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History · Melville

Melville’s post office opened in 1889

Most of Melville was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1974. Below: 18 old photos and papers, maps from 1955 on, and the census since 1890.

1889first post office
0on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
18old photos & papers
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Melville’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Melville began

When was Melville founded?

1889

The Melville post office opened in 1889, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 361 in 18902020 census: 759137 years
Founding year: the first Melville post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Melville’s past

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

A town in old photos18 old photos, postcards and papers.Boom and bustPeaked at 1,987 in 1970; 759 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · By decade

Melville, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1920s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1920s18 items
Flooded street with hotel in Melville Louisiana in 19271927Flooded street with hotel in Melville Louisiana in 19…Floods - Mississippi River Flood1927Floods - Mississippi River FloodFloods - Mississippi River Flood1927Floods - Mississippi River FloodFloods - Mississippi River Flood1927Floods - Mississippi River FloodFloods - Mississippi River Flood1927Floods - Mississippi River FloodFloods - Mississippi River Flood1927Floods - Mississippi River FloodFloods - Mississippi River Flood1927Floods - Mississippi River FloodFloods - Mississippi River Flood1927Floods - Mississippi River FloodFloods - Mississippi River Flood1927Floods - Mississippi River FloodFloods - Mississippi River Flood1927Floods - Mississippi River FloodFloods - Mississippi River Flood1927Floods - Mississippi River FloodFloods - Mississippi River Flood1927Floods - Mississippi River FloodFloods - Mississippi River Flood1927Floods - Mississippi River FloodFloods - Mississippi River Flood1927Floods - Mississippi River FloodFloods - Mississippi River Flood1927Floods - Mississippi River FloodFloods - Mississippi River Flood1927Floods - Mississippi River FloodFloods - Mississippi River Flood1927Floods - Mississippi River FloodFloods - Mississippi River Flood1927Floods - Mississippi River Flood
1930s–1990snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
People over time

Melville, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 1,987

Peaked at 1,987 in 1970; 759 people lived here in 2020.

14 censuses, 1890–2020.

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

The story so far

Melville, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Melville yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Melville is a town in St. Landry Parish, Louisiana, United States. As of the 2020 census, Melville had a population of 759. It is part of the Opelousas−Eunice Micropolitan Statistical Area. It was founded in 1889 and is known as the Atchafalaya River Catfish Capital of Louisiana. It is directly across the river from the ghost town Red Cross, Louisiana.

Its first post office opened in 1889. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 1,041 to 759 (-27%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Melville, 1889 to 1970

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1889Post officeThe Melville post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1927In the archiveFlooded street with hotel in Melville Louisiana in 1927
  5. 1933Born hereEdward Honor, Sr. is born here
  6. 1955On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 1970CensusPopulation peaks at 1,987
On the map

Melville on the map, 1955 to 1994

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

Melville on the 1955 USGS mapMelville on the 1968 USGS mapMelville on the 1970 USGS mapMelville on the 1994 USGS map1955Fordoche 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 Melville.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Flooded street with hotel in Melville Louisiana in 1927
Retake this viewFlooded street with hotel in Melville Louisiana in 1927, 1927

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Melville’s page.

Retake this view · +15
Help out

Finish Melville’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewFlooded street with hotel in Melville L…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Questions about Melville’s history

What year was Melville founded?

The Melville post office opened in 1889, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (18), 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.