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History · Greensburg

Greensburg’s post office opened in 1833, and 2 of its places are on the National Register

Most of Greensburg was built recently: 10% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1974. Its Register listings are the Greensburg Land Office and the Old St. Helena Parish Jail. Below: 4 old photos and papers, maps from 1950 on, and the census since 1870.

1833first post office
2on the National Register
10%homes built before 1940
4old photos & papers
4famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Greensburg’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Greensburg began

When was Greensburg founded?

1833

The Greensburg post office opened in 1833, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 160 in 18702020 census: 629193 years
Founding year: the first Greensburg post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Greensburg’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 4 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Deep rootsA post office since 1833: 193 years of Greensburg.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Greensburg’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewCourthouse under construction in Greens…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Timeline

Greensburg, 1825 to 1980

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1825BuiltGreensburg Land Office is built
  3. 1833Post officeThe Greensburg post office opens
  4. 1848Born hereCherubusco Newton is born here
  5. 1855BuiltOld St. Helena Parish Jail is built
  6. 1896Born hereSid Womack is born here
  7. 1899Born hereJim Lindsey is born here
  8. 20th century
  9. 1909Born hereDoris Lindsey Holland Rhodes is born here
  10. 1936In the archiveCourthouse under construction in Greensburg Louisiana 1936 WPA
  11. 1950On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  12. 1980In the archiveGreensburg Louisiana 1980 street view towards Old St Helena Parish Jail
The story so far

Greensburg, in brief

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

Greensburg is a town in, and the parish seat of, St. Helena Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 629 in 2020. It is part of the Baton Rouge metropolitan statistical area. Greensburg is one of the oldest towns in Louisiana. It has two 19th-century properties listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the old land office and the old parish jail.

Its first post office opened in 1833. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 718 to 629 (-12%).

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

By decade

Greensburg, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1930s to the 1980s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1930s3 items
Courthouse under construction in Greensburg Louisiana 1936 WPA1936Courthouse under construction in Greensburg Louisiana…School auditorium and gymnasium under construction in Greensburg Louisiana 1936 WPA1936School auditorium and gymnasium under construction in…St Helena Parish courthouse nearing completion in Greensburg, Louisiana 1937 WPA1937St Helena Parish courthouse nearing completion in Gre…
1940s–1970snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
1980s1 item
Greensburg Louisiana 1980 street view towards Old St Helena Parish Jail1980Greensburg Louisiana 1980 street view towards Old St …
1990snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
Today2 recent
Police jury2023Police juryLAMap-doton-Greensburg2004LAMap-doton-Greensburg
On the map

Greensburg on the map, 1950 to 1981

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

Greensburg on the 1950 USGS mapGreensburg on the 1981 USGS map1950Greensburg sheet · 1:31,680

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Greensburg.

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.

Courthouse under construction in Greensburg Louisiana 1936 WPA
Retake this viewCourthouse under construction in Greensburg Louisiana 1936 WPA, 1936

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

2 historic places in Greensburg

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

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
first listed
1980
Greensburg Land Office
Greensburg Land Office, built 1825Old St. Helena Parish Jail, built 1855
Buildings
Greensburg Land OfficeBuilt 1825
Old St. Helena Parish JailBuilt 1855

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

People over time

Greensburg, census by census

020040060080018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 718

Between 160 and 718 people in every census since 1870.

16 censuses, 1870–2020.

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

Famous people

4 famous people were born in Greensburg

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

See all →
Cherubusco NewtonAmerican politician · b. 1848
Jim LindseyAmerican baseball player · b. 1899
D
Doris Lindsey Holland RhodesAmerican journalist and politician · b. 1909
S
Sid WomackAmerican baseball player · b. 1896

Questions about Greensburg’s history

What year was Greensburg founded?

The Greensburg post office opened in 1833, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Greensburg?

Two places: the Greensburg Land Office (listed 1980) and the Old St. Helena Parish Jail (1980).

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 (6), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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.