Leesville’s post office opened in 1873, and 10 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 51% of U.S. towns · #55 of 161 in Louisiana. What drives it
Most of Leesville was built recently: 6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1977. 10 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 15 buildings. Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1904 on, and the census since 1900.
Founding year: the first Leesville post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade
What drives Leesville’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Leesville is more historic than 51% of U.S. towns, #55 of 161 in Louisiana. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Leesville’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 Leesville’s 47.3 sits above most of its state (81% of Louisiana towns have fewer) while its 26 historic buildings outnumber those of 81% 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 (±1.5 points) is firm at this size. 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 Leesville’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Peaked at 9,054 in 1980; 5,649 people lived here in 2020.
13 censuses, 1900–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Leesville’s Wikipedia page.
The story so far
Leesville, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Leesville yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Leesville is a city in and the parish seat of Vernon Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 5,649 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Fort Polk South micropolitan area and is additionally served by the Leesville Airport. The city is home to the Fort Polk (known as Fort Johnson from 2023-2025) U.S. Army installation.
Its first post office opened in 1873. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 6,612 to 5,649 (-15%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Timeline
Leesville, 1873 to 1980
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born 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.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Leesville. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1941Leesville 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 Leesville.
Every building
Leesville, building by building, 1904–1928
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
The Leesville post office opened in 1873, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Leesville rank for history?
Leesville is more historic than 51% of U.S. towns, #55 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 Leesville?
10 listings: 9 buildings, among them the Vernon Parish Courthouse (listed 1983, the first), and 1 historic district, the Downtown Leesville Historic District, with 15 contributing buildings. 26 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Leesville?
6% of Leesville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.5 points), against a typical 3.4% for a Louisiana town; the median home was built in 1977.
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 (3), the Library of Congress (1), Wikidata (7), the National Register of Historic Places (10), 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), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
1880
Date?
2004
