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History · Gateway

Gateway’s post office opened in 1939

Most of Gateway was built recently: 7% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1988. Below: maps from 1958 on and the census since 1940.

1939first post office
0on the National Register
7%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Gateway began

When was Gateway founded?

1939

The Gateway post office opened in 1939, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Roller's Ridge (1858) and Herd (1890), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 57 in 19402020 census: 43687 years
Founding year: the first Gateway post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Gateway’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 Gateway are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Shrank, then grewLost a third of its people between 1950 and 1960, then grew 6-fold.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Gateway, and 3 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Gateway’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Gateway’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

Gateway, census by census

01002003004001940196019802000202097 in 1950Low: 63

Lost a third of its people between 1950 and 1960, then grew 6-fold.

9 censuses, 1940–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Gateway’s post office has been open since 1939. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Roller's Ridge
1858–1868
Herd
1890–1910
Gateway
1939–today
18501940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
ClantonvilleHurdOsborn
Gone or out of use
Clantonville Schoolschool
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Gateway
BaylessClantonvilleGateway

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

The story so far

Gateway, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Gateway yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Gateway is a town in Benton County, Arkansas, United States. The population was 436 at the 2020 census, up from 405 in 2010. It is part of the Northwest Arkansas region. The town's name reflects its situation as the "gateway" to and from Arkansas.

Its first post office opened in 1939. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 405 to 436 (+8%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Gateway, 1858 to 2020

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1858Post officeThe Roller's Ridge post office opens
  3. 1868Post officeThe Roller's Ridge post office closes
  4. 1890Post officeThe Herd post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1910Post officeThe Herd post office closes
  7. 1939Post officeThe Gateway post office opens
  8. 1958On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  9. 21st century
  10. 2020CensusPopulation peaks at 436
By decade

Gateway, decade by decade

Today2 recent
Downtown-Gateway,-Arkansas2014Downtown-Gateway,-ArkansasARMap-doton-Gateway2005ARMap-doton-Gateway
On the map

Gateway on the map, 1958 to 1976

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

Gateway on the 1958 USGS mapGateway on the 1976 USGS map1958Garfield 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 Gateway.

Famous people

Famous people close to Gateway

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

See all →
Asa HutchinsonGovernor of Arkansas from 2015 to 2023 · b. 1950
Matt CornettAmerican actor · b. 1998
Tim HutchinsonAmerican politician · b. 1949
Loy W. HendersonAmerican diplomat · b. 1892
D
Duane IselyAmerican botanist · b. 1918
L
Louise ThadenAmerican aviator · b. 1905

Questions about Gateway’s history

What year was Gateway founded?

The Gateway post office opened in 1939, 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 (2), 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.