Pearl River dates to 1859, and 1 of its places is on the National Register
More historic than 38% of U.S. towns · #74 of 161 in Louisiana. What drives it
Most of Pearl River was built recently: 6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1993. Its Register listing is the Haaswood Store. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1982 on, and the census since 1910.
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1875.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Pearl River’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Pearl River is more historic than 38% of U.S. towns, #74 of 161 in Louisiana. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Pearl River’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 Pearl River’s 3.8 sits near the middle of its state (53% of Louisiana towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.1 points). Two sources give 1859.
Founding year: Wikipedia (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 Pearl River’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The community that is today Pearl River was originally known as Halloo, a moniker it reputedly garnered from loggers yelling to one another as they labored along the nearby Pearl River. The town was founded in 1859. Early Halloo was a small railroad town, located at the junction of the Northeastern and Poitevent and Favre's East Louisiana Railroads. In 1886 a train station was constructed at the site, and two years later Samuel Russ Poitevent (June 4, 1852– June 3, 1904), established the first store in the village. The community's name was first changed from Halloo (1859) to Pearl (1878), later to Pearlville (1881), and eventually Pearl River, in 1888, after the train station built in the town.
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.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
People over time
Pearl River, census by census
Grew from 277 people in 1910 to 2,565 in 2020, 9 times over.
12 censuses, 1910–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Pearl River’s Wikipedia page.
Places that used to be
Old corners and burying grounds
Pearl River’s post office has been open since 1875.
Hamlets and corners on the map
Messer's Mobile ManorPorters River LandingTwin Oaks Mobile Manor
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Pearl River
Pearl RiverPorters
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Pearl River’s history
What year was Pearl River founded?
In 1859, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Pearl River’s post office opened in 1875, and the census of 1910 counted 277 people here.
How does Pearl River rank for history?
Pearl River is more historic than 38% of U.S. towns, #74 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 Pearl River?
One place: the Haaswood Store (listed 2009).
How old are the homes in Pearl River?
6% of Pearl River’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.1 points), against a typical 3.4% for a Louisiana town; the median home was built in 1993.
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 (11), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, 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.
2016
2012
2010
2010
2010
2006
2006
2005
2005
2004