Louisa has a rich architectural history. Over the years, many fine residences and commercial buildings have been erected. In 1988, both the Louisa Commercial District on E. Main and Main Cross Sts., as well as the Louisa Residential Historic District, roughly bounded by Perry, Lock, Madison and S. Lady Washington Sts., were placed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The period of significance for the Louisa Commercial District is from 1875 to 1949. Architectural styles include Queen Anne and late Victorian.
The period of significance for the Louisa Residential Historic District spans the years from 1825 to 1949. Architectural styles represented are Romanesque, Queen Anne and Colonial Revival.
Given here is a glimpse of Louisa in the years between 1895 and 1900, based on the memories of Claude T. Wilson.

From the river to Boone Street, Between Pike Street and Perry Street, beginning at the river:

Block 1: 4 houses [still standing in 1971]
- John Ross Home, facing Water Street at corner of Pike Street - widow Sear Blankenship Ross, resident.
- Atwell Wellman lived in the house next door.
- Tom McGlothen
- Dr. Wayne Bromley lived on the corner of Pike Street

Block 2:
- James Vinson, father of Fred M. Vinson, lived on the corner facing Water Street
- William Caperton lived next door.
- Tom Heston, next house
- Vaccant lot on the corner [now Davis Building]
Same block, facing Main Cross Street, corner of Pike and Main Cross
- Millard Chambers lived in a cottage on the corner
- Dave C. Spencer lived in the next cottage
- Sherman Pigg, next house
- vaccant lot on the corner of Perry Street

Block 3, where City Hall now stands [1971], was the two story brick old city hall.
- George Pigg lived in a cottage [where Wayne Wooten lived in 1971]
- M. S. Burns, on the corner of Perry and Lock Ave.

Block 4 - Hatcher Block
- one house

Block 5 - Arnoldus Garred Block - one house
- Arnoldus Garred [had two children Victoria and Richard]

Block 6 Three houses facing Perry Street
- Widow of Major Drew Burchett
- Sam Bromley, next door
- Henry Sullivan, on the corner

Block 7 - West of Lady Washington Street, between Pike and Perry Street - 5 buildings
- Elam property, family named Ache, on the corner of Pike
- Jeff Snyder property, Henry Jenkins
- Martha McClure lived on the corner [mother-in-law of Jeff Snyder]
- Steve Hilbrunes, on the corner of Perry and Pocahontas
- Nicholas Waldeck, tannery on the corner of Pike Street

Block 8 - Hi Allison Place - two houses
- One on the top of the hill on Pike
- One on Boone Street where Hi Allison lived

Back to the river, between Perry and Main Street Business section on corner of Perry and Water Street:

Block 1:
- Granvel Ross Home
- Randall Boggs, saw mill
In the back of Boggs' and Ross' homes were two residences and 4 business buildings
- Ben Martin, next to Ross, shoe shop next to his home.
On the corner at the top of the Grade was a two story brick building, used as a hospital during the Civil War.
- Green Meek, saloon on corner. Had a monkey tied to the corner of the building. The monkey got drunk [people would give him the alcohol] and then the monkey would smash the bottle against the building
- Bill Evans, next to the river, drugstore and saloon

Block 2 - Business places, mostly owned by the Snyder Bros. & William Roffe.
- Henry Jenkins, corner of Perry & Water Street; operated a blacksmith shop and livery stable
- Two more buildings facing Water Street, used for storage. In one of the buildings, a secret order called "The Mules" met upstairs [Switcher].
- Albritton Chapman, grocery store, on the corner of Water and Main Street
- John Ross Drugstore, facing Main Street
- Snyder & Thomas building next door. Dave Brown, a Russian Jew, had a dry goods store in one part, Snyder was in the other part of the building.
- Andrew & Bud Loar, dry goods store
- Dave Spencer, saloon, next door. After Louisa went "dry", Dave Spencer & John Crutcher put in a grocery store
- Dave Ward, next door. Restaurant, in a narrow building
- Bill Sullivan, grocery, on corner of Main and Main Cross; First modern gaslight was lit in Sullivan's store where the Warfield Gas Co. put a line through to Louisa from Warfield
- Old town pump on corner of Main Street
Same block, facing Main Cross Street, several buildings, narrow, with Western style fronts.
- Atwell Wellman, grocery store
- Bill Caperton, saddle shop
- Bascomb Hale, barber shop
- Vinson & Malloy, produce shop/store
- George Pigg, tin shop
- Tom Heston, blacksmith shop
- In the back of the blacksmith shop, Snyder had a wagon shop on Perry Street

Block 3 - six business places and two residences
- Garred Wilson, butcher shop, on the corner of Main Cross and Perry Street.
- G. W. Gunnell, large dry goods store (The Bargain or Cox's Store in 1971)
- Arthur Hughes, drug store
- William Remmele, grocery store
- Aca Conley, jewelry store
- P. H. Vaughn, dry goods and grocery store
- P. H. Vaughn residence
- Andrew Loar House, on the corner of Main Street and Lock Ave.

Block 4
- Judge Stewart Home [still stood in 1971]

Block 5
- G. W. Gunnell Home (where the Louisa Inn was, also known as the Yates property)
- First Louisa Baptist Church (now Young's Chapel), a t-shaped brick, built by Arnold Suddith, pastor of the church at the time)
- Fannie Ferguson Wade residence, on the corner of Perry and Clay Streets

Block 6 - 3 houses facing Main Street
- Colonel J. H. Northup, on the corner of Clay and Main Street
- George Chapman residence
- Printing office "The News" (this house was later moved to Perry Street where Mrs. Roscoe Berry lived in 1971).
- Arthur Perry Home, built on the lot of the printing office

Block 7 - 4 houses
- Lottie Chiffin Waldeck home, facing Perry Street
- Julia Burgess home, facing Lady Washington Street
- Augustus Snyder residence
- Bill Roffe residence

Block 8 - 3 residences and 1 church
- Colored Baptist Church (where Lutie Hinkle lived in 1971)
- Liddia Adkins home
- Hence Dale home, on the corner of Boone Street

Back to the Big Sandy River, between Main Street and Madison Street

Block 1
- Judge Borders House, large brick house facing Main Street at the grade; built before the Civil War. (Borders owned half the block) - Servants Quarters of Judge Borders' House (occupied by Capertons in 1971)
- Captain Frank Freese home, a brown cottage (Frank was Captain Milton Freese's son and captained his father's steam boats, the "Fannie Freese" and the "Fleetwing".)

Block 2 - Public Square
- Court House
- The old clerk's office, a one story brick house, located at the back of the court house; Dr. Biggs had an office in this building and Green Skaggs a law office
- Methodist Church
- County Jail Residence (birthplace of Fred M. Vinson)

Block 3 - Business block facing Main Cross Street
- John Hackworth, dry goods store
- bank
- Roland T. Burns & Alex Lackey law offices
- Green Lackey Building (where Lawrence Drug Store was in 1971)
- a large two story building - first Louisa Post Office location;
business offices on the first floor (later location of the theatre in 1971)
- Brunswick Hotel, on the corner, operated by Laban McClure
- John Geems (Jeams), livery stable, on the corner of Madison and Lock Ave.
- A two story building (location of the "Big Sandy News" office in 1971), facing Main Street
- Bordin Family residence, used as a boarding house, facing Main Street, to the right of the "Big Sandy News" office

Block 4 - Facing Main Street
- Alex Lackey Home (he owned half the block)
- Dr. Swetnam Home, facing Madison, on the corner next to the railroad
- small business building, next to Dr. Sewtnam's home
- Drake Hall, a three story building (on the corner where Land's Drug Store was in 1971); the upstairs used by the Odd Fellows; bottom part of building used by John Geems (Jeams) to store his carriages

Block 5
- Frank Wallace Home (now the location of the Public Library)
- Hager & Ratcliff Wholesale Grocery, facing Madison Street; later sold out to Dixon & Moore
- Colonel J. H. Northup's store, groceries, dry goods and hardware (now location of the Commercial Bank)
- Andrew Ferguson residence, on Clay Street

Block 6
- Col. J. H. Northup's office, on the corners of Clay and Madison Streets
- Methodist Parsonage (location of the new parsonage)
- B. F. Thomas Home, on the corner of Lady Washington Street, facing Madison Street
- Dr. Joe Bussey Home, on the corner of Lady Washington Street, facing Main Street
- First Methodist Church , on the corner of Clay and Main Street; at the rear stood the old Methodist Parsonage

Block 7 - 3 houses
- a one-room school house, facing Madison Street (where Lawrence Prichard lived in 1971)
- George Johnson residence; Johnson was the county court clerk for many years
- Bill Waldeck Home, a large two story frame building
Block 8 - 3 houses
- Maron Stone residence (now the Christian Church)
- Fred McHenry residence, a cottage- Bill Sullivan residence, on the corner of Boone Street

Back to the Big Sandy River, between Madison and Franklin Streets

Block 1
Owned by a widow by the name Ferguson. She sold to Dr. York who built the Riverview Hospital

Block 2 - 2 houses
- Levi Adkins residence, on the corner of Water Street
- Judd Davis residence, on the corner of Main Cross

Block 3 - 2 houses
- Dr. Cease, a dentist (now Dee's parking lot)
- Reece Matney residence (now Dee's)

Block 4 - 2 houses
- Nancy Billups Home (now the Post Office)
- Robert Dixon Home (now a gas station)

Block 5 - R. T. Burn's cow pasture

Block 6 - 1 house
- Rowland T. Burns Home

Block 7 - Masonic Block - 1 building
- Masonic Hall

Block 8 - 3 houses
- Dick Prichard Home
- Robert Burchett residence, on the corner of Madison and Boone Streets
- Robert Bickle residence, next door to Burchett, facing Madison Street

Back to the Big Sandy River, between Franklin and Powhatan Streets

Block 1 - 2 houses
- Dr. Murray Home, at the corner of Franklin and Water Streets
- D. M. Jones residence; Jones was a photographer. His studio was in the middle of the block, facing Main Cross Street (where the Sunoco gas station was in 1971)

Block 2 - 2 houses
- John Crutcher residence
- Ran Boggs residence, on the corner of Franklin and Main Cross Streets; log house, now covered with siding (1971)

Block 3 - 3 houses, all facing Franklin Street
- James Abbot residence, on the corner of Main Cross and Franklin Streets (Mr. Abbot was a timber man and worked for the Yellow Poplar Lumber Co. of Ironton, Ohio. The Big Sandy was his territory)
- Beckley Lewis
- Buck Butler, a railroader; on the corner

Block 4
- Bill Derossett residence, the first city policeman

Block 5 - 4 houses
- D. J. Burchett Home, on the corner of Powhatan facing the railroad
- Dr. Biggs Home
- G. R. Vinson residence
- John Jones Home, a log house about the middle of the block (he owned one half of this block)

Block 6 - 5 houses. Ely Fitch owned half the block facing Clay Street and R. T. Burns owned the other half, facing Lady Washington and Franklin Streets
- Ely Fitch Home, on the corner of Clay Street
- 4 rent houses, owned by R. T. Burns
- Dr. Wroten lived on the corner of Powhatan and Lady Washington

Block 7
The property, owned in 1971 by Mrs. Mary Sparks, belonged to a man named Bell. He and his daughter left Louisa by boat and never returned. The property fell into the hands of James O'Bryan and Tip Moore and had a chicken house built in the center of it and a fence around it.

Block 8 - 2 houses
- Tip Moore Home
- Mrs. Jo Rice Home, center of the block [Mrs. Rice was a daughter of James Abbot)

Outside the old city limits, north of Pike Street, between the Big Sandy River and Lock Ave.

Pike Street and Water Street
- K. F. Vinson Home, at the end of Water Street
The balance of the area was farm land.

Between Pike and Berry Streets
- John J. Jordan property, a two-story residence, facing Lock Ave. Later owned by the Roberts family.
- Henry Preston property

Between Berry Street and Sycamore Street - Four houses
- William Remmele, cottage
- A. C. Conley House, Dr. and Mrs. Scott Hayes, residents
- Rance Chaffin Home
- Giager Burchett, cottage

Sycamore Street butted against the Milton Freese property. His home faces the Big Sandy River. On the National Register of Historic Places.

- Major Drew Burchett's property, extending from Milton Freese's property to City Park. The house later was Charley Wooten's house (1971).

Outside the old city limits, at Pike Street, on the west side of Lock Ave.
- Cooper shop, a two story building where barrels were made; owned by the Big Sandy Milling Company building faced Lock Ave.
- Nick Stokey, cottage; the building was owned by Major Drew Burchett. Stokey was an engineer and fireman for the mill

Between Peach Alley and Elm Street - Three Houses
- Frank Jones residence, on the corner of Elm Street and Lock Ave.
- Charles Crutcher residence
- Harry Burgess Home, on the corner of Peach Alley

Between Peach Alley and Maple Street
- Atwell Wellman grocery store; building later converted into a residence by Flem McHenry

Between Maple and Apple Alley - Two brick houses
- Hattie Jones, school teacher
- Henry Cain

Between Apple Alley and Lock Street - Three houses
- Farmland and an orchard, owned by Bill Yates, on the upper end; his residence was near the middle of this plot
- Three houses on the lower end

From Lock Street to Stewart Street
- Farmland owned by Judge Stewart

From Stewart Street to Public Way - Three houses
- James Davis Home; Davis was a Civil War Veteran; Miss Lizzie Jackson, border, Sunday School teacher
- Green Skaggs residence
- Sam Chapman residence
- Bill Rathbone, house on government property; it went into the river; Rathbone was the lock tender

Corner of Stewart and Adams Streets
- James Pigg Home; only house on Adams Street

Pike and Jefferson, facing the railroad - 4 houses
- Big Sandy Milling Company
- Frank Yates residence, next to the mill
- Martin family
- Bill Sammons, at the corner of Elm and Jefferson Streets

Between Peach Alley and Elm Street - Four houses. Owned by the Snyder Bros. These houses were facing the railroad
- Robert Lee (later the location of a clothing factory, in 1971). Lee was the first city judge
- Dunlap Waldeck
- John Wellman
- Tom Salyers, at the corner of Jefferson and Peach Alley

Maple Street, between Lock Ave. and the Railroad
- Rev. Silas Reynolds, lived next to Lock Ave.
- Dan Pigg
- Billy Shannon
- William Justice residence, a two story home
- John Stump, cottage on the corner
- George Gray, on the north side of Maple; agent for the C & O Railroad
- Jim Rose, on the same side of the street; miller for the Big Sandy Milling Company.
- Yates property (already described)
- Dan Blankenship, on the corner of Lock Street, next to the railroad
- Rev. Burch Hewlett, in the house back of Mr. Blankenship's home on the railroad

Between Lock Street and Stewart Street - Three houses, owned by the Stewart family. These were rent houses.
- Lot Wellman
- Dave Ward
- McKinzie family

Between Stewart Street and Public Way
Several houses, mostly occupied by section men who worked for the C. & O. Railroad
Between Clay Street and the railroad from Pike to the Coca-Cola Bottling Co. was owned by the C. & O. Railroad Company. The freight and passenger depot stood at the end of Maple Street. William Justice owned a grocery store at the lower end of the depot
- Hoop plant, for barrels
- stockpen (later the location of the C. &. O. office, 1971)
- coal house, owned by John Geems, about where the upper end of the depot now stands (1971)
- Vanhoose lumber shed, west of the railroad
- coal oil storage building, owned by Col. J. H. Northup, near the lower end of the Vanhoose lumber shed. Building caught on fire, with 120 + wooden barrels of oil inside the structure. Largest fire in Louisa
- Oliver Wellman, near the freight depot, on Jefferson Street
- ball diamond and circus grounds, next to Pike Street
- storage area for shipping lumber, ties, staves, tan bark, hickory for handles, spokes and other items

On Clay Street from Pike to Lock Ave.
- James Hale owned a ten foot right of way to this property

Between Clay Street and Rice Street, facing Pike Street - Two houses
- H. C. Sammons Home, a two story house
- Frank Damron (now the location of the First Baptist Church)
- Albert Copley's Home, faced Clay Street
- Jess Shannon residence, a cottage
- Garred Wilson
- Aug. Snyder property, used as a garden
- Jordan property (extended between the Snyder property and the Coca Cola plant); pasture
- James Hale property
- John Chapman (now location of the Coca Cola plant)
- Rev. L. M. Copley residence (location of the KY. Lumber Co. in 1971)
- Julia Copley residence, one lot below L. M. Copley, facing the railroad. She was L. M. Copley's mother.
- Flem McHenry, on the corner of Lock Street, facing the railroad
- Pearley Hampton residence, across the street from Flem McHenry, on the corner
- W. M. Fulkerson property, an apple orchard (location of the Hinkle Motel in 1971)