New Roads’ post office opened in 1879, and 8 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 50% of U.S. towns · #57 of 161 in Louisiana. What drives it
Most of New Roads was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1981. 8 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 39 buildings. Below: 9 old photos and papers, maps from 1909 on, and the census since 1900.
Founding year: the first New Roads post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives New Roads’ History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, New Roads is more historic than 50% of U.S. towns, #57 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 New Roads’ 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 New Roads’ 104 sits above most of its state (91% of Louisiana towns have fewer) while its 46 historic buildings outnumber those of 84% 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 (±2.8 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 New Roads’ past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Le Poste de Pointe Coupée ("the Pointe Coupée Post" or Cut Point Post) is one of the oldest communities in the Mississippi River Valley established by European colonists. The trading post was founded in 1719 by settlers from France. It was located upstream from the point crossed by explorers, immediately above but not circled by False River. The name referred to the area along the Mississippi River northeast of what is now New Roads.
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 New Roads. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1953New Roads sheet · 1:24,000
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of New Roads.
Every building
New Roads, building by building, 1909–1923
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 New Roads post office opened in 1879, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does New Roads rank for history?
New Roads is more historic than 50% of U.S. towns, #57 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 New Roads?
8 listings: 7 buildings, among them the LeJeune House (listed 1978, the first), and 1 historic district, the New Roads Commercial Historic District, with 39 contributing buildings. 46 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in New Roads?
4% of New Roads’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.8 points), against a typical 3.4% for a Louisiana town; the median home was built in 1981.
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 (2), the Library of Congress (7), Wikidata (2), 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), 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.
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