Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 38% of U.S. towns · #65 of 123 in Arkansas. What drives it
Most of Bald Knob was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1975. Below: 4 old photos and papers, maps from 1909 on, and the census since 1880.
The Bald Knob post office opened in 1878, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1881.
More historic than 38% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Bald Knob is more historic than 38% of U.S. towns, #65 of 123 in Arkansas. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
Arkansas towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Arkansas town has 20.5 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Bald Knob’s 55.6 sits above most of its state (72% of Arkansas towns have fewer) while its 14 listings outnumber those of 78% of U.S. towns.
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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Bald Knob’s history is told.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
1909Sheet 1 of 1Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Bald Knob yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Bald Knob is a city in White County, Arkansas, United States. The population was 2,522 at the 2020 census.
Its first post office opened in 1878. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 2,897 to 2,522 (-13%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
One decade in the archive so far: the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Bald Knob. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Bald Knob.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Bald Knob’s page.
Retake this view · +15Between 221 and 3,210 people in every census since 1880.
14 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Bald Knob’s Wikipedia page.
The Bald Knob post office opened in 1878, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1881.
Bald Knob is more historic than 38% of U.S. towns, #65 of 123 in Arkansas. 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.
14 listings: 13 buildings, among them the Campbell-Chrisp House (listed 1991, the first), and 1 structure.
2% of Bald Knob’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.1 points), against a typical 3.1% for an Arkansas town; the median home was built in 1975.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (4), the Library of Congress (4), Wikidata (4), the National Register of Historic Places (14), 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), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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