The Jeanerette post office opened in 1873, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1878. Another post office, Hubertville (1901), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
First census: 698 in 18802020 census: 4,813153 years
How historic is Jeanerette?
B+
More historic than 73% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Jeanerette post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1878.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Jeanerette’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Jeanerette is more historic than 73% of U.S. towns, #25 of 161 in Louisiana. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.
B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Jeanerette’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 Jeanerette’s 17.2 sits above most of its state (74% of Louisiana towns have fewer) while its 8 historic buildings outnumber those of 74% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±8.7 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata’s 1878 falls in the same era, so the grade doesn’t depend on which one is used.
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 Jeanerette’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
In the 18th century, French colonist Pierre Zerangue acquired the land where Jeanerette developed from the Spanish government. Zerangue received an "order of survey and settlement" from Spain for 1,052 acres (4.26 km2). Under Spanish law, if a person occupied a piece of property for two years, they could apply for title to the land under an "order of survey settlement."
Colonist Nicholas Provost acquired property extending from the present-day experimental farm to the St. Mary Parish line. He engaged in sugar cultivation, based on the labor of enslaved Americans and African Americans, until his death in 1816.
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.
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.
The Jeanerette post office opened in 1873, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1878.
How does Jeanerette rank for history?
Jeanerette is more historic than 73% of U.S. towns, #25 of 161 in Louisiana. 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 Jeanerette?
7 listings: 7 buildings, among them the Alice (listed 1984, the first). 8 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Jeanerette?
25% of Jeanerette’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±8.7 points), against a typical 3.4% for a Louisiana town; the median home was built in 1963.
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 (4), the Library of Congress (2), the National Register of Historic Places (7), 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.
1938
1938
1938
1938
