Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Decatur

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
CHistory
History · Decatur

Decatur’s post office opened in 1883, and 2 of its places are on the National Register

More historic than 28% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Its Register listings are the Kansas City-Southern Depot-Decatur and the Kansas City Southern Railway Locomotive #73D and Caboose #385. Most of Decatur was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1994. Below: maps from 1899 on and the census since 1910.

1883first post office
2on the National Register
2%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Decatur began

When was Decatur founded?

1883

The Decatur post office opened in 1883, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 246 in 19102020 census: 1,773143 years

How historic is Decatur?

C

More historic than 28% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

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

What drives Decatur’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Decatur is more historic than 28% of U.S. towns. 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 Decatur’s overall grade.
Founding era1883, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19401.7% of homes (±1.4) · typical AR town 3.1% · U.S. 8.4%C−National Register2 listings, 12.8 per 10,000 residents · typical AR town 20.5 · U.S. 2.4B−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 28%
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 Decatur’s 12.8 sits near the middle of its state (46% of Arkansas towns have fewer) while its 2 listings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to C+. The pre-1940 share (±1.4 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 Decatur’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 Decatur are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18994 editions of the USGS map, 1899 to 1982. Watch Decatur change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Decatur’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Decatur on the map, 1899 to 1982

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

Decatur on the 1899 USGS mapDecatur on the 1901 USGS mapDecatur on the 1971 USGS mapDecatur on the 1982 USGS map1899Fayetteville 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 Decatur.

The story so far

Decatur, in brief

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

Decatur is a city, in Benton County, Arkansas, United States. The population was 1,773 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Northwest Arkansas region. This town is named after Commodore Stephen Decatur, Jr.

Its first post office opened in 1883. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 1,699 to 1,773 (+4%).

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

Timeline

Decatur, 1883 to 1936

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1883Post officeThe Decatur post office opens
  3. 1899On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  4. 20th century
  5. 1936Born hereVerla C. Insko is born here
By decade

Decatur, decade by decade

Today6 recent
Kc southern 73D engine side front2026Kc southern 73D engine side frontKansas City Southern locomotive in2013Kansas City Southern locomotive inKansas City Southern caboose in2013Kansas City Southern caboose inHwy. 59 north of2013Hwy. 59 north ofDecatur Train Station in2013Decatur Train Station inARMap-doton-Decatur2005ARMap-doton-Decatur
On the National Register

2 historic places in Decatur

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
1992
Kansas City-Southern Depot-Decatur
Kansas City-Southern Depot-DecaturKansas City Southern Railway Locomotive #73D and Caboose #385
BuildingsStructures
Kansas City-Southern Depot-DecaturBuilding
Kansas City Southern Railway Locomotive #73D and Caboose #385Structure

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

People over time

Decatur, census by census

02004006008001,0001,2001,4001,6001,8001920194019601980200020201,773

Grew from 246 people in 1910 to 1,773 in 2020, 7 times over.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

Questions about Decatur’s history

What year was Decatur founded?

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

How does Decatur rank for history?

Decatur is more historic than 28% 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 Decatur?

Two places: the Kansas City-Southern Depot-Decatur (listed 1992) and the Kansas City Southern Railway Locomotive #73D and Caboose #385 (2006).

How old are the homes in Decatur?

2% of Decatur’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.4 points), against a typical 3.1% for an Arkansas town; the median home was built in 1994.

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 (6), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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) 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.