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History · Fouke

Fouke’s post office opened in 1890

Most of Fouke was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1983. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1952 on, and the census since 1910.

1890first post office
0on the National Register
3%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Fouke’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Fouke began

When was Fouke founded?

1890

The Fouke post office opened in 1890, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 246 in 19102020 census: 808136 years
Founding year: the first Fouke post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Fouke’s 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.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Fouke’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewFountain Lake Park Hotel: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Fouke came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Fouke.

Read it all →

The area around Fouke had long been inhabited by the Native American Caddo people, prior to European colonization of the Americas. Caddo tribes and European explorers traded pelts, honey, beeswax, flour, tobacco, blankets, guns, and other items. After the Louisiana Purchase, the United States established the Sulphur Fork Factory (trading post) where the Sulphur River enters the Red River. In the years following Arkansas statehood, settlers began flowing steadily into the area and the Caddo population was greatly diminished.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Fouke, 1890 to 1952

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1890Post officeThe Fouke post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1930In the archiveFountain Lake Park Hotel
  5. 1952On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Fouke, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1930s1 item
Fountain Lake Park Hotelc. 1930Fountain Lake Park Hotel
1940s–1990snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
Today4 recent
Monster Mart, Fouke, Arkansas, January 5, 20162016Monster Mart, Fouke, Arkansas, January 5, 2016Fouke, Arkansas water tower January 5, 20162016Fouke, Arkansas water tower January 5, 2016Fouke, AR sign IMG 63432012Fouke, AR sign IMG 6343ARMap-doton-Fouke2005ARMap-doton-Fouke
On the map

Fouke on the map, 1952 to 1970

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

Fouke on the 1952 USGS mapFouke on the 1970 USGS map1952Fouke 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 Fouke.

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.

Fountain Lake Park Hotel
Retake this viewFountain Lake Park Hotel, c. 1930

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Fouke, census by census

0200400600800192019401960198020002020Peak: 815

Between 246 and 815 people in every census since 1910.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Fouke

Nobody well known was born in Fouke itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Scott JoplinAmerican composer, musician, pianist (1867/68-1… · b. 1867
Ross PerotAmerican businessman and politician · b. 1930
Bessie ColemanAmerican aviator · b. 1892
M
Molly QuinnAmerican actress · b. 1993
Joshua LoganAmerican stage and film director and writer · b. 1908
Conlon NancarrowAmerican composer · b. 1912

Questions about Fouke’s history

What year was Fouke founded?

The Fouke post office opened in 1890, 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 (5), 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.