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A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
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Welcome to Rapides ...

Rapides is located in Rapides Parish<1>.

While we don't have a date for the founding of Rapides, you might consider that their post office opened in 1889.

Rapides is 80 feet [24 m] above sea level.<2>.

Time Zone: Rapides lies in the Central Time Zone (CST/CDT) and observes daylight saving time

Area Codes for Rapides: 318 & 457<3>

Communities near Rapides ...

We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Rapides.

  • Alexandria
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Pineville
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
  • Ball
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Ball is located in Rapides Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ball
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,906 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ball <4>
  • Colfax
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Woodworth
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
  • Boyce
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Pollock
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Dry Prong
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
  • Creola
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Creola is located in Grant Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Creola
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 216 people
    • Creola has also been known as:
    • Creola village
  • Fairmount
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Fairmount is located in Grant Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairmount

To Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

We have a couple of sections for those tracing their genealogy.

We created a list of cemeteries that are in the area around Rapides. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Rapides.

Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Rapides. Our list includes information such as whether the 1895 community had a post office or railroad service. See our List of 1890's Communities around Rapides.

We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Rapides. See our Newspapers Page for Rapides.

TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Rapides ...

Looking for more information about Rapides? A wonderful source is the TripAdvisor website. We always start with the TripAdvisor Tourism page, where you can read an overview with links that will help you find lodging, restaurants and attractions.

While we are unaware of a Tourism page that is specific to Rapides, there are neighboring communities that do have Tourism pages. A map of those communities can be found with our TripAdvisor Page for Rapides.

Adding Rapides to Our Gazetteer ...

We originally found mention of Rapides in both the FIPS-55 and the GNIS. For more information, see the FIPS and GNIS Codes sections on our Miscellaneous Page.

From our notes, the earliest published mention we've found (so far) for Rapides was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<5>

From that list, the Rapides post office opened in 1889. The Rapides post office closed in 1916.

For more details, see References and Mentions for Rapides.

Footnotes ...

<1>If you're interested in how the shape of Louisiana's parishes, including Rapides, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
<2>The elevation is an estimate for the area around Rapides - it will be higher in some places and lower in others.
<3>When there's a risk of an area code running out of phone numbers, an 'Overlay Area Code' is created that has the same geographic boundaries as the existing area code. In this case, the 318 code has been Overlayed with the 457 area code. New phone numbers in the Rapides area will be assigned with one of these codes: 318 or 457. As a result, placing a call in the Rapides area will require 10-digit dialing (where you enter both the area code and then the phone number).
<4>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<5>A copy of the Blevins & Helbock Post Office list with background information can be found at:

      https://cblevins.github.io/us-post-offices/data-biography/