Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Dierks

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
–Not graded
History · Dierks

Dierks’ post office opened in 1906

Most of Dierks was built recently: 7% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1974. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1919 on, and the census since 1910.

1906first post office
0on the National Register
7%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Dierks’ archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Dierks began

When was Dierks founded?

1906

The Dierks post office opened in 1906, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 272 in 19102020 census: 916120 years
Founding year: the first Dierks post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Dierks’ 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.Boom and bustPeaked at 1,544 in 1930; 916 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Dierks’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old view1940 Census Enumeration District Descri…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Dierks, census by census

02004006008001,0001,2001,4001,600192019401960198020002020Peak: 1,544

Peaked at 1,544 in 1930; 916 people lived here in 2020.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

The story

How Dierks came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Dierks.

Read it all →

Dierks was formerly known as "Hardscrabble.” It was changed to "Dierks" after Hans Dierks, the oldest of four brothers who owned the Dierks Lumber and Coal Company. In 2007, Dierks celebrated the 100th anniversary of its founding.

Severe thunderstorms that moved through southwest Arkansas on April 9, 2009, produced an EF3 tornado that destroyed the city's water treatment plant. A training technician from the Arkansas Rural Water Association helped the utility operators establish a temporary connection to the neighboring Nashville Rural Water System until the National Guard could deliver a pair of portable water purification systems. The Boy Scouts of America helped distribute water to families.

Chapters2009 tornado2019 Flood2024 Wildfire

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Dierks, 1850 to 1986

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1850In the archive1940 Census Enumeration District Descriptions - Arkansas - Howard County - ED 31-11, ED 3…
  3. 20th century
  4. 1906Post officeThe Dierks post office opens
  5. 1930CensusPopulation peaks at 1,544
  6. 1937Born hereAaron Thomas is born here
  7. 1986Born hereBen McLaughlin is born here
  8. 1986On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Dierks, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1850s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1850s1 item
1940 Census Enumeration District Descriptions - Arkansas - Howard County - ED 31-11, ED 31-12, ED 31-13, ED 31-14, ED 3…18501940 Census Enumeration District Descriptions - Arkan…
Today2 recent
Farm Bureau Insurance Company - Arkansas2019Farm Bureau Insurance Company - ArkansasARMap-doton-Dierks2005ARMap-doton-Dierks
On the map

Dierks on the map in 1986

The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Dierks.

Dierks on the 1986 USGS map1986De Queen sheet · 1:100,000

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

Every building

Dierks, building by building, 1919

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 sheet.

Dierks fire insurance map, 1919, sheet 11919Sheet 1 of 2
BrickWoodStone

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

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.

1940 Census Enumeration District Descriptions - Arkansas - Howard County - ED 31-11, ED 31-12, ED 31-13, ED 31-14, ED 3…
Retake this view1940 Census Enumeration District Descriptions - Arkansas - Howard County - ED 31-11, ED 31-12, ED 31-13, ED 31-14, ED 3…, 1850

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

Retake this view · +15
Famous people

2 famous people were born in Dierks

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

See all →
B
Ben McLaughlinAmerican football player · b. 1986
Aaron ThomasAmerican football player · b. 1937

Questions about Dierks’ history

What year was Dierks founded?

The Dierks post office opened in 1906, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

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 (3), Wikipedia, 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.