The story
Read it all →How Calico Rock came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Calico Rock.
Calico Rock was named from a colorful rock formation said by pioneers to resemble the textile calico.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
BHistory
History · Calico Rock
Calico Rock’s post office opened in 1851, and 3 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 56% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Most of Calico Rock was built recently: 7% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1982. 3 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 18 buildings. Below: maps from 1913 on and the census since 1910.
1851first post office
3on the National Register
7%homes built before 1940
Quick answers
How Calico Rock began
When was Calico Rock founded?
1851
The Calico Rock post office opened in 1851, the earliest record of the town by name.
First census: 401 in 19102020 census: 888175 years
How historic is Calico Rock?
B
What drives the grade ↓More historic than 56% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Calico Rock post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Calico Rock’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Calico Rock is more historic than 56% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Calico Rock’s overall grade.
Founding era1851, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19407.4% of homes (±5.4) · typical AR town 3.1% · U.S. 8.4%C+National Register3 listings, 20 historic buildings, 113 per 10,000 residents · typical AR town 20.5 · U.S. 2.4A−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 56%
NewerOlder
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 Calico Rock’s 113 sits above most of its state (88% of Arkansas towns have fewer) while its 20 historic buildings outnumber those of 79% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C to B+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.4 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
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 →
What stands out about Calico Rock’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Calico Rock’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Calico Rock’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.People over time
Calico Rock, census by census
Peaked at 1,545 in 2010; 888 people lived here in 2020.
12 censuses, 1910–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Calico Rock’s Wikipedia page.
Timeline
Calico Rock, 1851 to 2010
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1851Post officeThe Calico Rock post office opens
- 20th century
- 1964
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey - 21st century
- 2010CensusPopulation peaks at 1,545
By decade
Calico Rock, decade by decade
2022
2022
2015
2015
2011
2005On the map
Calico Rock on the map in 1964
The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Calico Rock.
1964Calico Rock sheet · 1:24,000U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Calico Rock.
Every building
Calico Rock, 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.
1913Sheet 1 of 2BrickWoodStone
Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
On the National Register
3 listings protect 20 historic buildings
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. Boundary changes and added documentation are counted with their listing.
places listed
3
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
20
each building in a district counts
first listed
1985
Calico Rock Historic District
BuildingsDistricts
Calico Rock Historic DistrictDistrict
Calico Rock Home Economics BuildingBuilding
Calico Rock Methodist Episcopal ChurchBuilding
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Famous people
See all →Famous people close to Calico Rock
Nobody well known was born in Calico Rock itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Stories next door
History across the town line
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Questions about Calico Rock’s history
What year was Calico Rock founded?
The Calico Rock post office opened in 1851, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Calico Rock rank for history?
Calico Rock is more historic than 56% of U.S. towns. 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 Calico Rock?
Three places: the Calico Rock Historic District (listed 1985), the Calico Rock Home Economics Building (1992) and the Calico Rock Methodist Episcopal Church (2007).
How old are the homes in Calico Rock?
7% of Calico Rock’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.4 points), against a typical 3.1% for an Arkansas town; the median home was built in 1982.
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (6), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (3), Wikipedia, 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.