Mandeville dates to 1840, and 8 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 60% of U.S. towns · #42 of 161 in Louisiana. What drives it
Most of Mandeville was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1990. Below: 8 old photos and papers, maps from 1935 on, and the census since 1870.
Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1843.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Mandeville’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Mandeville is more historic than 60% of U.S. towns, #42 of 161 in Louisiana. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Mandeville’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 Mandeville’s 11.6 sits above most of its state (69% of Louisiana towns have fewer) while its 15 historic buildings outnumber those of 78% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to A−. The pre-1940 share (±1.0 points) is firm at this size. Two sources give 1840.
Founding year: Wikidata (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 Mandeville’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
In 1829, Bernard Xavier de Marigny de Mandeville (1785–1868), a New Orleans planter and legislator whose family was among the most prominent in Louisiana, purchased a large tract on the north shore east of Bayou Castine and established there a plantation he named Fontainebleau, on the site of the present Fontainebleau State Park. The tract had been granted to earlier settlers under British and Spanish rule, and Congress confirmed Marigny's title to it by a private act of March 15, 1832. In 1834, Marigny laid out a town on his lands west of the bayou and sold lots at auction in New Orleans, promoting it as a resort for city residents across the lake. Mandeville was incorporated as a town in 1840. It became a popular summer destination for well-to-do New Orleanians wishing to escape the city's heat.
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.
In 1840, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Mandeville’s post office opened in 1843, and the census of 1870 counted 541 people here.
How does Mandeville rank for history?
Mandeville is more historic than 60% of U.S. towns, #42 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 Mandeville?
8 listings: 7 buildings, among them the Morel-Nott House (listed 1980, the first), and 1 historic district, the Fontainebleau State Park, with 8 contributing buildings. 15 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Mandeville?
2% of Mandeville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.0 points), against a typical 3.4% for a Louisiana town; the median home was built in 1990.
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 (8), Wikidata (3), the National Register of Historic Places (8), 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.
1856
c. 1868
1880
