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History · Gillis

Gillis’ post office opened in 1897

Most of Gillis was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2004.

1897first post office
0on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Gillis began

When was Gillis founded?

1897

The Gillis post office opened in 1897, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 800129 years
Founding year: the first Gillis post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Gillis’ 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 Gillis are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
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Start Gillis’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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The story so far

Gillis, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Gillis yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Gillis is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in northern Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana, United States. As of the 2020 census, Gillis had a population of 800.

Its first post office opened in 1897. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 657 to 800 (+22%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

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Famous people

Famous people close to Gillis

Nobody well known was born in Gillis itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Zachary LeviAmerican actor · b. 1980
Lucinda WilliamsAmerican rock, folk, blues, and country music s… · b. 1953
Michael Ellis DeBakeyAmerican cardiac surgeon · b. 1908
Sean Patrick FlaneryAmerican actor · b. 1965
Dominic L. Pudwill GorieAmerican astronaut · b. 1957
Roy BrownAmerican blues singer (died 1981) · b. 1920
Places that used to be

Lost post offices and old corners

Gillis had its own post office from 1897 to 1925.

Gillis
1897–1925
18901960today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Country Oaks Mobile Home Park

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

Questions about Gillis’ history

What year was Gillis founded?

The Gillis post office opened in 1897, 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 →
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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 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.