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History · Plaucheville

Plaucheville dates to 1803, and 17% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1955 on, and the census since 1910.

1803founded
0on the National Register
17%homes built before 1940
3old photos & papers
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Plaucheville’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Plaucheville began

When was Plaucheville founded?

1803

Plaucheville dates its founding to 1803 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1910.

First census: 380 in 19102020 census: 221223 years
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1880.The full story ↓

What stands out about Plaucheville’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.Deep rootsEstablished in 1803: 223 years of Plaucheville.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Plaucheville’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Plaucheville’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 viewPlaucheville, La. - removing refugee[s]: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Timeline

Plaucheville, 1803 to 1955

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1803
    FoundingPlaucheville is established
  3. 1880Post officeThe Plauchville post office opens
  4. 1897Born hereVance Plauche is born here
  5. 20th century
  6. 1927In the archivePlaucheville, La. - removing refugee[s]
  7. 1955On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
The story

How Plaucheville came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Plaucheville.

Read it all →

Plaucheville was first incorporated in 1803 by the three Plauché brothers, Etienne, François, and Martin Visitant, while on a rowing expedition beginning in present day Simmesport, continuing down Bayou De Glaise, Bayou Rouge in Cottonport and Bayou Choupique (Bayou Choupique was named by the brothers). The expedition ended on the intersection of Bayou Choupique and Bayou Jauques in what is now Ward 8, where the village is located. Their father, Judge Joseph Alexander Plauché, was the first resident in the village, and was Major General in the Battle of New Orleans, similar to his brother, Jean Baptiste Plauché. He also surveyed the area and the Avoyelles Parish Territory, being contracted by the United States government, naming all of the roads, with the help of Jean Baptiste.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Plaucheville, decade by decade

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

1920s3 items
Plaucheville, La. - removing refugee[s]1927Plaucheville, La. - removing refugee[s]Plaucheville, La., town flooded by crevasse waters1927Plaucheville, La., town flooded by crevasse watersPlaucheville, La., cemetery flooded by crevasse waters1927Plaucheville, La., cemetery 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
Today1 recent
LAMap-doton-Plaucheville2004LAMap-doton-Plaucheville
On the map

Plaucheville on the map, 1955 to 1970

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

Plaucheville on the 1955 USGS mapPlaucheville on the 1968 USGS mapPlaucheville on the 1970 USGS map1955Odenburg 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 Plaucheville.

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.

Plaucheville, La. - removing refugee[s]
Retake this viewPlaucheville, La. - removing refugee[s], 1927

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Plaucheville, census by census

0100200300400192019401960198020002020Peak: 380

Between 187 and 380 people in every census since 1910.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Places now gone and burying grounds

Gone or out of use
Plaucheville High Schoolschool
1cemetery inside Plaucheville
Plaucheville

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

Questions about Plaucheville’s history

What year was Plaucheville founded?

In 1803, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Plaucheville’s post office opened in 1880, and the census of 1910 counted 380 people here.

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 (1), the Library of Congress (3), 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) 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.