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B+History
History · Des Arc

Des Arc’s post office opened in 1848, and 8 of its places are on the National Register

More historic than 66% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Most of Des Arc was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1976. Below: maps from 1968 on and the census since 1880.

1848first post office
8on the National Register
5%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Des Arc began

When was Des Arc founded?

1848

The Des Arc post office opened in 1848, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 548 in 18802020 census: 1,905178 years

How historic is Des Arc?

B+

More historic than 66% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Des Arc post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Des Arc’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Des Arc is more historic than 66% of U.S. towns. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Des Arc’s overall grade.
Founding era1848, from the first post office: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 19404.9% of homes (±4.3) · typical AR town 3.1% · U.S. 8.4%CNational Register8 listings, 50.3 per 10,000 residents · typical AR town 20.5 · U.S. 2.4B+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 66%
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 Des Arc’s 50.3 sits above most of its state (70% of Arkansas towns have fewer) while its 8 listings outnumber those of 74% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B− to A−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.3 points). 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 Des Arc’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 Des Arc are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Landmarks on the Register8 places on the National Register.Deep rootsA post office since 1848: 178 years of Des Arc.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Des Arc’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Des Arc’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 National Register

8 historic places in Des Arc

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

places listed
8
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
8
each building in a district counts
first listed
1977
Prairie County Courthouse
Prairie County CourthouseBedford Brown Bethell HouseFrith-Plunkett HouseBethel HouseFirst Presbyterian ChurchAmerican Legion Hut-Des Arc, built 1934Oak Grove CemeteryDes Arc High School Home Economics Building
BuildingsSites
Prairie County CourthouseBuilding
Bedford Brown Bethell HouseBuilding
Frith-Plunkett HouseBuilding
Bethel HouseBuilding
First Presbyterian ChurchBuilding
American Legion Hut-Des ArcBuilt 1934
Oak Grove CemeterySite
All 8 listings
Des Arc High School Home Economics BuildingBuilding · listed 2021

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

Timeline

Des Arc, 1848 to 1968

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1848Post officeThe Des Arc post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1934BuiltAmerican Legion Hut-Des Arc is built
  5. 1968On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
The story

How Des Arc came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Des Arc.

Read it all →

White settlement in the area began in the Lower White River Valley while the area was within French Louisiana, which lasted from 1686-1763. French from Canada and South Louisiana passed through the area while hunting and trapping bears and other animals. They shipped furs and bear oil downriver to Arkansas Post, which was the only established settlement in the region, then likely onto New Orleans. During this period, several places were named by the French, including Des Arc and other places in Prairie County such as La Grue.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Des Arc, decade by decade

Today19 recent
Oak Grove Cemetery2016Oak Grove CemeteryFirst Presbyterian Church2016First Presbyterian ChurchHighway 38 near Des Arc, AR 0032015Highway 38 near Des Arc, AR 003Des Arc, AR 0192015Des Arc, AR 019Des Arc, AR 0082015Des Arc, AR 008Des Arc, AR 0062015Des Arc, AR 006Des Arc collage2015Des Arc collageFEMA - 34632 - Officials tour levee area in Arkansas2008FEMA - 34632 - Officials tour levee area in ArkansasFEMA - 34626 - Home surrounded by water in Arkansas2008FEMA - 34626 - Home surrounded by water in ArkansasFEMA - 34625 - A resident looks at his flooded neighborhood in Arkansas2008FEMA - 34625 - A resident looks at his flooded neighb…FEMA - 34623 - Residents prepare sandbags in Arkansas2008FEMA - 34623 - Residents prepare sandbags in ArkansasFEMA - 34622 - People fill sandbags in Arkansas2008FEMA - 34622 - People fill sandbags in ArkansasFEMA - 34621 - Residents fill sandbags in Arkansas2008FEMA - 34621 - Residents fill sandbags in ArkansasFEMA - 34620 - Flooded highway with traffic in Arkansas2008FEMA - 34620 - Flooded highway with traffic in Arkans…FEMA - 34619 - Residents prepare for flooding by filling sandbags in Arkansas2008FEMA - 34619 - Residents prepare for flooding by fill…FEMA - 34618 - A flooded neighborhood in Arkansas2008FEMA - 34618 - A flooded neighborhood in ArkansasFEMA - 34614 - Residents fill sandbags in Arkansas2008FEMA - 34614 - Residents fill sandbags in ArkansasFEMA - 34613 - Photograph by Jocelyn Augustino taken on 03-25-2008 in Arkansas2008FEMA - 34613 - Photograph by Jocelyn Augustino taken …FEMA - 34605 - A resident drives a tractor across a flooded road in Arkansas2008FEMA - 34605 - A resident drives a tractor across a f…
On the map

Des Arc on the map, 1968 to 1990

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

Des Arc on the 1968 USGS mapDes Arc on the 1971 USGS mapDes Arc on the 1986 USGS mapDes Arc on the 1990 USGS map1968Des Arc East 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 Des Arc.

People over time

Des Arc, census by census

05001,0001,5002,00018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 2,001

Between 546 and 2,001 people in every census since 1880.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Questions about Des Arc’s history

What year was Des Arc founded?

The Des Arc post office opened in 1848, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Des Arc rank for history?

Des Arc is more historic than 66% 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 Des Arc?

8 listings: 7 buildings, among them the Prairie County Courthouse (listed 1977, the first), and 1 site.

How old are the homes in Des Arc?

5% of Des Arc’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.3 points), against a typical 3.1% for an Arkansas town; the median home was built in 1976.

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 (19), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (8), 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.