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History · Fordoche

Fordoche’s post office opened in 1854, and 13% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1939 on, and the census since 1970.

1854first post office
0on the National Register
13%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Fordoche’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Fordoche began

When was Fordoche founded?

1854

The Fordoche post office opened in 1854, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 488 in 19702020 census: 910172 years
Founding year: the first Fordoche post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Fordoche’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Fordoche’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old view1940 Census Enumeration District Descri…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Fordoche came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Fordoche.

Read it all →

In 1854, the first post office was established at Fordoche, with Thomas Farrar designated as its first postmaster. There are two conflicting stories about how the town's name was derived. One story suggests that it received its name from a Caddo Indian word meaning "wild animal lair" (i.e., the bed of a wild beast) and the other claims that it is named after a Louisiana French term for underbrush found in bayou bottom.

At least two American Civil War battles were fought in and around Fordoche. The Battle of Fordoche Bridge was fought in September 1863. Union troops were sent to prevent the Confederacy from operating in the upper Atchafalaya but the Confederates were successful in driving back the Union forces.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Fordoche, 1850 to 1939

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1850In the archive1940 Census Enumeration District Descriptions - Louisiana - Pointe Coupee County - ED 39-…
  3. 1854Post officeThe Fordoche post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1939On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Fordoche, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1850s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1850s1 item
1940 Census Enumeration District Descriptions - Louisiana - Pointe Coupee County - ED 39-1418501940 Census Enumeration District Descriptions - Louis…
Today1 recent
LAMap-doton-Fordoche2004LAMap-doton-Fordoche
On the map

Fordoche on the map, 1939 to 1998

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

Fordoche on the 1939 USGS mapFordoche on the 1954 USGS mapFordoche on the 1969 USGS mapFordoche on the 1970 USGS mapFordoche on the 1998 USGS map1939Fordoche 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 Fordoche.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

1940 Census Enumeration District Descriptions - Louisiana - Pointe Coupee County - ED 39-14
Retake this view1940 Census Enumeration District Descriptions - Louisiana - Pointe Coupee County - ED 39-14, 1850

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Fordoche’s page.

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Fordoche, census by census

02004006008001,000198020002020Peak: 933

Between 488 and 933 people in every census since 1970.

6 censuses, 1970–2020.

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

Questions about Fordoche’s history

What year was Fordoche founded?

The Fordoche post office opened in 1854, 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 (2), 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.