Most of Sibley was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1978. Below: maps from 1947 on and the census since 1920.
Founding year: the first Sibley post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade
What drives Sibley’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Sibley is more historic than 11% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.
D
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Sibley’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 Sibley’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (21% of Louisiana towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% 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 is a Census survey estimate (±4.4 points). 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 Sibley’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Lost half of its people between 1920 and 1940, then more than doubled.
11 censuses, 1920–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Sibley’s Wikipedia page.
The story so far
Sibley, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Sibley yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Sibley is a town in south Webster Parish, Louisiana, United States. As of the 2020 census, Sibley had a population of 1,127. It is part of the Minden Micropolitan Statistical Area. The former Sibley High School, now known as Lakeside Junior/Senior High School, is located south of town off Louisiana Highway 7. The Sibley Town Hall was relocated to a portion of the former Sibley High School campus. In a predominantly African American section of the nearby unincorporated community of Yellow Pine is an area formerly known as "King Solomon Hill," centered on an actual hill on which stood King Solomon Hill Baptist Church. (The community is now known as "Salt Works.") The blues historian Gayle Dea…
Its first post office opened in 1912. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 1,218 to 1,127 (-7%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Timeline
Sibley, 1912 to 2010
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Sibley. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1947Minden 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 Sibley.
Places that used to be
Places now gone and burying grounds
Sibley’s post office has been open since 1912.
Gone or out of use
Sibley High SchoolschoolSibley Schoolschool
1cemetery inside Sibley
Lane Memorial
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Sibley’s history
What year was Sibley founded?
The Sibley post office opened in 1912, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Sibley rank for history?
Sibley is more historic than 11% of U.S. towns. 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.
How old are the homes in Sibley?
5% of Sibley’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.4 points), against a typical 3.4% for a Louisiana town; the median home was built in 1978.
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), 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.
2010
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