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B−History
History · Pineville

Pineville was first counted by the census in 1860, and 14 of its places are on the National Register

More historic than 54% of U.S. towns · #50 of 161 in Louisiana. What drives it

Most of Pineville was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1977. 14 places in town are on the National Register, among them three historic districts with 105 buildings between them. Below: 7 old photos and papers, maps from 1941 on, and the census since 1860.

1860first census
14on the National Register
5%homes built before 1940
7old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Pineville’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Pineville began

When was Pineville founded?

1860

Pineville first appears in the census in 1860.

First census: 393 in 18602020 census: 14,384166 years

How historic is Pineville?

B−

More historic than 54% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first census.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Pineville’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Pineville is more historic than 54% of U.S. towns, #50 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 Pineville’s overall grade.
Founding era1860, from the first census: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19405.2% of homes (±2.3) · typical LA town 3.4% · U.S. 8.4%CNational Register14 listings, 115 historic buildings, 81.2 per 10,000 residents · typical LA town 3.8 · U.S. 2.4A
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 54%
NewerOlder
Louisiana towns of 2,500+ (161)Ahead of 69%

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 Pineville’s 81.2 sits above most of its state (87% of Louisiana towns have fewer) while its 115 historic buildings outnumber those of 90% 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 (±2.3 points) is firm at this size.

Founding year: the first census (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 Pineville’s past

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

A historic districtThe Central Louisiana State Hospital Historic District takes in 91 historic buildings.Landmarks on the Register14 places on the National Register.Lost villages5 hamlets and corners are still on the map.
★ What stands out · On the National Register

14 listings protect 115 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. Boundary changes and added documentation are counted with their listing.

places listed
14
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
115
each building in a district counts
first listed
1973
Old LSU Site
Old LSU Site, built 1860Rapides CemeteryAlexandria Hall-Louisiana CollegeCentral Louisiana State Hospital Dairy BarnCottingham HouseAlexandria National CemeteryMt. Olivet Episcopal Church and CemeteryMyrtlewoodFort BuhlowRose CottageAlexandria Veterans Administration Hospital Historic DistrictLong, Huey P., Memorial HospitalOld Pineville Town HallCentral Louisiana State Hospital Historic District
BuildingsDistrictsSites

Architectural styles listings

Colonial Revival2
Classical Revival2
Neo-Classical1
Queen Anne1
Gothic Revival1
Renaissance Revival1
Old LSU SiteBuilt 1860
Rapides CemeterySite
Alexandria Hall-Louisiana CollegeNeo-Classical
Central Louisiana State Hospital Dairy BarnBuilding
Cottingham HouseQueen Anne
Alexandria National CemeteryColonial Revival
Mt. Olivet Episcopal Church and CemeteryGothic Revival
MyrtlewoodClassical Revival
All 14 listings
Fort BuhlowSite · listed 1981Rose CottageBuilding · listed 1983Alexandria Veterans Administration Hospital Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 2012Long, Huey P., Memorial HospitalDistrict · listed 2015Old Pineville Town HallBuilding · listed 2024Central Louisiana State Hospital Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 2025

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

Places that used to be

Old corners and burying grounds

Pineville’s post office has been open since 1871.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Fort BuhlowFort RandolphKingsvillePineville JunctionSmithville
10cemeteries and burying grounds inside Pineville
Alexandria NationalB'nai IsraelGreenwood Memorial ParkHolly OakJewishLincoln MemorialMaryhill SeminaryMethodistMount OlivetWesley

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

The story

How Pineville came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Pineville.

Read it all →

Louisiana State University was founded by the Louisiana General Assembly in 1853. It was founded under the name Louisiana State Seminary of Learning & Military Academy and was located near Pineville. The first academic session began on January 2, 1860, with General William Tecumseh Sherman of Ohio as superintendent.

Pineville was historically a "dry" city, with no alcohol legally available in the community. In a referendum held in the 1980s, voters continued to support a ban on alcohol. Mayor Clarence Fields, who took office in 1999, supported holding another referendum to permit the sale of liquor in restaurants. In a special election in 2013, voters approved liquor sales in restaurants.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Pineville, 1860 to 1975

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1860BuiltOld LSU Site is built
  3. 1871Post officeThe Pineville post office opens
  4. 1880In the archive1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Louisiana (LA) - Rapides Parish - Pineville - ED …
  5. 20th century
  6. 1910In the archivePineille La Flood 1910
  7. 1941On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  8. 1975In the archive1975. Forest entomologists, left-to-right Larry Abrahamson, Iral Ragenovich, and Gerry He…
By decade

Pineville, decade by decade

3 decades in the archive, from the 1880s to the 1970s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1880s–1910s6 items
1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Louisiana (LA) - Rapides Parish - Pineville - ED 40-45, ED 40-46, ED 40-47, ED …18801940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Louisiana (LA…1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Louisiana (LA) - Rapides Parish - Pineville - ED 40-45, ED 40-46, ED 40-47, ED …18801940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Louisiana (LA…1950 Census Enumeration District Maps - Louisiana (LA) - Rapides Parish - Pineville - ED 40-98 to 102, 40-104 to 10818801950 Census Enumeration District Maps - Louisiana (LA…Pineille La Flood 19101910Pineille La Flood 1910Louisiana - Alexandria1917Louisiana - AlexandriaLouisiana - Alexandria1917Louisiana - Alexandria
1920s–1960snothing 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
1970s1 item
1975. Forest entomologists, left-to-right Larry Abrahamson, Iral Ragenovich, and Gerry Hertel. FTC pilot test, larvae a…19751975. Forest entomologists, left-to-right Larry Abrah…
1980s–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
Today11 recent
Lakotas land first time in Louisiana2008Lakotas land first time in LouisianaKees Park in Pineville, LA IMG 11732008Kees Park in Pineville, LA IMG 1173Joe D. Smith, Jr., grave IMG 11142008Joe D. Smith, Jr., grave IMG 1114Graves at Greenwood Memorial Park IMG 11212008Graves at Greenwood Memorial Park IMG 1121Grave of Nelder Dawson IMG 11162008Grave of Nelder Dawson IMG 1116Grave of Dr. Paul M. Davis, Jr. IMG 11192008Grave of Dr. Paul M. Davis, Jr. IMG 1119Fountain at Louisiana College Picture 2322008Fountain at Louisiana College Picture 232Forest Lawn Memorial Park in2008Forest Lawn Memorial Park inDowntown Pineville, LA IMG 11122008Downtown Pineville, LA IMG 1112Buhlow Lake in Pineville, LA IMG 11682008Buhlow Lake in Pineville, LA IMG 1168LAMap-doton-Pineville2004LAMap-doton-Pineville
On the map

Pineville on the map, 1941 to 1992

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

Pineville on the 1941 USGS mapPineville on the 1957 USGS mapPineville on the 1972 USGS mapPineville on the 1992 USGS map1941Alexandria 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 Pineville.

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.

1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Louisiana (LA) - Rapides Parish - Pineville - ED 40-45, ED 40-46, ED 40-47, ED …
Retake this view1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Louisiana (LA) - Rapides Parish - Pineville - ED 40-45, ED 40-46, ED 40-47, ED …, 1880

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Pineville, census by census

02,0004,0006,0008,00010,00012,00014,00016,000190019502000Peak: 14,555

Between 393 and 14,555 people in every census since 1860.

17 censuses, 1860–2020.

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

Help out

Finish Pineville’s story

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old view1940 Census Enumeration District Maps -…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Alexandria38 historic placesA−BallIts storyD

Questions about Pineville’s history

What year was Pineville founded?

The Pineville post office opened in 1860, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Pineville rank for history?

Pineville is more historic than 54% of U.S. towns, #50 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 Pineville?

14 listings: 7 buildings, 3 historic districts, the Alexandria Veterans Administration Hospital Historic District, the Long, Huey P., Memorial Hospital and the Central Louisiana State Hospital Historic District, with 105 contributing buildings, and 4 sites. 115 historic buildings in all.

How old are the homes in Pineville?

5% of Pineville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.3 points), against a typical 3.4% for a Louisiana town; the median home was built in 1977.

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).

From Wikimedia Commons (18), the National Register of Historic Places (14), 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.