Vidalia dates to 1792, and 1 of its places is on the National Register
More historic than 48% of U.S. towns · #59 of 161 in Louisiana. What drives it
Most of Vidalia was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1969. Its Register listing is the Concordia Parish Courthouse. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1886 on, and the census since 1880.
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1807.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Vidalia’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Vidalia is more historic than 48% of U.S. towns, #59 of 161 in Louisiana. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Vidalia’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 Vidalia’s 2.5 sits near the middle of its state (49% of Louisiana towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
NoteThe founding year comes from Wikipedia alone; no second source gives 1792.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C to B+. The pre-1940 share (±1.7 points) is firm at this size.
Founding year: Wikipedia (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 Vidalia’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Peaked at 5,936 in 1980; 4,027 people lived here in 2020.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Vidalia’s Wikipedia page.
Every building
Vidalia, building by building, 1886–1912
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
1886Sheet 1 of 1
Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone
Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Vidalia was founded by Don José Vidal, when he was secretary to Manuel Gayoso de Lemos, the Spanish Governor of the Natchez District from 1792 to 1797. This was in a brief period of Spanish rule of former French territory west of the Mississippi River. Napoleon took it back and he sold it to the United States in the Louisiana Purchase of 1803.
In 1811 the Orleans Territorial legislature changed the name of the city to Vidalia after the founder. Vidal had donated land along the river to the city, where it later constructed its civic buildings. He also donated land for the first school in Concordia Parish.
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.
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.
In 1792, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Vidalia’s post office opened in 1807, and the census of 1880 counted 449 people here.
How does Vidalia rank for history?
Vidalia is more historic than 48% of U.S. towns, #59 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 Vidalia?
One place: the Concordia Parish Courthouse (listed 2004).
How old are the homes in Vidalia?
2% of Vidalia’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.7 points), against a typical 3.4% for a Louisiana town; the median home was built in 1969.
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 (23), Wikidata (1), 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), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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