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History · Venice

Venice’s post office opened in 1892

Most of Venice was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2005. Below: 7 old photos and papers and maps from 1893 on.

1892first post office
0on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
7old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Venice’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Venice began

When was Venice founded?

1892

The Venice post office opened in 1892, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Jump (1879), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 162134 years
Founding year: the first Venice post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Venice’s past

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

On the map since 18936 editions of the USGS map, 1893 to 1993. Watch Venice change.
★ What stands out · On the map

Venice on the map, 1893 to 1993

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

Venice on the 1893 USGS mapVenice on the 1947 USGS mapVenice on the 1954 USGS mapVenice on the 1960 USGS mapVenice on the 1971 USGS mapVenice on the 1993 USGS map1893Forts 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 Venice.

The story

How Venice came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Venice.

Read it all →

Before European colonization, the area around present-day Venice was inhabited by indigenous peoples, including the Houma and Chitimacha tribes, who relied on fishing, hunting, and agriculture in the fertile Mississippi River Delta. In April 1682, French explorer Robert de La Salle claimed the Mississippi River and its delta for France, naming the territory Louisiane after Louis XIV. Following the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, the region became part of the United States, and its strategic location at the river's mouth made it important for trade and navigation.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Venice, 1879 to 1980

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1879Post officeThe Jump post office opens
  3. 1892Post officeThe Jump post office closes
  4. 1892Post officeThe Venice post office opens
  5. 1893On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  6. 20th century
  7. 1938In the archiveStevadoresVeniceLouisianaLee
  8. 1972In the archiveSHRIMP FISHERMEN, ON CANAL DREDGED BY GETTY OIL COMPANY
  9. 1980In the archiveThis is a part of Pilot Town, a crude village for river pilots about to head up the Missi…
By decade

Venice, decade by decade

3 decades in the archive, from the 1930s to the 1980s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1930s4 items
StevadoresVeniceLouisianaLee1938StevadoresVeniceLouisianaLeeNegro stevedores returning to boat after unloading cargo at Venice, Louisiana1938Negro stevedores returning to boat after unloading ca…Natives of the fishing country near Venice, Louisiana1938Natives of the fishing country near Venice, LouisianaUntitled photo, possibly related to: Negro stevedores returning to boat after unloading cargo at Venice, Louisiana1938Untitled photo, possibly related to: Negro stevedores…
1940s–1960snothing 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
1970s–1980s3 items
SHRIMP FISHERMEN, ON CANAL DREDGED BY GETTY OIL COMPANY1972SHRIMP FISHERMEN, ON CANAL DREDGED BY GETTY OIL COMPA…Shrimp Fishermen Lower Plaquemines 19721972Shrimp Fishermen Lower Plaquemines 1972This is a part of Pilot Town, a crude village for river pilots about to head up the Mississippi River. Venice, Louisiana1980This is a part of Pilot Town, a crude village for riv…
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
Today4 recent
ESU Incident Command Post New Orleans - CGC Harry Claiborne - Venice, Louisiana - 26-HK-311-142005ESU Incident Command Post New Orleans - CGC Harry Cla…(Hurricane Katrina) Venice, LA, 12-01-05 -- FEMA special debris Contractors work on removing this boat from Highway 23.…2005(Hurricane Katrina) Venice, LA, 12-01-05 -- FEMA spec…LAMap-doton-Boothville-Venice2004LAMap-doton-Boothville-VeniceGateway to the Gulf2004Gateway to the Gulf
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.

StevadoresVeniceLouisianaLee
Retake this viewStevadoresVeniceLouisianaLee, 1938

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

Retake this view · +15
Famous people

Famous people close to Venice

Nobody well known was born in Venice itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
D
Duke RileyAmerican football player · b. 1994
J
James WrightAmerican football player, born 1991 · b. 1991
R
Rockie CharlesAmerican musician · b. 1942
R
Rodney BartholomewAmerican basketball player · b. 1989
B
Bradley SylveAmerican football cornerback · b. 1993
Places that used to be

Lost post offices and old corners

Venice’s post office has been open since 1892. Another post office, Jump, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Jump
1879–1892
Venice
1892–today
18701950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Cronin Mobile Home Park

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

Help out

Finish Venice’s story

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

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

BoothvilleIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Venice’s history

What year was Venice founded?

The Venice post office opened in 1892, 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 Wikimedia Commons (7), the Library of Congress (4), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.