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History · Bauxite

Bauxite’s post office opened in 1900, and 2 of its places are on the National Register

Most of Bauxite was built recently: 10% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1984. Its Register listings are the Rucker House and the Old Benton-Sardis Road Bridge. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1938 on, and the census since 1980.

1900first post office
2on the National Register
10%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
4famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Bauxite’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Bauxite began

When was Bauxite founded?

1900

The Bauxite post office opened in 1900, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1973.

First census: 433 in 19802020 census: 629126 years
Founding year: the first Bauxite post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1973.The full story ↓

What stands out about Bauxite’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Bauxite’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Bauxite’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old view1940 Census Enumeration District Maps -…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Bauxite came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Bauxite.

Read it all →

The ore for which the city is named was discovered in the area in the early 1890s and mined by the General Bauxite Company until 1905, when the Pittsburgh Reduction Company, an aluminum refining company, purchased vast tracts of land in Saline County after learning of the high-quality ore that was being shipped from the area. The company bought out the local producers of the ore, including the General Bauxite Company. Pittsburgh Reduction would go on to incorporate as the Aluminum Company of America, or ALCOA.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Bauxite, 1880 to 1943

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1880In the archive1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Arkansas - Saline County - Bauxite - ED 63-2
  3. 20th century
  4. 1900Post officeThe Bauxite post office opens
  5. 1906Born hereGeorge Cole is born here
  6. 1919BuiltOld Benton-Sardis Road Bridge is built
  7. 1927Born hereLeon Campbell is born here
  8. 1929Born hereRobert M. Utley is born here
  9. 1938On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  10. 1943Born hereDwight Fite is born here
By decade

Bauxite, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1880s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1880s1 item
1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Arkansas - Saline County - Bauxite - ED 63-218801940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Arkansas - Sa…
1890s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Today2 recent
Rucker House2016Rucker HouseOld Benton-Sardis Road Bridge2016Old Benton-Sardis Road Bridge
On the map

Bauxite on the map, 1938 to 1994

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Bauxite. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Bauxite on the 1938 USGS mapBauxite on the 1944 USGS mapBauxite on the 1970 USGS mapBauxite on the 1984 USGS mapBauxite on the 1994 USGS map1938Benton sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Bauxite.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Arkansas - Saline County - Bauxite - ED 63-2
Retake this view1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Arkansas - Saline County - Bauxite - ED 63-2, 1880

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Bauxite’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

2 historic places in Bauxite

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
first listed
1988
Rucker House
Rucker HouseOld Benton-Sardis Road Bridge, built 1919
BuildingsStructures
Rucker HouseBuilding
Old Benton-Sardis Road BridgeBuilt 1919

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Bauxite, census by census

0100200300400500600700198020002020Peak: 629

Between 412 and 629 people in every census since 1980.

5 censuses, 1980–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Bauxite’s Wikipedia page.

Famous people

4 famous people were born in Bauxite

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
R
Robert M. UtleyAmerican author and historian · b. 1929
L
Leon CampbellAmerican football player · b. 1927
D
Dwight FiteAmerican politician · b. 1943
G
George ColeAmerican football player, coach, and college at… · b. 1906
Places that used to be

Old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Bauxite’s post office has been open since 1900.

Hamlets and corners on the map
LignitePine Haven
Gone or out of use
Canal Number 2 MinemineFletcher MinemineFletcher-Hudspeth-Harris MinemineHurricane MinemineRamsey MinemineSection 14 West Pit MinemineSection 17 MinemineStandard MinemineTownsend Minemine
1cemetery inside Bauxite
Bauxite

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Benton16 historic placesBBryant1 historic placeC−

Questions about Bauxite’s history

What year was Bauxite founded?

The Bauxite post office opened in 1900, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1973.

What is on the National Register in Bauxite?

Two places: the Rucker House (listed 1988) and the Old Benton-Sardis Road Bridge (2007).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (3), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikipedia, 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) 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.