Ferriday’s post office opened in 1904, and 3 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 43% of U.S. towns · #68 of 161 in Louisiana. What drives it
Most of Ferriday was built recently: 9% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1970. 3 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 21 buildings. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1939 on, and the census since 1910.
Founding year: the first Ferriday post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade
What drives Ferriday’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Ferriday is more historic than 43% of U.S. towns, #68 of 161 in Louisiana. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Ferriday’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 Ferriday’s 74.2 sits above most of its state (85% of Louisiana towns have fewer) while its 23 historic buildings outnumber those of 80% 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 (±5.7 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 Ferriday’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
The story so far
Ferriday, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Ferriday yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Ferriday is a town in Concordia Parish, which borders the Mississippi River and is located on the central eastern border of Louisiana, United States. As of the 2020 census, Ferriday had a population of 3,189. It is an African-American majority town. The town claims to have produced more famous people per square mile than any other in America. Elaine Dundy explored both celebrities and townsfolk in her book, Ferriday, Louisiana, published by E. P. Dutton in 1991. Churches of several major denominations are located here, including a large Pentecostal congregation south of town on Louisiana Highway 15, as well as Baptist, Assembly of God, Presbyterian, Methodist, and Catholic.
Its first post office opened in 1904. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 3,511 to 3,189 (-9%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Timeline
Ferriday, 1904 to 1970
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born 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.
The Ferriday post office opened in 1904, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Ferriday rank for history?
Ferriday is more historic than 43% of U.S. towns, #68 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 Ferriday?
Three places: the Ferriday Commercial Historic District (listed 1995), the Zappe Boarding House (1999) and the Roseland (1985).
How old are the homes in Ferriday?
9% of Ferriday’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.7 points), against a typical 3.4% for a Louisiana town; the median home was built in 1970.
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 (5), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (3), 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.
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