Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Photo: Karen Apricot · CC BY-SA 2.0More historic than 57% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Most of Grand Isle was built recently: 7% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1981. 8 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 13 buildings. Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1973 on, and the census since 1950.
The Grand Isle post office opened in 1873, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Camindaville (1891), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
More historic than 57% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Grand Isle is more historic than 57% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
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 Grand Isle’s 337 sits above most of its state (97% of Louisiana towns have fewer) while its 21 historic buildings outnumber those of 80% of U.S. towns.
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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Peaked at 2,236 in 1970; 1,005 people lived here in 2020.
8 censuses, 1950–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Grand Isle’s Wikipedia page.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
From Wikipedia’s history of Grand Isle.
Grand Isle has been repeatedly pummeled by hurricanes throughout its history. On average, the town and barrier island of Grand Isle has been affected by tropical storms or hurricanes every 2.68 years (since 1877), with direct hits on average every 7.88 years. Some of the more severe are listed here.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
In the archive1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Louisiana (LA) - Jefferson Parish - ED 26-1A - ED…
In the archiveCRACKED, DRIED MUD REMAINS AFTER DRAINING OF MARSH
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey2 decades in the archive, from the 1880s to the 1970s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Grand Isle. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Grand Isle.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Grand Isle’s page.
Retake this view · +15Nobody well known was born in Grand Isle itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Grand Isle’s post office has been open since 1873. Another post office, Camindaville, opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
The Grand Isle post office opened in 1873, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Grand Isle is more historic than 57% 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.
8 listings: 6 buildings, 1 historic district, the Humble Oil Camp Historic District, with 13 contributing buildings, and 1 structure. 21 historic buildings in all.
7% of Grand Isle’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.5 points), against a typical 3.4% for a Louisiana town; the median home was built in 1981.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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), the National Register of Historic Places (8), Wikipedia, 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.
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