Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Gibsland

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
–Not graded
History · Gibsland

Gibsland’s post office opened in 1883, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

Most of Gibsland was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1977. Its Register listing is the Sylvan Retreat. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1949 on, and the census since 1900.

1883first post office
1on the National Register
2%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
6famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Gibsland’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Gibsland began

When was Gibsland founded?

1883

The Gibsland post office opened in 1883, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 558 in 19002020 census: 773143 years
Founding year: the first Gibsland post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Gibsland’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.Boom and bustPeaked at 1,380 in 1970; 773 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Gibsland’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo1 archive item has no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewSylvan Retreat, 2935 Mount Lebanon Road: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Gibsland, census by census

02004006008001,0001,2001,4001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 1,380

Peaked at 1,380 in 1970; 773 people lived here in 2020.

13 censuses, 1900–2020.

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

The story

How Gibsland came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Gibsland.

Read it all →

Coleman College (also known as Coleman Academy) was a segregated African American secondary school founded in Gibsland in 1887 by O. L. Coleman; it was the first secondary school for Black students in northern Louisiana. It was affiliated with the Baptist Church, and supported by the American Baptist Home Mission Society. The institution produced primarily teachers and ministers.

The school remained in the community until the Great Depression, in which it closed in 1937. It later re-opened in Shreveport in 1943, and remained there until the 1950s.

ChaptersColeman CollegeRailroad historyDeath of Bonnie and Clyde

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Gibsland, 1883 to 1981

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1883Post officeThe Gibsland post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1916Born hereRalph Hamner is born here
  5. 1922Born hereSam Smith is born here
  6. 1924Born hereJesse N. Stone is born here
  7. 1949On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  8. 1970CensusPopulation peaks at 1,380
  9. 1981Born hereBernard King is born here
By decade

Gibsland, decade by decade

Date unknown1 to date
Sylvan Retreat, 2935 Mount Lebanon RoadDate?Sylvan Retreat, 2935 Mount Lebanon Road
Today1 recent
LAMap-doton-Gibsland2004LAMap-doton-Gibsland
On the map

Gibsland on the map, 1949 to 1986

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

Gibsland on the 1949 USGS mapGibsland on the 1950 USGS mapGibsland on the 1969 USGS mapGibsland on the 1986 USGS map1949Gibsland 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 Gibsland.

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.

Sylvan Retreat, 2935 Mount Lebanon Road
Retake this viewSylvan Retreat, 2935 Mount Lebanon Road

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Gibsland

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1979
Sylvan Retreat
Sylvan Retreat
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Classical Revival1
All 1 listings
Sylvan RetreatBuilding · listed 1979

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Famous people

6 famous people were born in Gibsland

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
B
Bernard KingAmerican basketball player · b. 1981
Ralph HamnerAmerican baseball player · b. 1916
J
Jesse N. StoneAmerican judge · b. 1924
Sam SmithAmerican politician · b. 1922
O
Ollie StewartAmerican journalist · b. 1906
F. Jay TaylorAmerican historian · b. 1923
Places that used to be

Places now gone

Gibsland’s post office has been open since 1883.

Gone or out of use
Gibbs Plantationlocale

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

Questions about Gibsland’s history

What year was Gibsland founded?

The Gibsland post office opened in 1883, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Gibsland?

One place: the Sylvan Retreat (listed 1979).

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 (1), 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.