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History · Grady

Grady’s post office opened in 1885

Most of Grady was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1974. Below: maps from 1935 on and the census since 1910.

1885first post office
0on the National Register
4%homes built before 1940
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Photo: Water tower nut from Metairie, U.S.A. · CC BY 2.0
Quick answers

How Grady began

When was Grady founded?

1885

The Grady post office opened in 1885, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Williamsburgh (1876), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

First census: 180 in 19102020 census: 305141 years
Founding year: the first Grady post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Grady’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 Grady are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 688 in 1970; 305 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Grady’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Grady’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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People over time

Grady, census by census

0100200300400500600700192019401960198020002020Peak: 688

Peaked at 688 in 1970; 305 people lived here in 2020.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

The story so far

Grady, in brief

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

Grady is a city in Lincoln County, Arkansas, United States. The population was 305 at the 2020 census, down from 449 at the 2010 census.

Its first post office opened in 1885. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 449 to 305 (-32%).

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

Timeline

Grady, 1876 to 1970

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1876Post officeThe Williamsburgh post office opens
  3. 1885Post officeThe Williamsburgh post office closes
  4. 1885Post officeThe Grady post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1935On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 1970CensusPopulation peaks at 688
By decade

Grady, decade by decade

Today2 recent
US 65 outside2012US 65 outsideGradyARWaterTower2007GradyARWaterTower
On the map

Grady on the map, 1935 to 1975

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

Grady on the 1935 USGS mapGrady on the 1964 USGS mapGrady on the 1975 USGS map1935Varner 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 Grady.

Places that used to be

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

Grady’s post office has been open since 1885. Another post office, Williamsburgh, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Williamsburgh
1876–1885
Grady
1885–today
18701950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Shannon Tank
Gone or out of use
Kennedy High SchoolschoolMount Pisgah Churchchurch
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Grady
GradyHawley

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

Questions about Grady’s history

What year was Grady founded?

The Grady post office opened in 1885, 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.