Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 31% of U.S. towns · #77 of 123 in Arkansas. What drives it
Most of Green Forest was built recently: 7% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1982. Its Register listing is the Green Forest Water Tower. Below: maps from 1904 on and the census since 1880.
The Green Forest post office opened in 1855, the earliest record of the town by name.
More historic than 31% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Green Forest is more historic than 31% of U.S. towns, #77 of 123 in Arkansas. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
Arkansas towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Arkansas town has 20.5 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Green Forest’s 3.2 sits below most of its state (29% of Arkansas towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Green Forest’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Green Forest. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Green Forest.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Green Forest yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Green Forest is a city in Carroll County, Arkansas, United States. The population was 2,972 at the 2020 census.
Its first post office opened in 1855. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 2,761 to 2,972 (+8%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a sheet.
1913Sheet 1 of 1Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Grew from 34 people in 1880 to 2,972 in 2020, more than tenfold.
14 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Green Forest’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Green Forest’s post office has been open since 1855.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The Green Forest post office opened in 1855, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Green Forest is more historic than 31% of U.S. towns, #77 of 123 in Arkansas. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
One place: the Green Forest Water Tower (listed 2007).
7% of Green Forest’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.2 points), against a typical 3.1% for an Arkansas town; the median home was built in 1982.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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).
From Wikimedia Commons (1), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
2005