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History · Gillham

Gillham’s post office opened in 1897, and 2 of its places are on the National Register

Most of Gillham was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1978. Its Register listings are the Goff and Gamble Merchandise Store and the Gillham City Jail. Below: maps from 1913 on and the census since 1910.

1897first post office
2on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Gillham began

When was Gillham founded?

1897

The Gillham post office opened in 1897, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Silver Hill (1874), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 291 in 19102020 census: 157129 years
Founding year: the first Gillham post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Gillham’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 Gillham are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19133 editions of the USGS map, 1913 to 1986. Watch Gillham change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Gillham’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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On the map

Gillham on the map, 1913 to 1986

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

Gillham on the 1913 USGS mapGillham on the 1964 USGS mapGillham on the 1986 USGS map1913De Queen sheet · 1:125,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Gillham.

The story so far

Gillham, in brief

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

Gillham is a town in Sevier County, Arkansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, Gillham had a population of 157. It is located six miles from Gillham Lake.

Its first post office opened in 1897. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 160 in 2010, 157 in 2020.

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

Timeline

Gillham, 1874 to 1913

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1874Post officeThe Silver Hill post office opens
  3. 1897Post officeThe Silver Hill post office closes
  4. 1897Post officeThe Gillham post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1913On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Gillham, decade by decade

Today2 recent
Goff and Gamble Merchandise Store2016Goff and Gamble Merchandise StoreGillham City Jail2016Gillham City Jail
On the National Register

2 historic places in Gillham

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

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
first listed
1996
Goff and Gamble Merchandise Store
Goff and Gamble Merchandise StoreGillham City Jail
Buildings
Goff and Gamble Merchandise StoreBuilding
Gillham City JailBuilding

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

People over time

Gillham, census by census

0100200300192019401960198020002020Peak: 317

Between 157 and 317 people in every census since 1910.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices and places now gone

Gillham’s post office has been open since 1897. Another post office, Silver Hill, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Silver Hill
1874–1897
Gillham
1897–today
18701950today
Gone or out of use
Gillham High Schoolschool

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

Questions about Gillham’s history

What year was Gillham founded?

The Gillham post office opened in 1897, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Gillham?

Two places: the Goff and Gamble Merchandise Store (listed 1996) and the Gillham City Jail (2012).

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), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (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.