Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Gonzales

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
DHistory
History · Gonzales

Gonzales dates to 1855

More historic than 9% of U.S. towns · #141 of 161 in Louisiana. What drives it

Most of Gonzales was built recently: 1% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1999. Below: maps from 1892 on and the census since 1930.

1855founded
0on the National Register
1%homes built before 1940
3famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Ken Lund from Reno, Nevada, USA · CC BY-SA 2.0
Quick answers

How Gonzales began

When was Gonzales founded?

1855

Gonzales dates its founding to 1855 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1930.

First census: 462 in 19302020 census: 12,231171 years

How historic is Gonzales?

D

More historic than 9% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1887.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Gonzales’ History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Gonzales is more historic than 9% of U.S. towns, #141 of 161 in Louisiana. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

D
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Gonzales’ overall grade.
Founding eraNo founding year we can rely on, so the grade uses the other two–Homes built before 19401.3% of homes (±1.0) · typical LA town 3.4% · U.S. 8.4%DNational RegisterNo listings counted · typical LA town 3.8 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 9%
NewerOlder
Louisiana towns of 2,500+ (161)Ahead of 12%

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 Gonzales’ 0.0 sits below most of its state (21% of Louisiana towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.

NoteThe founding year comes from Wikidata alone; no second source gives 1855.
How sure. Graded on two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share (±1.0 points) is firm at this size.

Founding year: Wikidata (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 Gonzales’ 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 Gonzales are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18926 editions of the USGS map, 1892 to 1991. Watch Gonzales change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Gonzales’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Gonzales on the map, 1892 to 1991

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

Gonzales on the 1892 USGS mapGonzales on the 1935 USGS mapGonzales on the 1953 USGS mapGonzales on the 1961 USGS mapGonzales on the 1980 USGS mapGonzales on the 1991 USGS map1892Donaldsonville 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 Gonzales.

The story

How Gonzales came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Gonzales.

Read it all →

Early European settlers of the area that was developed as Gonzales were, for the most part, of French and Spanish ancestry. They settled among the Houma Indians who lived in the area.

Among the projects and plans carried out by Luis de Unzaga ("Le Conciliateur") while he was governor of Louisiana between 1769 and 1777 was the promotion of new settlements by Europeans; among them were French Acadians and Málaga in the fertile Mississippi region, and more specifically in the Unzaga Post or "Puesto de Unzaga" that he created in 1771 in Pointe Coupee, the parish of Saint Gabriel in 1773 and Fort Manchac in 1776; the Gonzales people occupied land at the confluence of the aforementioned European settlements.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Gonzales, 1855 to 1987

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1855
    FoundingGonzales is established
  3. 1887Post officeThe Gonzales post office opens
  4. 1892On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 20th century
  6. 1985Born hereShawn Nelson is born here
  7. 1987Born hereAlicia Morton is born here
By decade

Gonzales, decade by decade

Today6 recent
Tanger Outlets2012Tanger OutletsTanger Outlets Gonzales Crocs2012Tanger Outlets Gonzales CrocsDamage to 7th District Fire Station in Gonzales, Louisiana, December 20122012Damage to 7th District Fire Station in Gonzales, Loui…Gonzales, Louisiana2009Gonzales, LouisianaFEMA - 15624 - Photograph by Mary Beth Delarm taken on 09-11-2005 in Louisiana2005FEMA - 15624 - Photograph by Mary Beth Delarm taken o…LAMap-doton-Gonzales2004LAMap-doton-Gonzales
People over time

Gonzales, census by census

02,0004,0006,0008,00010,00012,0001940196019802000202012,231

Grew from 462 people in 1930 to 12,231 in 2020, more than tenfold.

10 censuses, 1930–2020.

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

Famous people

3 famous people were born in Gonzales

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

See all →
A
Alicia MortonAmerican actress and singer · b. 1987
Jeff DaigleAmerican Ambassador to Cabo Verde
S
Shawn NelsonPlayer of American football · b. 1985
Places that used to be

Old corners and burying grounds

Gonzales’s post office has been open since 1887.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Lakeland Estates Mobile Home ParkVesta Mobile Home Park
4cemeteries and burying grounds inside Gonzales
Hope Haven Mausoleum andLittle Zion BaptistLuskSaint Theresa of Avila Catholic

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

Questions about Gonzales’ history

What year was Gonzales founded?

In 1855, according to Wikidata. Gonzales’ post office opened in 1887, and the census of 1930 counted 462 people here.

How does Gonzales rank for history?

Gonzales is more historic than 9% of U.S. towns, #141 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.

How old are the homes in Gonzales?

1% of Gonzales’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.0 points), against a typical 3.4% for a Louisiana town; the median home was built in 1999.

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).

From Wikimedia Commons (6), 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.