Fort Smith dates to 1817, and 47 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 76% of U.S. towns · #11 of 123 in Arkansas. What drives it
Most of Fort Smith was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1977. 47 places in town are on the National Register, among them the Fort Smith National Historic Site, a National Historic Landmark, and seven historic districts with 635 buildings between them. Below: 19 old photos and papers, maps from 1886 on, and the census since 1840.
Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1829.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Fort Smith’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Fort Smith is more historic than 76% of U.S. towns, #11 of 123 in Arkansas. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Fort Smith’s 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 Fort Smith’s 74.5 sits above most of its state (79% of Arkansas towns have fewer) while its 669 historic buildings outnumber those of 98% 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 (±0.8 points) is firm at this size. Two sources give 1817.
Founding year: Wikidata (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 Fort Smith’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. One is a National Historic Landmark, the highest tier. Boundary changes and added documentation are counted with their listing.
No evidence indicates permanent indigenous settlements at the time of European contact in what became Fort Smith. In southern Fort Smith, a platform mound known as the Cavanaugh Mound exists in isolation and may have served as a vantage point from which the Spiro Mounds in present-day Oklahoma could be seen in earlier centuries.
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 Fort Smith. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1887Van Buren 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 Fort Smith.
Every building
Fort Smith, building by building, 1886–1908
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.
In 1817, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Fort Smith’s post office opened in 1829, and the census of 1840 counted 144 people here.
How does Fort Smith rank for history?
Fort Smith is more historic than 76% of U.S. towns, #11 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 Fort Smith?
47 listings: 29 buildings, 7 historic districts with 635 contributing buildings, 4 sites, 5 structures, and 2 objects. 669 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Fort Smith?
5% of Fort Smith’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), 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 (14), the Library of Congress (5), Wikidata (4), the National Register of Historic Places (47), 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.
★ Landmark
1865
1912
1912
c. 1930
c. 1930
1941
1941
1941
1942
1942
1972
1972
1972
1972
