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History · Bonanza

Bonanza’s post office opened in 1897

Most of Bonanza was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1987. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1887 on, and the census since 1900.

1897first post office
0on the National Register
8%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Bonanza began

When was Bonanza founded?

1897

The Bonanza post office opened in 1897, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 906 in 19002020 census: 587129 years
Founding year: the first Bonanza post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Bonanza’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.On the map since 18875 editions of the USGS map, 1887 to 1987. Watch Bonanza change.Shrank, then grewLost two-thirds of its people between 1900 and 1960, then more than doubled.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Bonanza’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewWar at: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Bonanza on the map, 1887 to 1987

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

Bonanza on the 1887 USGS mapBonanza on the 1948 USGS mapBonanza on the 1951 USGS mapBonanza on the 1978 USGS mapBonanza on the 1987 USGS map1887Greenwood 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 Bonanza.

People over time

Bonanza, census by census

02004006008001,0001900192019401960198020002020906 in 1900Low: 247

Lost two-thirds of its people between 1900 and 1960, then more than doubled.

13 censuses, 1900–2020.

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

The story

How Bonanza came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Bonanza.

Read it all →

On October 10, 1851, Sebastian County was created from parts of Arkansas' Crawford, Polk, and Scott counties, placing Bonanza within the boundaries. Coal was discovered near the Arkansas-Oklahoma line about 12 miles southeast of Fort Smith, Arkansas. In 1896, the Central Coal and Coke Company developed railroads in the area as part of the St. Louis–San Francisco Railway, structuring Bonanza into a company town. Mine No. 10 did not yield sufficient results, but Mine No. 12 soon had 144 workers. Mine No. 20 employed 185 workers, and Mine No. 26 employed 76 workers. When workers and their families reached a sizable number, C.C. Woodson filed a petition to incorporate, and on November 26, 1898, the town was chartered.

ChaptersBonanza Race War

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Bonanza, 1887 to 1959

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1887On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  3. 1897Post officeThe Bonanza post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1900CensusPopulation peaks at 906
  6. 1902Born herePerry William Wilson is born here
  7. 1904In the archiveWar at
  8. 1959Post officeThe Bonanza post office closes
By decade

Bonanza, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s1 item
War at1904War at
1910s–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
Today1 recent
ARMap-doton-Bonanza2005ARMap-doton-Bonanza
Every building

Bonanza, building by building, 1913

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 sheet.

Bonanza fire insurance map, 1913, sheet 11913Sheet 1 of 2
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

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.

War at
Retake this viewWar at, 1904

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

Retake this view · +15
Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Bonanza had its own post office from 1897 to 1959.

Bonanza
1897–1959
18901960today

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

Questions about Bonanza’s history

What year was Bonanza founded?

The Bonanza post office opened in 1897, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

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 (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), 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.