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History · Delaplaine

Delaplaine’s post office opened in 1875

Most of Delaplaine was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1990. Below: maps from 1940 on and the census since 1920.

1875first post office
0on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
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Photo: Brian Stansberry · CC BY 4.0
Quick answers

How Delaplaine began

When was Delaplaine founded?

1875

The Delaplaine post office opened in 1875, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1912. Two smaller post offices, Grays Station (1872) and De La Plaine (1875), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 152 in 19202020 census: 64151 years
Founding year: the first Delaplaine post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1912.The full story ↓

What stands out about Delaplaine’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 Delaplaine are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 208 in 1950; 64 people lived here in 2020.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Delaplaine.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Delaplaine’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Delaplaine’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
People over time

Delaplaine, census by census

0100200192019401960198020002020Peak: 208

Peaked at 208 in 1950; 64 people lived here in 2020.

11 censuses, 1920–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Grays Station
1872–1875
De La Plaine
1875–1883
18701950today

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

The story

How Delaplaine came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Delaplaine.

Read it all →

A French trading post may have operated at the current site of Delaplaine prior to the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. The name is French for "of the plain," and was written as three words (De La Plaine) for many years. When the St. Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern Railway constructed a line through the area in the 1870s, a stop known as "Grey's Station" was established, named for one of the few female postmasters in the state at the time, Lizzie Grey. The town reverted to the name "Delaplaine" in 1875. Delaplaine incorporated in 1912.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Delaplaine, 1872 to 1950

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1872Post officeThe Grays Station post office opens
  3. 1875Post officeThe Grays Station post office closes
  4. 1875Post officeThe De La Plaine post office opens
  5. 1883Post officeThe De La Plaine post office closes
  6. 20th century
  7. 1940On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  8. 1950CensusPopulation peaks at 208
By decade

Delaplaine, decade by decade

Today10 recent
Junction in2026Junction inDelaplaine, AR City Hall2026Delaplaine, AR City HallUntitled photo2026Untitled photoUntitled photo2026Untitled photoDelaplaine-RR-tracks-ar2020Delaplaine-RR-tracks-arDelaplaine-Hunt-and-Harvest-Cafe-ar2020Delaplaine-Hunt-and-Harvest-Cafe-arDelaplaine-Highway-304-ar2020Delaplaine-Highway-304-arDelaplaine-City-Hall-ar2020Delaplaine-City-Hall-arDelaplaine-304-ar2020Delaplaine-304-arARMap-doton-Delaplaine2005ARMap-doton-Delaplaine
On the map

Delaplaine on the map, 1940 to 1984

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

Delaplaine on the 1940 USGS mapDelaplaine on the 1958 USGS mapDelaplaine on the 1960 USGS mapDelaplaine on the 1984 USGS map1940Gainesville 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 Delaplaine.

Questions about Delaplaine’s history

What year was Delaplaine founded?

The Delaplaine post office opened in 1875, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1912.

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 (10), 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.