Most of Iota was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1979. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1947 on, and the census since 1910.
The Iota post office opened in 1900, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Cartville (1884), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 769 in 19102020 census: 1,304126 years
How historic is Iota?
D
More historic than 15% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Iota post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Iota’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Iota is more historic than 15% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.
D
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Iota’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 Iota’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 (±6.1 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 Iota’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The history of Iota is identified with Pointe-aux-Loups (French for Wolf Point), one of the oldest place names in southwest Louisiana, and the location of mineral springs that attracted many visitors beginning about 1858. The older settlement was located on Bayou des Cannes about two miles west of the present Town of Iota. A post office named Cartville, for the first postmaster Samuel Cart, was established in the vicinity of Pointe-aux-Loups in 1884. Ten years later, a railroad branch line from Midland to Eunice bypassed Cartville by a mile or so to the east. The railroad company built a depot at a point on the line nearest to the Cartville and Pointe-aux-Loups settlements, naming it Iota. The Cartville post office was changed to Iota in 1900.
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.
Iota’s post office has been open since 1900. Another post office, Cartville, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Cartville
1884–1900
Iota
1900–today
18801950today
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Iota’s history
What year was Iota founded?
The Iota post office opened in 1900, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Iota rank for history?
Iota is more historic than 15% 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 Iota?
8% of Iota’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.1 points), against a typical 3.4% for a Louisiana town; the median home was built in 1979.
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.
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