Welsh dates to 1880, and 1 of its places is on the National Register
More historic than 24% of U.S. towns · #102 of 161 in Louisiana. What drives it
Most of Welsh was built recently: 0.7% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1990. Its Register listing is the Calkins-Orvis House. Below: maps from 1903 on and the census since 1890.
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1883.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Welsh’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Welsh is more historic than 24% of U.S. towns, #102 of 161 in Louisiana. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Welsh’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 Welsh’s 3.0 sits near the middle of its state (50% of Louisiana towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% 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 (±1.3 points) is firm at this size. Two sources give 1880.
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 Welsh’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
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.
Welsh was originally a homestead owned by Miles Welsh, a Pennsylvania man who went to Louisiana to seek a warmer climate for his health. He died in 1868, but his son Henry built a cabin on the current-day town site. The home sat along the main stagecoach route across south Louisiana, and Welsh's home and store was the primary stop for travelers between New Iberia and Texas. In 1880, Welsh donated right-of-way to the Louisiana Western Rail Road (later Southern Pacific), which built a station. The town of Welsh was platted in 1880 and incorporated on March 15, 1888, with Henry Welsh elected its first mayor a few months before his death that October. Initially part of the old Imperial Calcasieu Parish, in 1913 Welsh became part of the newly established Jefferson Davis Parish.
In 1880, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Welsh’s post office opened in 1883, and the census of 1890 counted 200 people here.
How does Welsh rank for history?
Welsh is more historic than 24% of U.S. towns, #102 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 Welsh?
One place: the Calkins-Orvis House (listed 1998).
How old are the homes in Welsh?
0.7% of Welsh’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.3 points), against a typical 3.4% for a Louisiana town; the median home was built in 1990.
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 (4), 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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