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History · Elaine

Elaine’s post office opened in 1907, and 21% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the Lee Grocery Store. Below: maps from 1939 on and the census since 1920.

1907first post office
1on the National Register
21%homes built before 1940
4famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Elaine began

When was Elaine founded?

1907

The Elaine post office opened in 1907, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 377 in 19202020 census: 509119 years
Founding year: the first Elaine post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Elaine’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 Elaine are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 1,210 in 1970; 509 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Elaine’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Elaine’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

Elaine, census by census

02004006008001,0001,200192019401960198020002020Peak: 1,210

Peaked at 1,210 in 1970; 509 people lived here in 2020.

11 censuses, 1920–2020.

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

The story

How Elaine came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Elaine.

Read it all →

Phillips County was developed in the antebellum years for cotton plantations, which relied on the labor of enslaved African Americans. Their work produced the wealth of the major large planters. Cotton continued to be the major commodity crop into the 20th century in this area but, after the war, blacks often had to work as sharecroppers or tenant farmers. By the turn of the century, Arkansas and other southern states had disenfranchised most blacks, excluding them from the political system, and imposed Jim Crow laws.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Elaine, 1907 to 1970

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1907Post officeThe Elaine post office opens
  3. 1933Born hereJohn Hughey is born here
  4. 1939On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 1940Born hereLevon Helm is born here
  6. 1955Born hereEmma Mitts is born here
  7. 1964Born hereBill Holtzclaw is born here
  8. 1970CensusPopulation peaks at 1,210
By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
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On the map

Elaine on the map, 1939 to 1982

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

Elaine on the 1939 USGS mapElaine on the 1948 USGS mapElaine on the 1963 USGS mapElaine on the 1982 USGS map1939Modoc 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 Elaine.

On the National Register

1 historic place in Elaine

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
2020
Lee Grocery Store
Lee Grocery Store
Buildings
All 1 listings
Lee Grocery StoreBuilding · listed 2020

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

Famous people

4 famous people were born in Elaine

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

See all →
L
Levon HelmAmerican musician · b. 1940
Emma MittsAmerican politician · b. 1955
J
John HugheyAmerican musician · b. 1933
B
Bill HoltzclawAmerican politician · b. 1964

Questions about Elaine’s history

What year was Elaine founded?

The Elaine post office opened in 1907, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Elaine?

One place: the Lee Grocery Store (listed 2020).

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 the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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) 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.