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C−History
History · White Castle

White Castle dates to 1883

More historic than 24% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Most of White Castle was built recently: 7% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1977. Below: 18 old photos and papers, maps from 1906 on, and the census since 1890.

1883founded
0on the National Register
7%homes built before 1940
18old photos & papers
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From White Castle’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How White Castle began

When was White Castle founded?

1883

White Castle dates its founding to 1883 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1890.

First census: 603 in 18902020 census: 1,722143 years

How historic is White Castle?

C−

More historic than 24% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1887.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives White Castle’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, White Castle is more historic than 24% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.

C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of White Castle’s overall grade.
Founding era1883, from Wikidata: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19407.4% of homes (±6.0) · typical LA town 3.4% · U.S. 8.4%C+National RegisterNo listings counted · typical LA town 3.8 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 24%
NewerOlder

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 White Castle’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (21% of Louisiana towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% 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 is a Census survey estimate (±6.0 points). Two sources give 1883.

Founding year: Wikidata (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 White Castle’s past

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

A town in old photos18 old photos, postcards and papers.Mapped building by building3 fire insurance maps, 1906 to 1921, drew every building in White Castle.
★ What stands out · By decade

White Castle, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1920s to the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1920s–1930s18 items
Floods - Mississippi River Flood1927Floods - Mississippi River FloodFloods - Mississippi River Flood1927Floods - Mississippi River FloodHistoric American Buildings Survey Richard Koch, Photographer October, 1936 INSIDE DETAIL COLUMN FRONT ELEVATION - Bell…1936Historic American Buildings Survey Richard Koch, Phot…Historic American Buildings Survey Richard Koch, Photographer September 1936 DETAIL OF PORTICOS AT WEST CORNER - Belle …1936Historic American Buildings Survey Richard Koch, Phot…Historic American Buildings Survey Richard Koch, Photographer September, 1936 COLUMNS AND PILASTERS IN DRAWING ROOM - B…1936Historic American Buildings Survey Richard Koch, Phot…Historic American Buildings Survey Richard Koch, Photographer September, 1936 DETAIL OF FIREPLACE AND OVEN (KITCHEN) - …1936Historic American Buildings Survey Richard Koch, Phot…Historic American Buildings Survey Richard Koch, Photographer September, 1936 IRONWORK ON FRONT GALLERY - Belle Grove, …1936Historic American Buildings Survey Richard Koch, Phot…Historic American Buildings Survey Richard Koch, Photographer September, 1936 VIEW OF REAR - LOOKING NORTH - Belle Grov…1936Historic American Buildings Survey Richard Koch, Phot…Historic American Buildings Survey Richard Koch, Photographer, October, 1936 COLUMN AND PILASTER AT STAIR HALL END OF S…1936Historic American Buildings Survey Richard Koch, Phot…Historic American Buildings Survey Richard Koch, Photographer, September, 1936 DRAWING ROOM (NORTHEAST WALL) IN 1936. -…1936Historic American Buildings Survey Richard Koch, Phot…Historic American Buildings Survey Thomas T. Waterman, Photographer December 1936 DETAIL OF COLUMN AND PILASTER AT STAI…1936Historic American Buildings Survey Thomas T. Waterman…Historic American Buildings Survey Thomas T. Waterman, Photographer December 1936 EXTERIOR VIEW OF CIRCULAR BAY ON DRAW…1936Historic American Buildings Survey Thomas T. Waterman…Historic American Buildings Survey Thomas T. Waterman, Photographer December 1936 FRONT (NORTHWEST) ELEVATION (RIVER SI…1936Historic American Buildings Survey Thomas T. Waterman…Historic American Buildings Survey Thomas T. Waterman, Photographer December 1936 GENERAL VIEW FROM NORTH - Belle Grove…1936Historic American Buildings Survey Thomas T. Waterman…Historic American Buildings Survey Thomas T. Waterman, Photographer December 1936 GENERAL VIEW FROM RIVER - Belle Grove…1936Historic American Buildings Survey Thomas T. Waterman…Historic American Buildings Survey Thomas T. Waterman, Photographer December 1936 GENERAL VIEW LOOKING WEST - Belle Gro…1936Historic American Buildings Survey Thomas T. Waterman…Historic American Buildings Survey Thomas T. Waterman, Photographer December 1936 OUTSIDE DETAIL OF CARVED WOOD COLUMN …1936Historic American Buildings Survey Thomas T. Waterman…Historic American Buildings Survey Thomas T. Waterman, Photographer December 1936 VIEW OF FRONT PORTICO LOOKING EAST - …1936Historic American Buildings Survey Thomas T. Waterman…
1940s–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
Every building

White Castle, building by building, 1906–1921

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.

White Castle fire insurance map, 1906, sheet 11906Sheet 1 of 3
Edition
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

The story

How White Castle came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of White Castle.

Read it all →

The town of White Castle was carved out of the George Wailes plantation "White Castle". The 1883 Charles H. Dickinson Survey of several parishes of Louisiana shows the White Castle Plantation property. Nottoway Plantation, a prominent antebellum mansion, was located nearby.

White Castle was established as a town in the 1880s with the influx of people and business brought by the logging industry in the cypress swamps of the area. When the cypress wood was depleted, the main economic activity reverted to the sugar cane industry which had been established in the latter part of the 18th century.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

White Castle, 1883 to 1998

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1883
    FoundingWhite Castle is established
  3. 1887Post officeThe White Castle post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1927In the archiveFloods - Mississippi River Flood
  6. 1936In the archiveHistoric American Buildings Survey Richard Koch, Photographer October, 1936 INSIDE DETAIL…
  7. 1936On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  8. 1958Born hereMack Boatner is born here
  9. 1998Born hereJa'Tyre Carter is born here
On the map

White Castle on the map, 1936 to 1992

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

White Castle on the 1936 USGS mapWhite Castle on the 1953 USGS mapWhite Castle on the 1963 USGS mapWhite Castle on the 1974 USGS mapWhite Castle on the 1992 USGS map1936White Castle 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 White Castle.

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.

Floods - Mississippi River Flood
Retake this viewFloods - Mississippi River Flood, 1927

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

White Castle, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 2,289

Between 603 and 2,289 people in every census since 1890.

14 censuses, 1890–2020.

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

Famous people

2 famous people were born in White Castle

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
J
Ja'Tyre CarterAmerican football player · b. 1998
M
Mack BoatnerAmerican football running back · b. 1958
Places that used to be

Old burying grounds

White Castle’s post office has been open since 1887.

5cemeteries and burying grounds inside White Castle
First BaptistMount ZionOur Lady of Prompt SuccorSaint Paul BaptistWhite Castle

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

Help out

Finish White Castle’s story

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewFloods - Mississippi River Flood: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Questions about White Castle’s history

What year was White Castle founded?

In 1883, according to Wikidata. White Castle’s post office opened in 1887, and the census of 1890 counted 603 people here.

How does White Castle rank for history?

White Castle is more historic than 24% of U.S. towns. 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.

How old are the homes in White Castle?

7% of White Castle’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.0 points), against a typical 3.4% for a Louisiana town; the median home was built in 1977.

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).

From Wikimedia Commons (18), 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.