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History · Napoleonville

17% of Napoleonville’s homes were built before 1940

Its Register listings are the Christ Episcopal Church and Cemetery, the Assumption Parish Courthouse and Jail and the St. Anne Catholic Church. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1885 on, and the census since 1880.

3on the National Register
17%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
13famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Napoleonville’s archive · credits on each photo

What stands out about Napoleonville’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 2 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 1,301 in 1940; 540 people lived here in 2020.Mapped building by building5 fire insurance maps, 1885 to 1912, drew every building in Napoleonville.Famous sons and daughtersPapa Celestin, Charlie Melancon and 11 more were born here.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Napoleonville’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo1 archive item has no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewWoodlawn Plantation, State Highway 77: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Napoleonville, census by census

02004006008001,0001,2001,40018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 1,301

Peaked at 1,301 in 1940; 540 people lived here in 2020.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Every building

Napoleonville, building by building, 1885–1912

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.

Napoleonville fire insurance map, 1885, sheet 11885Sheet 1 of 1
Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

The story

How Napoleonville came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Napoleonville.

Read it all →

As early as 1807, the community that later became Napoleonville was known as Canal, a name derived from a man-made waterway that extended west from the settlement to Lake Verret. This canal served as an important transportation link for goods and people in the early 19th century.

The village was later named Napoleonville by a former French soldier, Pierre Charlet, who had served under Napoleon Bonaparte. Charlet immigrated to Louisiana after the Napoleonic Wars and settled in Assumption Parish; he is buried in the cemetery of Our Lady of the Assumption Catholic Church in nearby Plattenville.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Napoleonville, 1853 to 1953

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1853BuiltChrist Episcopal Church and Cemetery is built
  3. 1867Born hereWhitmell P. Martin is born here
  4. 1870Born herePhilip H. Gilbert is born here
  5. 1879In the archiveLe Pionnier de l’Assomption February 08, 1879
  6. 1884Born herePapa Celestin is born here
  7. 20th century
  8. 1940CensusPopulation peaks at 1,301
  9. 1947Born hereCharlie Melancon is born here
  10. 1953On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Napoleonville, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1870s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1870s1 item
Le Pionnier de l’Assomption February 08, 18791879Le Pionnier de l’Assomption February 08, 1879Book
Date unknown1 to date
Woodlawn Plantation, State Highway 77Date?Woodlawn Plantation, State Highway 77
Today5 recent
Sea Grant - Cemetery at2016Sea Grant - Cemetery atSea Grant - Cemetery at Napoleonville.32016Sea Grant - Cemetery at Napoleonville.3Sea Grant - Cemetery at Napoleonville.22016Sea Grant - Cemetery at Napoleonville.2MelanconNapoleonvilleCajunCafe2006–2007MelanconNapoleonvilleCajunCafeLAMap-doton-Napoleonville2004LAMap-doton-Napoleonville
On the map

Napoleonville on the map, 1953 to 1980

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

Napoleonville on the 1953 USGS mapNapoleonville on the 1965 USGS mapNapoleonville on the 1980 USGS map1953Napoleonville 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 Napoleonville.

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.

Woodlawn Plantation, State Highway 77
Retake this viewWoodlawn Plantation, State Highway 77

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

3 historic places in Napoleonville

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
3
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
5
each building in a district counts
first listed
1977
Christ Episcopal Church and Cemetery
Christ Episcopal Church and Cemetery, built 1853Assumption Parish Courthouse and JailSt. Anne Catholic Church
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Romanesque2
Gothic Revival1
Italianate1
Colonial Revival1
Christ Episcopal Church and CemeteryGothic Revival · Built 1853
Assumption Parish Courthouse and JailItalianate
St. Anne Catholic ChurchRomanesque

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Famous people

13 famous people were born in Napoleonville

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Papa CelestinAmerican jazz bandleader, trumpeter, cornetist … · b. 1884
Charlie MelanconAmerican politician · b. 1947
Whitmell P. MartinAmerican politician · b. 1867
P
Philip H. GilbertLawyer and politician · b. 1870
Jane Margaret Triche-MilazzoUnited States District Judge · b. 1957
P
Paul CarmoucheAmerican lawyer · b. 1943

Questions about Napoleonville’s history

What is on the National Register in Napoleonville?

Three places: the Christ Episcopal Church and Cemetery (listed 1977), the Assumption Parish Courthouse and Jail (1997) and the St. Anne Catholic Church (2001).

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 (6), the Library of Congress (1), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (3), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), 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.