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History · Gillett

Gillett’s post office opened in 1892, and 14% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the Gillett Jail, Old. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1935 on, and the census since 1910.

1892first post office
1on the National Register
14%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Gillett’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Gillett began

When was Gillett founded?

1892

The Gillett post office opened in 1892, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Champion (1890), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

First census: 256 in 19102020 census: 564134 years
Founding year: the first Gillett post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Gillett’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.Boom and bustPeaked at 1,155 in 1920; 564 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Gillett’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Gillett’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 viewGillett, Ark., Main Street: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Gillett, census by census

02004006008001,0001,200192019401960198020002020Peak: 1,155

Peaked at 1,155 in 1920; 564 people lived here in 2020.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

The story so far

Gillett, in brief

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

Gillett ( jill-LET) is a city in Arkansas County, Arkansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, Gillett had a population of 564. Gillett is the home of the annual Gillett Coon Supper. The Arkansas Post National Memorial is located southeast of the town. The largest alligator ever killed in Arkansas was harpooned near Gillett on September 19, 2010. The 13-ft, 1-in reptile weighed 680 lb.

Its first post office opened in 1892. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 691 to 564 (-18%).

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

Timeline

Gillett, 1890 to 1935

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1890Post officeThe Champion post office opens
  3. 1892Post officeThe Champion post office closes
  4. 1892Post officeThe Gillett post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1920CensusPopulation peaks at 1,155
  7. 1927In the archiveGillett, Ark., Main Street
  8. 1935On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Gillett, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1920s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1920s1 item
Gillett, Ark., Main Street1927Gillett, Ark., Main Street
1930s–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
Today17 recent
A pond that would be lovely were it not for its alligator inhabitants at the Arkansas Post National Memorial, not a bui…2020A pond that would be lovely were it not for its allig…Dozens of blackbirds take flight, though a good number hang tight on their telephone line perches, at the approach of a…2020Dozens of blackbirds take flight, though a good numbe…A view of the Arkansas River adjacent to the Arkansas Post National Memorial, not a building or monument but a 758-acre…2020A view of the Arkansas River adjacent to the Arkansas…Dozens of blackbirds take flight at the approach of a human in a field full of seed following fall harvest near the tow…2020Dozens of blackbirds take flight at the approach of a…A small swath of Arkansas' vast Grand Prairie grasslands, near Gillett that stretch from these fields in southeast Arka…2020A small swath of Arkansas' vast Grand Prairie grassla…A never-used gallows at the Arkansas Post Museum State Park2020A never-used gallows at the Arkansas Post Museum Stat…A sunset over Arkansas' Grand Prairie near the town of Gillett2020A sunset over Arkansas' Grand Prairie near the town o…Post Bend of the Arkansas River2020Post Bend of the Arkansas RiverLittle Post Bayou 22020Little Post Bayou 2Winter 2019 at Little Post Bayou2019Winter 2019 at Little Post BayouOld Gillett Jail2016Old Gillett JailSpring is off up in here2013Spring is off up in herePoint Deluce Township, AR, USA2013Point Deluce Township, AR, USAGillett, AR, USA2013Gillett, AR, USAArkansas Township, AR, USA2013Arkansas Township, AR, USAArkansas Township, AR, USA - panoramio (1)2013Arkansas Township, AR, USA - panoramio (1)ARMap-doton-Gillett2005ARMap-doton-Gillett
On the map

Gillett on the map, 1935 to 1972

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

Gillett on the 1935 USGS mapGillett on the 1972 USGS map1935Gillett 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 Gillett.

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.

Gillett, Ark., Main Street
Retake this viewGillett, Ark., Main Street, 1927

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Gillett

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
2007
Gillett Jail, Old
Gillett Jail, Old
Buildings
Gillett Jail, OldBuilding

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Gillett’s post office has been open since 1892. Another post office, Champion, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Champion
1890–1892
Gillett
1892–today
18901960today

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

Questions about Gillett’s history

What year was Gillett founded?

The Gillett post office opened in 1892, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Gillett?

One place: the Gillett Jail, Old (listed 2007).

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 (10), the Library of Congress (8), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.