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History · Sicily Island

Sicily Island’s post office opened in 1853, and 13% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the Green-Lovelace House. Below: maps from 1941 on and the census since 1960.

1853first post office
1on the National Register
13%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Billy Hathorn · CC BY-SA 3.0
Quick answers

How Sicily Island began

When was Sicily Island founded?

1853

The Sicily Island post office opened in 1853, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 761 in 19602020 census: 366173 years
Founding year: the first Sicily Island post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Sicily Island’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Sicily Island are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Sicily Island’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Sicily Island’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Sicily Island came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Sicily Island.

Read it all →

In the early 1700s, the area that would become Sicily Island was the site of a Natchez settlement. In January 1731, towards the end of the Natchez Revolt, French forces besieged the Natchez fort, compelling the surrender of 45 men and 450 women and children. Although the bulk of the Natchez leaders and warriors escaped, the siege marked the last major engagement of the war.

In 1881, a Jewish agricultural colony was created in Sicily Island with the support of the Am Olam organization and the Hebrew Emigrant Aid Society. The colony was mostly made up of immigrants from Yelisavetgrad who were fleeing the pogroms that began that same year. By 1882, the colony was completely disbanded as the Mississippi River flooded, destroying most farms.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Sicily Island, 1830 to 1941

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1830BuiltGreen-Lovelace House is built
  3. 1853Post officeThe Sicily Island post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1933Born hereSonny Simmons is born here
  6. 1941On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Sicily Island, decade by decade

Today6 recent
Sicily Island, LA, welcome sign IMG 02852010Sicily Island, LA, welcome sign IMG 0285Sicily Island, LA, United Methodist Church IMG 02912010Sicily Island, LA, United Methodist Church IMG 0291Sicily Island, LA, State Bank IMG 02872010Sicily Island, LA, State Bank IMG 0287Sicily Island, LA, Fire Department IMG 02922010Sicily Island, LA, Fire Department IMG 0292First Baptist Church, Sicily Island, LA IMG 02972010First Baptist Church, Sicily Island, LA IMG 0297Catahoula Parish Library, Sicily Island IMG 02962010Catahoula Parish Library, Sicily Island IMG 0296
On the map

Sicily Island on the map, 1941 to 1983

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

Sicily Island on the 1941 USGS mapSicily Island on the 1957 USGS mapSicily Island on the 1976 USGS mapSicily Island on the 1983 USGS map1941Sicily Island 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 Sicily Island.

On the National Register

1 historic place in Sicily Island

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1983
Green-Lovelace House
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Greek Revival1
All 1 listings
Green-Lovelace HouseBuilding · listed 1983

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

People over time

Sicily Island, census by census

02004006008001960198020002020Peak: 761

Between 366 and 761 people in every census since 1960.

7 censuses, 1960–2020.

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

Questions about Sicily Island’s history

What year was Sicily Island founded?

The Sicily Island post office opened in 1853, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Sicily Island?

One place: the Green-Lovelace House (listed 1983).

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 (6), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.