Most of Gueydan was built recently: 10% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1975. Its Register listing is the Bank of Gueydan. Below: 5 old photos and papers from 1990 on.
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1896.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Gueydan’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Gueydan is more historic than 44% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Gueydan’s overall grade.
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 Gueydan’s 6.8 sits near the middle of its state (60% of Louisiana towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C to B−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.9 points). Two sources give 1884.
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 →
For thousands of years, indigenous peoples lived along the waterways of Louisiana. They were able to hunt plentiful game and harvest fish from the rivers. In historic times, this area was inhabited by the Attakapa and Chitimacha.
In the early 1860s, Jean Pierre Gueydan, (originally spelled "Guédon") the founder of the European-American town, lived in Abbeville, Louisiana, about 30 miles east of present-day Gueydan. As had the Attapaka and earlier American Indian tribes, he often came to this area to hunt deer, ducks, geese, pheasant, cache-cache (jack snipe), papabottes, and other game. The area was a hunter's paradise.
In 1884, according to Wikidata. Gueydan’s post office opened in 1896.
How does Gueydan rank for history?
Gueydan is more historic than 44% 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.
What is on the National Register in Gueydan?
One place: the Bank of Gueydan (listed 1990).
How old are the homes in Gueydan?
10% of Gueydan’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.9 points), against a typical 3.4% for a Louisiana town; the median home was built in 1975.
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 (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.
1990
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1990
2004