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C−History
History · Haynesville

Haynesville’s post office opened in 1852

More historic than 19% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Most of Haynesville was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1967. Below: 4 old photos and papers, maps from 1952 on, and the census since 1880.

1852first post office
0on the National Register
4%homes built before 1940
4old photos & papers
12famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Haynesville’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Haynesville began

When was Haynesville founded?

1852

The Haynesville post office opened in 1852, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 123 in 18802020 census: 2,039174 years

How historic is Haynesville?

C−

More historic than 19% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Haynesville post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Haynesville’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Haynesville is more historic than 19% of U.S. towns. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.

C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Haynesville’s overall grade.
Founding era1852, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19404.1% of homes (±3.8) · typical LA town 3.4% · U.S. 8.4%CNational 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 19%
NewerOlder

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 Haynesville’s 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.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to C−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.8 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.

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 →

What stands out about Haynesville’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.Boom and bustPeaked at 3,454 in 1980; 2,039 people lived here in 2020.Famous sons and daughtersJohnny Copeland, James Haynes and 10 more were born here.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Haynesville’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Haynesville’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 view1940 Census Enumeration District Maps -…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Haynesville, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,50018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 3,454

Peaked at 3,454 in 1980; 2,039 people lived here in 2020.

13 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Famous people

12 famous people were born in Haynesville

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

See all →
J
Johnny CopelandAmerican blues musician · b. 1937
James HaynesAmerican publisher · b. 1933
G
Geoffrey BeeneAmerican fashion designer · b. 1927
G
Gerrod HendersonAmerican basketball player · b. 1978
D
Danny Roy MooreAmerican politician · b. 1925
B
Bob KirkpatrickAmerican Texas blues guitarist, singer and song… · b. 1934
The story

How Haynesville came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Haynesville.

Read it all →

The town of Haynesville is the namesake of the Haynesville Shale, an upper Jurassic formation that is difficult to define on a technical basis but nevertheless covers a broad region of western Louisiana and east Texas and contains a large natural gas resource. On March 24, 2008, Chesapeake Energy announced a new natural gas discovery in the Haynesville Shale. This announcement began a new chapter in the development of the Hayneville Shale and hastened the activities of several other companies in the play.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Haynesville, 1852 to 1998

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1852Post officeThe Haynesville post office opens
  3. 1880In the archive1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Louisiana (LA) - Claiborne Parish - Haynesville -…
  4. 20th century
  5. 1917In the archiveLouisiana - Boyce through Kinder
  6. 1927Born hereGeoffrey Beene is born here
  7. 1933Born hereJames Haynes is born here
  8. 1937Born hereJohnny Copeland is born here
  9. 1952On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  10. 1978Born hereGerrod Henderson is born here
  11. 1980CensusPopulation peaks at 3,454
  12. 1998In the archiveHaynesville Airport - USGS 17 Jan 1998
By decade

Haynesville, decade by decade

3 decades in the archive, from the 1880s to the 1990s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1880s–1910s3 items
1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Louisiana (LA) - Claiborne Parish - Haynesville - ED 14-6, ED 14-718801940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Louisiana (LA…Louisiana - Boyce through Kinder1917Louisiana - Boyce through KinderLouisiana - Boyce through Kinder1917Louisiana - Boyce through Kinder
1920s–1980snothing 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
1990s1 item
Haynesville Airport - USGS 17 Jan 19981998Haynesville Airport - USGS 17 Jan 1998
Today2 recent
Old Town Cemetery in Haynesville, LA IMG 09002009Old Town Cemetery in Haynesville, LA IMG 0900Obelisk in Centennial Park in Haynesville, LA IMG 09062009Obelisk in Centennial Park in Haynesville, LA IMG 0906
On the map

Haynesville on the map, 1952 to 1986

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

Haynesville on the 1952 USGS mapHaynesville on the 1969 USGS mapHaynesville on the 1986 USGS map1952Homer 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 Haynesville.

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.

1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Louisiana (LA) - Claiborne Parish - Haynesville - ED 14-6, ED 14-7
Retake this view1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Louisiana (LA) - Claiborne Parish - Haynesville - ED 14-6, ED 14-7, 1880

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

Retake this view · +15
Places that used to be

Places now gone

Haynesville’s post office has been open since 1852.

Gone or out of use
Haynesville AirportairportHaynesville Junior High Schoolschool

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

Questions about Haynesville’s history

What year was Haynesville founded?

The Haynesville post office opened in 1852, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Haynesville rank for history?

Haynesville is more historic than 19% 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.

How old are the homes in Haynesville?

4% of Haynesville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.8 points), against a typical 3.4% for a Louisiana town; the median home was built in 1967.

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.