Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Booneville

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
BHistory
History · Booneville

Booneville dates to 1828, and 4 of its places are on the National Register

More historic than 57% of U.S. towns · #35 of 123 in Arkansas. What drives it

Most of Booneville was built recently: 6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1975. 4 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 12 buildings. Below: 4 old photos and papers, maps from 1887 on, and the census since 1880.

1828founded
4on the National Register
6%homes built before 1940
4old photos & papers
6famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Booneville’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Booneville began

When was Booneville founded?

1828

Booneville dates its founding to 1828 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1880.

First census: 275 in 18802020 census: 3,809198 years

How historic is Booneville?

B

More historic than 57% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1837.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Booneville’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Booneville is more historic than 57% of U.S. towns, #35 of 123 in Arkansas. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Booneville’s overall grade.
Founding eraNo founding year we can rely on, so the grade uses the other two–Homes built before 19406.3% of homes (±4.0) · typical AR town 3.1% · U.S. 8.4%C+National Register4 listings, 15 historic buildings, 39.5 per 10,000 residents · typical AR town 20.5 · U.S. 2.4B+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 57%
NewerOlder
Arkansas towns of 2,500+ (123)Ahead of 72%

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 Booneville’s 39.5 sits above most of its state (66% of Arkansas towns have fewer) while its 15 historic buildings outnumber those of 78% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.0 points). Two sources give 1828.

Founding year: Wikipedia (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 →

What stands out about Booneville’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 4 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18873 editions of the USGS map, 1887 to 1983. Watch Booneville change.Mapped building by building3 fire insurance maps, 1908 to 1918, drew every building in Booneville.Deep rootsEstablished in 1828: 198 years of Booneville.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Booneville’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo1 archive item has no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewCirca 1900 Booneville Ice Plant: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Booneville on the map, 1887 to 1983

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

Booneville on the 1887 USGS mapBooneville on the 1934 USGS mapBooneville on the 1983 USGS map1887Magazine Mountain #3 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 Booneville.

Every building

Booneville, building by building, 1908–1918

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.

Booneville fire insurance map, 1908, sheet 11908Sheet 1 of 2
Edition
BrickWoodStone

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

The story

How Booneville came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Booneville.

Read it all →

The city was founded in 1828 when Walter Cauthron, an early explorer of the Arkansas Territory, built a log cabin and store along the Petit Jean River. By some accounts, he intended to name the community as "Bonneville" for friend Benjamin Bonneville, but the spelling and name were later changed. Another theory is that the name was to honor Daniel Boone, a friend of the Logan family for whom the county is named.

ChaptersNaming2008 explosion of meat-packing plant

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Booneville, 1828 to 1979

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1828
    FoundingBooneville is established
  3. 1837Post officeThe Booneville post office opens
  4. 1887On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 1896Born hereAaron Ward is born here
  6. 20th century
  7. 1900In the archiveCirca 1900 Booneville Ice Plant
  8. 1908Born hereJohn P. McConnell is born here
  9. 1909Born hereTom Greenway is born here
  10. 1913Born hereFloyd Speer is born here
  11. 1979In the archiveSavage Theater
By decade

Booneville, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1900s to the 1970s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s2 items
Circa 1900 Booneville Ice Plant1900Circa 1900 Booneville Ice PlantBroadway, Booneville, Ark. 1905-19101905–1910Broadway, Booneville, Ark. 1905-1910
1910s–1960snothing 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
1970s1 item
Savage Theater1979Savage Theater
1980s–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
Date unknown1 to date
Main Street inDate?Main Street in
Today9 recent
Logan County Courthouse, Southern Judicial District, Clock Detail2014Logan County Courthouse, Southern Judicial District, …Farmers and Merchants Bank-Masonic Lodge2014Farmers and Merchants Bank-Masonic LodgeFarmers and Merchants Bank-Masonic Lodge, West View2014Farmers and Merchants Bank-Masonic Lodge, West ViewDr. Stephen H. Chism House, Southwest view2014Dr. Stephen H. Chism House, Southwest viewDr. Stephen H. Chism House, Rear View2014Dr. Stephen H. Chism House, Rear ViewDr. Stephen H. Chism House, Front View2014Dr. Stephen H. Chism House, Front ViewBooneville 4M22011Booneville 4M2State Tuberculosis Sanatorium2007State Tuberculosis SanatoriumARMap-doton-Booneville2005ARMap-doton-Booneville
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.

Circa 1900 Booneville Ice Plant
Retake this viewCirca 1900 Booneville Ice Plant, 1900

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

4 listings protect 15 historic buildings

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

places listed
4
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
15
each building in a district counts
first listed
1978
Bank of Booneville Building
Bank of Booneville BuildingFarmers and Merchants Bank-Masonic LodgeBooneville Methodist Episcopal Church SouthBooneville Commercial Historic District
BuildingsDistricts
Bank of Booneville BuildingBuilding
Farmers and Merchants Bank-Masonic LodgeBuilding
Booneville Methodist Episcopal Church SouthBuilding
Booneville Commercial Historic DistrictDistrict

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

People over time

Booneville, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,5004,0004,50018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 4,117

Between 275 and 4,117 people in every census since 1880.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Famous people

6 famous people were born in Booneville

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

See all →
T
Tom GreenwayAmerican actor · b. 1909
John P. McConnellAmerican Air Force general · b. 1908
Aaron WardAmerican baseball player · b. 1896
Floyd SpeerAmerican baseball player · b. 1913
P
Paul X. WilliamsUnited States federal judge · b. 1908
B
Betty PriceAmerican music teacher · b. 1931

Questions about Booneville’s history

What year was Booneville founded?

In 1828, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Booneville’s post office opened in 1837, and the census of 1880 counted 275 people here.

How does Booneville rank for history?

Booneville is more historic than 57% of U.S. towns, #35 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.

What is on the National Register in Booneville?

4 listings: 3 buildings, among them the Bank of Booneville Building (listed 1978, the first), and 1 historic district, the Booneville Commercial Historic District, with 12 contributing buildings. 15 historic buildings in all.

How old are the homes in Booneville?

6% of Booneville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.0 points), against a typical 3.1% for an Arkansas town; the median home was built in 1975.

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).

From Wikimedia Commons (13), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (4), 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.