A history of Reserve,
then and now
Postcards, papers and photographs of Reserve from public archives, woven together by decade. Neighbors fill in the gaps.
The story
from WikipediaRead it all ↗Prior to the name Reserve, this town was called Bonnet Carre; the town name had been changed by businessman and resident Leon Godchaux by the late 1800s. The Godchaux–Reserve Plantation was built by Godchaux, and the oldest portion of the plantation home dates to 1764, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). In the early 20th century, the plantation at Reserve had the largest sugarcane refinery in the United States, named Godchaux Sugar Refinery.
President William Howard Taft visited Reserve and the Godchaux–Reserve Plantation in 1909. President Gerald Ford visited Reserve on September 25, 1976.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Timeline
built from the dates on the items belowFinish Reserve’s story
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
1 of 10 decades since 1900 have photos 🔁Retake an old viewChurch. Reserve, Louisiana, 1938: stand where they stood+15 📦Share a family photoSign in to add one+10Famous people from Reserve
See all 5 →
Reserve, decade by decade
LOCChurch. Reserve, Louisiana1938
LOCUntitled photo, possibly related to: Church. Reserve, Louis…1938
LOCGame of coon-can in store near Reserve, Louisiana1938
LOCUntitled photo, possibly related to: Game of coon-can in st…1938
LOCUntitled photo, possibly related to: Game of coon-can in st…1938
LOCUntitled photo, possibly related to: Game of coon-can in st…19381990s
Then & now
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as Church. Reserve, Louisiana (1938) and it appears here side by side.
🔁 Retake this view · +15Stories next door
nearby towns’ historyFrom the Library of Congress (6). Images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.