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CHistory
History · Zwolle

Zwolle’s post office opened in 1897, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

More historic than 33% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Most of Zwolle was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1978. Its Register listing is the Kansas City Southern Depot, Zwolle. Below: maps from 1941 on and the census since 1900.

1897first post office
1on the National Register
4%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Zwolle began

When was Zwolle founded?

1897

The Zwolle post office opened in 1897, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1898.

First census: 276 in 19002020 census: 1,638129 years

How historic is Zwolle?

C

More historic than 33% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Zwolle post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1898.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Zwolle’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Zwolle is more historic than 33% of U.S. towns. 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 Zwolle’s overall grade.
Founding era1897, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19404.0% of homes (±2.2) · typical LA town 3.4% · U.S. 8.4%CNational Register1 listing, 5.6 per 10,000 residents · typical LA town 3.8 · U.S. 2.4B−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 33%
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 Zwolle’s 5.6 sits near the middle of its state (58% 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 C− to C+. The pre-1940 share (±2.2 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata’s 1898 falls in the same era, so the grade doesn’t depend on which one is used.

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 →

What stands out about Zwolle’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Zwolle are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 2,602 in 1980; 1,638 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Zwolle’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Zwolle’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Zwolle, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 2,602

Peaked at 2,602 in 1980; 1,638 people lived here in 2020.

13 censuses, 1900–2020.

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

The story

How Zwolle came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Zwolle.

Read it all →

The first inhabitants of the bowl-shaped area of land upon which the town of Zwolle is situated were the Mound Builders. Lured here for protection from storms, the "bowl" offered them protection. Prehistoric people built the dome-shaped mounds that line the banks of Bayou Scie and Bayou San Miguel, which form a hollow circle around the townsite. As Mound Builders, they were ancestors of North American Indians who inhabited the territory when the Europeans arrived.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Zwolle, 1897 to 1980

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1897Post officeThe Zwolle post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1914BuiltKansas City Southern Depot, Zwolle is built
  5. 1941On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  6. 1967Born hereMichael Cutright is born here
  7. 1980CensusPopulation peaks at 2,602
By decade

Zwolle, decade by decade

Today3 recent
ZwolleKCSDepot20182018ZwolleKCSDepot2018Zwolle Louisiana2010Zwolle LouisianaLAMap-doton-Zwolle2004LAMap-doton-Zwolle
On the map

Zwolle on the map, 1941 to 1995

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

Zwolle on the 1941 USGS mapZwolle on the 1957 USGS mapZwolle on the 1969 USGS mapZwolle on the 1988 USGS mapZwolle on the 1995 USGS map1941Zwolle 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 Zwolle.

On the National Register

1 historic place in Zwolle

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1989
Kansas City Southern Depot, Zwolle
Kansas City Southern Depot, Zwolle, built 1914
Buildings
Kansas City Southern Depot, ZwolleBuilt 1914

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Places that used to be

Places now gone

Zwolle’s post office has been open since 1897.

Gone or out of use
Zwolle Intermediate Schoolschool

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

Questions about Zwolle’s history

What year was Zwolle founded?

The Zwolle post office opened in 1897, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1898.

How does Zwolle rank for history?

Zwolle is more historic than 33% 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.

What is on the National Register in Zwolle?

One place: the Kansas City Southern Depot, Zwolle (listed 1989).

How old are the homes in Zwolle?

4% of Zwolle’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.2 points), against a typical 3.4% for a Louisiana town; the median home was built in 1978.

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 (3), 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) 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.