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History · Chester

Chester’s post office opened in 1883, and 13% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listings are the Col. Jacob Yoes Building and the Chester Masonic Lodge and Community Building. Its Register listings are the Col. Jacob Yoes Building and the Chester Masonic Lodge and Community Building. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1898 on, and the census since 1890.

1883first post office
2on the National Register
13%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Chester’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Chester began

When was Chester founded?

1883

The Chester post office opened in 1883, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1889.

First census: 222 in 18902020 census: 144143 years
Founding year: the first Chester post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1889.The full story ↓

What stands out about Chester’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 18983 editions of the USGS map, 1898 to 1983. Watch Chester change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Chester’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 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 viewLee Creek Bridge, Spanning Lee Creek at…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Chester on the map, 1898 to 1983

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

Chester on the 1898 USGS mapChester on the 1969 USGS mapChester on the 1983 USGS map1898Winslow #4 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 Chester.

The story

How Chester came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Chester.

Read it all →

Chester was platted in 1887 when the railroad was extended to that point. A post office called Chester has been in operation since 1883.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Chester, 1883 to 1942

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1883Post officeThe Chester post office opens
  3. 1887BuiltCol. Jacob Yoes Building is built
  4. 1898On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 20th century
  6. 1942BuiltChester Masonic Lodge and Community Building is built
By decade

Chester, decade by decade

Date unknown1 to date
Lee Creek Bridge, Spanning Lee Creek at State Highway No. 220Date?Lee Creek Bridge, Spanning Lee Creek at State Highway…
Today2 recent
Chester Arkansas sign2005Chester Arkansas signARMap-doton-Chester2005ARMap-doton-Chester
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.

Lee Creek Bridge, Spanning Lee Creek at State Highway No. 220
Retake this viewLee Creek Bridge, Spanning Lee Creek at State Highway No. 220

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

2 historic places in Chester

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
1975
Col. Jacob Yoes Building
Col. Jacob Yoes Building, built 1887Chester Masonic Lodge and Community Building, built 1942
Buildings
Col. Jacob Yoes BuildingBuilt 1887
Chester Masonic Lodge and Community BuildingBuilt 1942

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

People over time

Chester, census by census

01002001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 223

Between 82 and 223 people in every census since 1890.

14 censuses, 1890–2020.

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

Questions about Chester’s history

What year was Chester founded?

The Chester post office opened in 1883, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1889.

What is on the National Register in Chester?

Two places: the Col. Jacob Yoes Building (listed 1975) and the Chester Masonic Lodge and Community Building (2000).

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), the Library of Congress (1), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikipedia, 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.