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C+History
History · De Queen

De Queen’s post office opened in 1897, and 6 of its places are on the National Register

More historic than 38% of U.S. towns · #64 of 123 in Arkansas. What drives it

Most of De Queen was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1974. 6 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 20 buildings. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1904 on, and the census since 1900.

1897first post office
6on the National Register
2%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
4famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From De Queen’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How De Queen began

When was De Queen founded?

1897

The De Queen post office opened in 1897, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Belton (1892), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

First census: 1,200 in 19002020 census: 6,105129 years

How historic is De Queen?

C+

More historic than 38% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first De Queen post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade

What drives De Queen’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, De Queen is more historic than 38% of U.S. towns, #64 of 123 in Arkansas. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of De Queen’s overall grade.
Founding era1897, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19401.6% of homes (±1.9) · typical AR town 3.1% · U.S. 8.4%C−National Register6 listings, 27 historic buildings, 44.6 per 10,000 residents · typical AR town 20.5 · U.S. 2.4B+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 38%
NewerOlder
Arkansas towns of 2,500+ (123)Ahead of 48%

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 De Queen’s 44.6 sits above most of its state (68% of Arkansas towns have fewer) while its 27 historic buildings outnumber those of 81% 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 (±1.9 points) is firm at this size. 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 De Queen’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 2 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.A historic districtThe DeQueen Commercial Historic District takes in 20 historic buildings.Mapped building by building3 fire insurance maps, 1904 to 1914, drew every building in De Queen.On the map since 19133 editions of the USGS map, 1913 to 1986. Watch De Queen change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start De Queen’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 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 viewThe Sevier, De Queen, Arkansas (88165): stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the National Register

6 listings protect 27 historic buildings

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

places listed
6
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
27
each building in a district counts
first listed
1980
Hayes Hardware Store
Hayes Hardware StoreFirst Presbyterian ChurchDeQueen & Eastern Railroad Machine ShopBishop Brookes HouseOtis Theodore and Effiegene Locke Wingo House, built 1904DeQueen Commercial Historic District
BuildingsDistricts
Hayes Hardware StoreBuilding
First Presbyterian ChurchBuilding
DeQueen & Eastern Railroad Machine ShopBuilding
Bishop Brookes HouseBuilding
Otis Theodore and Effiegene Locke Wingo HouseBuilt 1904
DeQueen Commercial Historic DistrictDistrict

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

Every building

De Queen, building by building, 1904–1914

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.

De Queen fire insurance map, 1904, sheet 11904Sheet 1 of 4
Edition
BrickWoodStone

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

The story so far

De Queen, in brief

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

De Queen ( DEE-kween) is a city in and the county seat of Sevier County, Arkansas, United States. The population was 6,105 at the 2020 census. The placename is the anglicization of the family name of the Dutch merchant and railway financier, Jan de Goeijen (1861–1944). De Goeijen was reportedly rather unhappy with the deformation of his name.

Its first post office opened in 1897. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 6,594 to 6,105 (-7%).

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

Timeline

De Queen, 1892 to 1959

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1892Post officeThe Belton post office opens
  3. 1897Post officeThe Belton post office closes
  4. 1897Post officeThe De Queen post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1904BuiltOtis Theodore and Effiegene Locke Wingo House is built
  7. 1913On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  8. 1925Born hereJ. Lynn Helms is born here
  9. 1930In the archiveThe Sevier, De Queen, Arkansas (88165)
  10. 1936Born hereLin Halliday is born here
  11. 1938Born hereWes Watkins is born here
  12. 1959Born hereCollin Raye is born here
By decade

De Queen, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1930s1 item
The Sevier, De Queen, Arkansas (88165)c. 1930The Sevier, De Queen, Arkansas (88165)
1940s–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
DeQueen DEQDate?DeQueen DEQ
Today15 recent
Arkansas Highway 329 in2024Arkansas Highway 329 inDe Queen August 2018 33 (Lonchera Miscelanea J.B.)2018De Queen August 2018 33 (Lonchera Miscelanea J.B.)De Queen August 2018 19 (St. Barbara Catholic Church)2018De Queen August 2018 19 (St. Barbara Catholic Church)De Queen August 2018 14 (First United Methodist Church)2018De Queen August 2018 14 (First United Methodist Churc…De Queen August 2018 13 (Sevier County Health Unit)2018De Queen August 2018 13 (Sevier County Health Unit)First United Methodist Church, DeQueen, AR2016First United Methodist Church, DeQueen, ARBishop Brookes House2016Bishop Brookes HouseSevier County, AR, Library IMG 85592013Sevier County, AR, Library IMG 8559Northern terminus of US 371 in2012Northern terminus of US 371 inFEMA - 40844 - Red Cross workers with FEMA and State representatives in Arkansas2009FEMA - 40844 - Red Cross workers with FEMA and State …FEMA - 40843 - Tornado Damage in Arkansas2009FEMA - 40843 - Tornado Damage in ArkansasFEMA - 40842 - FEMA assessing tornado damage in Arkansas2009FEMA - 40842 - FEMA assessing tornado damage in Arkan…FEMA - 40837 - Debris being delivered to a landfill in Arkansas2009FEMA - 40837 - Debris being delivered to a landfill i…FEMA - 40827 - FEMA performing damage assessment in Arkansas2009FEMA - 40827 - FEMA performing damage assessment in A…FEMA - 40826 - An overturned trailer in Arkansas2009FEMA - 40826 - An overturned trailer in Arkansas
On the map

De Queen on the map, 1913 to 1986

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

De Queen on the 1913 USGS mapDe Queen on the 1966 USGS mapDe Queen on the 1986 USGS map1913De Queen sheet · 1:125,000

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

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.

The Sevier, De Queen, Arkansas (88165)
Retake this viewThe Sevier, De Queen, Arkansas (88165), c. 1930

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

De Queen, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,5004,0004,5005,0005,5006,0006,5007,0001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 6,629

Between 1,200 and 6,629 people in every census since 1900.

13 censuses, 1900–2020.

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

Famous people

4 famous people were born in De Queen

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

See all →
Wes WatkinsAmerican politician · b. 1938
Collin RayeAmerican country music singer · b. 1959
L
Lin HallidayAmerican musician · b. 1936
J. Lynn HelmsUS Marine Corps officer · b. 1925
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, places now gone and burying grounds

De Queen’s post office has been open since 1897. Another post office, Belton, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Belton
1892–1897
De Queen
1897–today
18901960today
Gone or out of use
De Queen Landing Stripairport
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside De Queen
Herman Direk Memorial ParkRedman

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

Questions about De Queen’s history

What year was De Queen founded?

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

How does De Queen rank for history?

De Queen is more historic than 38% of U.S. towns, #64 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 De Queen?

6 listings: 5 buildings, among them the Hayes Hardware Store (listed 1980, the first), and 1 historic district, the DeQueen Commercial Historic District, with 20 contributing buildings. 27 historic buildings in all.

How old are the homes in De Queen?

2% of De Queen’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.9 points), against a typical 3.1% for an Arkansas town; the median home was built in 1974.

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 (17), Wikidata (5), the National Register of Historic Places (6), 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.