4 places in town are on the National Register, among them the San Francisco Plantation House, a National Historic Landmark, and a historic district with 63 buildings. Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1892 on, and the census since 1950.
The Garyville post office opened in 1903, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Mount Airy (1884), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 1,850 in 19502020 census: 2,123123 years
How historic is Garyville?
B
More historic than 62% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Garyville post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade
What drives Garyville’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Garyville is more historic than 62% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Garyville’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 Garyville’s 311 sits above most of its state (96% of Louisiana towns have fewer) while its 66 historic buildings outnumber those of 87% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±11.0 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 Garyville’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
Garyville, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Garyville yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Garyville is a census-designated place (CDP) in St. John the Baptist Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 2,775 at the 2000 census and 2,123 in 2020. It is part of the New Orleans–Metairie–Kenner metropolitan statistical area. The Garyville Refinery, built in 1976 by Marathon Petroleum Company, is the third-largest oil refinery in the United States.
Its first post office opened in 1903. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 2,811 to 2,123 (-24%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Timeline
Garyville, 1849 to 1990
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 Garyville post office opened in 1903, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Garyville rank for history?
Garyville is more historic than 62% 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 Garyville?
4 listings: 3 buildings, among them the San Francisco Plantation House (a National Historic Landmark since 1974), and 1 historic district, the Garyville Historic District, with 63 contributing buildings. 66 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Garyville?
19% of Garyville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±11.0 points), against a typical 3.4% for a Louisiana town; the median home was built in 1976.
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 (16), the National Register of Historic Places (4), 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.
★ Landmark
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2012