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DHistory
History · Livingston

Livingston’s post office opened in 1918

More historic than 8% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Most of Livingston was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1986. Below: maps from 1954 on and the census since 1960.

1918first post office
0on the National Register
2%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Robert Jones · CC BY-SA 4.0
Quick answers

How Livingston began

When was Livingston founded?

1918

The Livingston post office opened in 1918, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Doyle (1900), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 1,183 in 19602020 census: 1,877108 years

How historic is Livingston?

D

More historic than 8% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

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

What drives Livingston’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Livingston is more historic than 8% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.

D
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Livingston’s overall grade.
Founding era1918, from the first post office: founded 1900–1944, an older era than 9% of U.S. townsDHomes built before 19402.4% of homes (±2.2) · typical LA town 3.4% · U.S. 8.4%C−National 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 8%
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 Livingston’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 D. The pre-1940 share (±2.2 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 Livingston’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Livingston are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Livingston’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Livingston’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Livingston came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Livingston.

Read it all →

Like the parish, Livingston takes its name from the jurist Edward Livingston.

Livingston was the site of a major train derailment (spilling about 200,000 gallons of chemicals) in 1982.

On February 11, 2016, it was officially announced that the LIGO collaboration successfully made the first direct observation of gravitational waves in September 2015. Barry Barish, Kip Thorne and Rainer Weiss were awarded the 2017 Nobel Prize in Physics for leading this work.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Livingston, 1900 to 1954

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1900Post officeThe Doyle post office opens
  3. 1918Post officeThe Livingston post office opens
  4. 1954Post officeThe Doyle post office closes
  5. 1954On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Livingston, decade by decade

Today7 recent
Snow Top in2026Snow Top inLivingston Parish Courthouse2020Livingston Parish CourthouseLivingston Parish Courthouse2020Livingston Parish CourthouseKOMU-8'S Answering The Call - Pumping Gas2008KOMU-8'S Answering The Call - Pumping GasKOMU-8'S Answering The Call - Hurricane Gustav2008KOMU-8'S Answering The Call - Hurricane GustavHouse going down the street in2008House going down the street inLAMap-doton-Livingston2004LAMap-doton-Livingston
On the map

Livingston on the map, 1954 to 1961

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

Livingston on the 1954 USGS mapLivingston on the 1961 USGS map1954Baton Rouge sheet · 1:250,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Livingston.

People over time

Livingston, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0001960198020002020Peak: 1,877

Between 999 and 1,877 people in every census since 1960.

7 censuses, 1960–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Livingston

Nobody well known was born in Livingston itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
B
Bobby JindalAmerican politician and 55th governor of Louisi… · b. 1971
Linda Thomas-GreenfieldAmerican diplomat · b. 1952
Bob PettitAmerican basketball player and coach · b. 1932
Shane WestAmerican actor, musician and songwriter · b. 1978
Ted DiBiase Jr.American professional wrestler and actor · b. 1982
Glen DavisAmerican basketball player · b. 1986
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

Livingston’s post office has been open since 1918. Another post office, Doyle, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Doyle
1900–1954
Livingston
1918–today
19001960today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Doyle
1cemetery inside Livingston
Red Oak

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

Questions about Livingston’s history

What year was Livingston founded?

The Livingston post office opened in 1918, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Livingston rank for history?

Livingston is more historic than 8% 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 Livingston?

2% of Livingston’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.2 points), against a typical 3.4% for a Louisiana town; the median home was built in 1986.

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 (7), Wikipedia, 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.