Founding year: the first Louisville post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Louisville’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Louisville is more historic than 63% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.
B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Louisville’s overall grade.
Nebraska towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Nebraska town has 16.3 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Louisville’s 6.9 sits near the middle of its state (41% of Nebraska 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 A−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.9 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
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 Louisville’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first permanent settlement at Louisville was made in 1857. Louisville was platted in about 1870 when the Burlington & Missouri River Railroad was extended to that point. The community was likely named after the city of Louisville, Kentucky. A folk etymology maintains the name Louisville is derived from one Mr. Lois, the proprietor of a local gristmill. The current mayor of Louisville is Rodney Petersen, a lifelong resident of the city.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
People over time
Louisville, census by census
Grew from 321 people in 1880 to 1,319 in 2020, 4 times over.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Louisville’s Wikipedia page.
Questions about Louisville’s history
What year was Louisville founded?
The Louisville post office opened in 1857, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Louisville rank for history?
Louisville is more historic than 63% 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 Louisville?
One place: the Paul Fitzgerald House (listed 2006).
How old are the homes in Louisville?
34% of Louisville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.9 points), against a typical 18% for a Nebraska town; the median home was built in 1955.
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 (2), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.
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