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History · Varnado

Varnado’s post office opened in 1895

Most of Varnado was built recently: 1% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1974. Below: maps from 1949 on and the census since 1920.

1895first post office
0on the National Register
1%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Varnado began

When was Varnado founded?

1895

The Varnado post office opened in 1895, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 275 in 19202020 census: 330131 years
Founding year: the first Varnado post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Varnado’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 Varnado are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 1,461 in 2010; 330 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Varnado’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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People over time

Varnado, census by census

02004006008001,0001,2001,4001,600192019401960198020002020Peak: 1,461

Peaked at 1,461 in 2010; 330 people lived here in 2020.

11 censuses, 1920–2020.

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

The story so far

Varnado, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Varnado yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Varnado is a village in Washington Parish, Louisiana, United States. As of the 2020 census, Varnado had a population of 330. It is part of the Bogalusa Micropolitan Statistical Area.

Its first post office opened in 1895. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 1,461 to 330 (-77%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Varnado, 1895 to 2010

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1895Post officeThe Varnado post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1949On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 1974Post officeThe Varnado post office closes
  6. 21st century
  7. 2010CensusPopulation peaks at 1,461
By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

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On the map

Varnado on the map, 1949 to 1982

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

Varnado on the 1949 USGS mapVarnado on the 1959 USGS mapVarnado on the 1976 USGS mapVarnado on the 1982 USGS map1949Angie sheet · 1:31,680

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Varnado.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices and burying grounds

Varnado had its own post office from 1895 to 1974.

Varnado
1895–1974
18901960today
1cemetery inside Varnado
Fornea

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

Questions about Varnado’s history

What year was Varnado founded?

The Varnado post office opened in 1895, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

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 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.