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History · Epps

Epps’ post office opened in 1919

Most of Epps was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1967. Below: maps from 1921 on and the census since 1940.

1919first post office
0on the National Register
3%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Epps began

When was Epps founded?

1919

The Epps post office opened in 1919, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Lefay (1909), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 391 in 19402020 census: 358107 years
Founding year: the first Epps post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Epps’ past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Epps are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 1,153 in 2000; 358 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Epps’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Epps’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Epps, census by census

02004006008001,0001,20019401960198020002020Peak: 1,153

Peaked at 1,153 in 2000; 358 people lived here in 2020.

9 censuses, 1940–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Epps’ Wikipedia page.

The story

How Epps came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Epps.

Read it all →

Very little is known about the early days of the town, but it is thought the settlement began as steamboat traffic carrying cotton and timber increased on Bayou Macon in the 1850s. Though not confirmed, it is believed that the town was named after Edwin Epps. Epps owned a cotton plantation in Avoyelles Parish and he is known as one of the enslavers of the famous abolitionist Solomon Northup.

The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 affected Epps less severely then other towns within the Mississippi embayment, even serving as a Red Cross Relief Camp.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Epps, 1909 to 2000

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 20th century
  2. 1909Post officeThe Lefay post office opens
  3. 1919Post officeThe Lefay post office closes
  4. 1919Post officeThe Epps post office opens
  5. 1920Born hereJake Jones is born here
  6. 1959On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 21st century
  8. 2000CensusPopulation peaks at 1,153
By decade

Epps, decade by decade

Today3 recent
West Carroll Detention Center, Epps, LA IMG 74382013West Carroll Detention Center, Epps, LA IMG 7438Epps, LA, Baptist Church IMG 7437 1 12013Epps, LA, Baptist Church IMG 7437 1 1LAMap-doton-Epps2004LAMap-doton-Epps
On the map

Epps on the map, 1959 to 1986

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Epps. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Epps on the 1959 USGS mapEpps on the 1986 USGS map1959Mitchiner 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 Epps.

Every building

Epps, building by building, 1921

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 sheet.

Epps fire insurance map, 1921, sheet 11921Sheet 1 of 1
Sheets
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Epps’s post office has been open since 1919. Another post office, Lefay, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Lefay
1909–1919
Epps
1919–today
19001960today

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Questions about Epps’ history

What year was Epps founded?

The Epps post office opened in 1919, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (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), 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.