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History · Palmetto

Palmetto’s post office opened in 1888

Most of Palmetto was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1977. Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1959 on, and the census since 1920.

1888first post office
0on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
3old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Palmetto’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Palmetto began

When was Palmetto founded?

1888

The Palmetto post office opened in 1888, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Goshen (1883), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 168 in 19202020 census: 92138 years
Founding year: the first Palmetto post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Palmetto’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 3 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 457 in 1950; 92 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Palmetto’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewFloods - Mississippi River Flood: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Palmetto, census by census

0100200300400500192019401960198020002020Peak: 457

Peaked at 457 in 1950; 92 people lived here in 2020.

11 censuses, 1920–2020.

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

The story so far

Palmetto, in brief

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

Palmetto is a village in St. Landry Parish, Louisiana, United States. As of the 2020 census, Palmetto had a population of 92. It is part of the Opelousas–Eunice Micropolitan Statistical Area.

Its first post office opened in 1888. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 164 to 92 (-44%).

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

Timeline

Palmetto, 1883 to 1959

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1883Post officeThe Goshen post office opens
  3. 1884Post officeThe Goshen post office closes
  4. 1888Post officeThe Palmetto post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1927In the archiveFloods - Mississippi River Flood
  7. 1950CensusPopulation peaks at 457
  8. 1959On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Palmetto, decade by decade

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

1920s3 items
Floods - Mississippi River Flood1927Floods - Mississippi River FloodFloods - Mississippi River Flood1927Floods - Mississippi River FloodPalmetto, La., town flooded by crevasse waters1927Palmetto, La., town flooded by crevasse waters
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
Today6 recent
Tornado Damage near2025Tornado Damage nearEF2 Tornado Damage near2025EF2 Tornado Damage nearEF2 Damage near2025EF2 Damage nearDamage near2025Damage nearUP 6013 in the Bayou2018UP 6013 in the BayouLAMap-doton-Palmetto2004LAMap-doton-Palmetto
On the map

Palmetto on the map, 1959 to 1970

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

Palmetto on the 1959 USGS mapPalmetto on the 1968 USGS mapPalmetto on the 1970 USGS map1959Palmetto 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 Palmetto.

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.

Floods - Mississippi River Flood
Retake this viewFloods - Mississippi River Flood, 1927

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

Retake this view · +15
Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Palmetto’s post office has been open since 1888. Another post office, Goshen, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Goshen
1883–1884
Palmetto
1888–today
18801950today

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

Questions about Palmetto’s history

What year was Palmetto founded?

The Palmetto post office opened in 1888, 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 (8), the Library of Congress (1), 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.