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B+History
History · Ponchatoula

Ponchatoula dates to 1820, and 2 of its places are on the National Register

More historic than 72% of U.S. towns · #26 of 161 in Louisiana. What drives it

Most of Ponchatoula was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1988. 2 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 49 buildings. Below: 12 old photos and papers, maps from 1908 on, and the census since 1870.

1820founded
2on the National Register
5%homes built before 1940
12old photos & papers
9famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Ponchatoula’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Ponchatoula began, and where its name came from

When was Ponchatoula founded?

1820

Ponchatoula dates its founding to 1820 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1870.

First census: 320 in 18702020 census: 7,822206 years

How did Ponchatoula get its name?

It is speculated that the name is derived from the Choctaw words Pashi meaning "hair" and perhaps itula or itola meaning "to fall" or "to hang" or "flowing" in the Choctaw language.

How historic is Ponchatoula?

B+

More historic than 72% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1855. Name: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Ponchatoula’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Ponchatoula is more historic than 72% of U.S. towns, #26 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 Ponchatoula’s overall grade.
Founding era1820, from Wikidata: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 19404.6% of homes (±2.5) · typical LA town 3.4% · U.S. 8.4%CNational Register2 listings, 50 historic buildings, 64.0 per 10,000 residents · typical LA town 3.8 · U.S. 2.4A−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 72%
NewerOlder
Louisiana towns of 2,500+ (161)Ahead of 84%

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 Ponchatoula’s 64.0 sits above most of its state (85% of Louisiana towns have fewer) while its 50 historic buildings outnumber those of 85% of U.S. towns.

NoteThe founding year comes from Wikidata alone; no second source gives 1820.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B− to A. The pre-1940 share (±2.5 points) is firm at this size.

Founding year: Wikidata (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 Ponchatoula’s past

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

A historic districtThe Ponchatoula Commercial Historic District takes in 49 historic buildings.A town in old photos12 old photos, postcards and papers.Mapped building by building3 fire insurance maps, 1908 to 1925, drew every building in Ponchatoula.Deep rootsEstablished in 1820: 206 years of Ponchatoula.
★ What stands out · On the National Register

2 listings protect 50 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
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
50
each building in a district counts
first listed
1980
Nichols House
Ponchatoula Commercial Historic DistrictNichols House, built 1880
BuildingsDistricts

Architectural styles listings

Creole Raised Plantation1
Ponchatoula Commercial Historic DistrictDistrict
All 2 listings
Nichols HouseBuilding · listed 1980

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

By decade

Ponchatoula, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1930s12 items
PontchatoulaBeachWPA1930s1930PontchatoulaBeachWPA1930sTangipahoa Parish Louisiana Map 1935 Ponchatoula Pass Manchac1935Tangipahoa Parish Louisiana Map 1935 Ponchatoula Pass…MapRoadside fruit. Ponchatoula, Louisiana1936Roadside fruit. Ponchatoula, LouisianaRoadside sandwich shop. Ponchatoula, Louisiana1936Roadside sandwich shop. Ponchatoula, LouisianaSpring sale1939Spring saleSymbol of the strawberry country1939Symbol of the strawberry countryPicking strawberries in field near Ponchatoula, Louisiana1939Picking strawberries in field near Ponchatoula, Louis…White migrants picking strawberries near Ponchatoula, Louisiana1939White migrants picking strawberries near Ponchatoula,…Picking strawberries in field near Ponchatoula, Louisiana1939Picking strawberries in field near Ponchatoula, Louis…White child migrant picking strawberries nar Ponchatoula, Louisiana1939White child migrant picking strawberries nar Ponchato…Strawberry pickers carriers for sale near Ponchatoula, Louisiana1939Strawberry pickers carriers for sale near Ponchatoula…Migratory berry picker with her child. Ponchatoula, Louisiana1939Migratory berry picker with her child. Ponchatoula, L…
1940s–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
Every building

Ponchatoula, building by building, 1908–1925

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.

Ponchatoula fire insurance map, 1908, sheet 11908Sheet 1 of 2
Edition
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

The story

How Ponchatoula came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Ponchatoula.

Read it all →

The city of Ponchatoula was founded when the railroad from Jackson, Mississippi to New Orleans was constructed through this area in the 1850s. The New Orleans, Jackson and Great Northern Railroad Company hired an experienced civil engineer, James B. Clarke (ca. 1809–1861) to survey the projected railroad route, establish railroad depot sites, buy timber for bridges and railroad ties, and do the other tasks necessary to construct the railroad.

ChaptersEarly 20th century

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Ponchatoula, 1820 to 1990

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1820
    FoundingPonchatoula is established
  3. 1855Post officeThe Ponchatoula post office opens
  4. 1880BuiltNichols House is built
  5. 20th century
  6. 1930In the archivePontchatoulaBeachWPA1930s
  7. 1934Born hereEarl Wilson is born here
  8. 1935On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  9. 1941Born hereIrma Thomas is born here
  10. 1941Born hereBernie Smith is born here
  11. 1990Born hereTrevante Rhodes is born here
On the map

Ponchatoula on the map, 1935 to 1994

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

Ponchatoula on the 1935 USGS mapPonchatoula on the 1951 USGS mapPonchatoula on the 1968 USGS mapPonchatoula on the 1972 USGS mapPonchatoula on the 1994 USGS map1935Ponchatoula 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 Ponchatoula.

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.

PontchatoulaBeachWPA1930s
Retake this viewPontchatoulaBeachWPA1930s, 1930

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Ponchatoula, census by census

02,0004,0006,0008,000188019001920194019601980200020207,822

Grew from 320 people in 1870 to 7,822 in 2020, more than tenfold.

16 censuses, 1870–2020.

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

Famous people

9 famous people were born in Ponchatoula

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Trevante RhodesAmerican actor, former sprinter · b. 1990
Irma ThomasAmerican soul and rhythm and blues singer · b. 1941
Earl WilsonAmerican baseball player · b. 1934
B
Bernie SmithAmerican baseball player · b. 1941
R
Robert HendersonPlayer of American and Canadian football · b. 1983
T
T. J. FinleyAmerican football quarterback · b. 2002
Help out

Finish Ponchatoula’s story

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewPontchatoulaBeachWPA1930s: 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.

Hammond15 historic placesB+

Questions about Ponchatoula’s history

What year was Ponchatoula founded?

In 1820, according to Wikidata. Ponchatoula’s post office opened in 1855, and the census of 1870 counted 320 people here.

How does Ponchatoula rank for history?

Ponchatoula is more historic than 72% of U.S. towns, #26 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 Ponchatoula?

Two places: the Ponchatoula Commercial Historic District (listed 1982) and the Nichols House (1980).

How old are the homes in Ponchatoula?

5% of Ponchatoula’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.5 points), against a typical 3.4% for a Louisiana town; the median home was built in 1988.

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 (2), the Library of Congress (10), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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.