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History · Central City

Central City was first counted by the census in 1980

Most of Central City was built recently: 9% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1991. Below: maps from 1951 on and the census since 1980.

1980first census
0on the National Register
9%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Central City began

When was Central City founded?

1980

Central City first appears in the census in 1980. Another post office, Central (1883), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 339 in 19802020 census: 46146 years
Founding year: the first census.

What stands out about Central City’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Central City are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Central City’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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The story so far

Central City, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Central City yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Central City is a city in Sebastian County, Arkansas, United States. It is part of the Fort Smith, Arkansas-Oklahoma Metropolitan Statistical Area. At the 2020 Census, the population of Central City was 461.

Its first post office opened in 1980. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 502 to 461 (-8%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Central City, 1883 to 1951

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1883Post officeThe Central post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1917Post officeThe Central post office closes
  5. 1951On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Central City, decade by decade

Today1 recent
ARMap-doton-Central City2005ARMap-doton-Central City
On the map

Central City on the map, 1951 to 1987

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

Central City on the 1951 USGS mapCentral City on the 1971 USGS mapCentral City on the 1987 USGS map1951Barling sheet · 1:24,000

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

People over time

Central City, census by census

0100200300400500198020002020Peak: 531

Between 339 and 531 people in every census since 1980.

5 censuses, 1980–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Another post office, Central, opened and closed inside today’s town.

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.

BarlingIts storyD

Questions about Central City’s history

What year was Central City founded?

The Central City post office opened in 1980, 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 (1), 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.