Dumas’ post office opened in 1879, and 5 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 43% of U.S. towns · #55 of 123 in Arkansas. What drives it
Most of Dumas was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1977. 5 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 7 buildings. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1913 on, and the census since 1910.
Founding year: the first Dumas post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Dumas’ History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Dumas is more historic than 43% of U.S. towns, #55 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 Dumas’ overall grade.
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 Dumas’ 42.5 sits above most of its state (67% of Arkansas towns have fewer) while its 16 historic buildings outnumber those of 78% 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 is a Census survey estimate (±3.0 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 Dumas’ past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
In 1870, a planter, merchant and surveyor of French descent, William B. Dumas, bought acres of farmland from the Abercrombie Holmes family. The area was named Watson District and the town continued to develop. The district was renamed Dumas and was incorporated in 1904.
Dumas proudly proclaims itself as "Home of the Ding Dong Daddy", a reference to the vaudeville song "I'm a Ding Dong Daddy from Dumas" by Phil Baxter. However, this is up for debate, as the city of Dumas, Texas, also lays claim, with some documentation, to the song being about them.
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.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Dumas. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1935Red Fork 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 Dumas.
Every building
Dumas, building by building, 1913–1918
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.
1913Sheet 1 of 1
Edition
Sheets
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.
Retake this viewDumasMadButcherDec89, 1989
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Dumas’ page.
The Dumas post office opened in 1879, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Dumas rank for history?
Dumas is more historic than 43% of U.S. towns, #55 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 Dumas?
5 listings: 4 buildings, among them the Merchants & Farmers Bank (listed 1982, the first), and 1 historic district, the Dumas Commercial Historic District, with 7 contributing buildings. 16 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Dumas?
4% of Dumas’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.0 points), against a typical 3.1% for an Arkansas town; the median home was built in 1977.
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 (12), the National Register of Historic Places (5), 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.
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