Reserve’s post office opened in 1900, and 3 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 22% of U.S. towns · #105 of 161 in Louisiana. What drives it
Most of Reserve was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1983. Its Register listings are the Godchaux-Reserve Plantation House, the Graugnard House and the Our Lady of Grace Church. Below: 9 old photos and papers, maps from 1892 on, and the census since 1950.
Founding year: the first Reserve post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Reserve’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Reserve is more historic than 22% of U.S. towns, #105 of 161 in Louisiana. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Reserve’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 Reserve’s 3.9 sits near the middle of its state (53% of Louisiana towns have fewer) while its 3 listings outnumber those of 65% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to C+. The pre-1940 share (±2.1 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
Founding year: the first post office (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 Reserve’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Prior to the name Reserve, this town was called Bonnet Carre; the town name had been changed by businessman and resident Leon Godchaux by the late 1800s. The Godchaux–Reserve Plantation was built by Godchaux, and the oldest portion of the plantation home dates to 1764, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). In the early 20th century, the plantation at Reserve had the largest sugarcane refinery in the United States, named Godchaux Sugar Refinery.
President William Howard Taft visited Reserve and the Godchaux–Reserve Plantation in 1909. President Gerald Ford visited Reserve on September 25, 1976.
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.
The Reserve post office opened in 1900, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Reserve rank for history?
Reserve is more historic than 22% of U.S. towns, #105 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 Reserve?
Three places: the Godchaux-Reserve Plantation House (listed 1994), the Graugnard House (1994) and the Our Lady of Grace Church (2005).
How old are the homes in Reserve?
4% of Reserve’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.1 points), against a typical 3.4% for a Louisiana town; the median home was built in 1983.
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 (5), the Library of Congress (7), the National Register of Historic Places (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.
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