Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 41% of U.S. towns · #72 of 161 in Louisiana. What drives it
Most of Westwego was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1970. Below: 5 old photos and papers, maps from 1891 on, and the census since 1930.
The Westwego post office opened in 1893, the earliest record of the town by name.
One story states that Westwego was so named because it was a major crossing point on the Mississippi River during the great westward movement of the late 19th century.
More historic than 41% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Westwego is more historic than 41% of U.S. towns, #72 of 161 in Louisiana. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
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 Westwego’s 9.6 sits above most of its state (66% of Louisiana towns have fewer) while its 8 historic buildings outnumber those of 74% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: the first post office (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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Westwego. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Westwego.
Peaked at 12,663 in 1980; 8,568 people lived here in 2020.
10 censuses, 1930–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Westwego’s Wikipedia page.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
From Wikipedia’s history of Westwego.
The area of Westwego, Louisiana was inhabited by Native Americans for thousands of years before Europeans settled here. These indigenous people created huge shell middens that can still be seen in the vicinity today. The French first developed the area in 1719 when French minister of state Claude le Blanc started a plantation and a port along the Mississippi River.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
In the archive1950 Census Enumeration District Maps - Louisiana (LA) - Jefferson Parish - Westwego - ED…
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyBuiltBernard, L.J. Hardware Store is built
In the archiveLouisiana - New Orleans
In the archiveJefferson Parish Louisiana Riverfront New Orleans Map 1935
In the archive1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Louisiana (LA) - Jefferson Parish - Westwego - ED…4 decades in the archive, from the 1880s to the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Westwego’s page.
Retake this view · +15Westwego’s post office has been open since 1893.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Westwego post office opened in 1893, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Westwego is more historic than 41% of U.S. towns, #72 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.
4 listings: 4 buildings, among them the Pitre, Vic House (listed 1998, the first). 8 historic buildings in all.
4% of Westwego’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.6 points), against a typical 3.4% for a Louisiana town; the median home was built in 1970.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (5), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (4), Wikipedia, 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.
1922