towns. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Charenton’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 Charenton’s 6.9 sits near the middle of its state (61% of Louisiana towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% 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 (±1.7 points) is firm at this size. 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 Charenton’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Charenton is home to one community of Chitimacha people. In 1855, the Chitimacha were seriously reduced by yellow fever that struck the region. In 1881, the Chitimacha were located on Grand Lake or Lake Fausse. The census of 1900 listed six families of Chitimacha, with a total of 55 people. During this period, the Chitimacha's land base had continued to decline as reservation land was divided again and again among members unable to pay the annual taxes. As a result, the land was sold. A court divided the last 505 acres (2.04 km2) of the reservation in 1903, but attorney's fees claimed 280 acres (1.1 km2) of it two years later. Answering a plea from the Chitimacha women, Miss Sarah Avery McIlhenney purchased the land at a sheriff's sale in 1915 and immediately ceded it to the federal government who in turn placed the land in trust for the tribe. Federal recognition followed in 1917, and …
The Charenton post office opened in 1841, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Charenton rank for history?
Charenton is more historic than 50% of U.S. towns. 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 Charenton?
One place: the Heaton House (listed 1980).
How old are the homes in Charenton?
2% of Charenton’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.7 points), against a typical 3.4% for a Louisiana town; the median home was built in 1995.
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), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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?
2005
2004
