Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Gurdon

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
C+History
History · Gurdon

Gurdon’s post office opened in 1875, and 5 of its places are on the National Register

More historic than 42% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Most of Gurdon was built recently: 6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1976. Below: 4 old photos and papers, maps from 1897 on, and the census since 1890.

1875first post office
5on the National Register
6%homes built before 1940
4old photos & papers
3famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Gurdon’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Gurdon began

When was Gurdon founded?

1875

The Gurdon post office opened in 1875, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 802 in 18902020 census: 1,840151 years

How historic is Gurdon?

C+

More historic than 42% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Gurdon post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Gurdon’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Gurdon is more historic than 42% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Gurdon’s overall grade.
Founding era1875, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19405.7% of homes (±5.6) · typical AR town 3.1% · U.S. 8.4%CNational Register5 listings, 30.8 per 10,000 residents · typical AR town 20.5 · U.S. 2.4B+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 42%
NewerOlder

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 Gurdon’s 30.8 sits near the middle of its state (60% of Arkansas towns have fewer) while its 5 listings outnumber those of 70% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C to B−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.6 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.

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 →

What stands out about Gurdon’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 4 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19013 editions of the USGS map, 1901 to 1986. Watch Gurdon change.Boom and bustPeaked at 2,707 in 1980; 1,840 people lived here in 2020.Mapped building by building5 fire insurance maps, 1897 to 1924, drew every building in Gurdon.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Gurdon’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
3 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo1 archive item has no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewW.L. Radcliffe Chautauqua: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Gurdon on the map, 1901 to 1986

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

Gurdon on the 1901 USGS mapGurdon on the 1970 USGS mapGurdon on the 1986 USGS map1901Gurdon 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 Gurdon.

People over time

Gurdon, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 2,707

Peaked at 2,707 in 1980; 1,840 people lived here in 2020.

14 censuses, 1890–2020.

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

The story

How Gurdon came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Gurdon.

Read it all →

The town was founded in the late 19th century as a railroad town for the timber industry on the St. Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern Railway (now the Union Pacific Railroad). Originally settled in 1873, the city was incorporated in 1880. The town's name derives from railroad executive Henry Gurdon Marquand's middle name.

Gurdon is the birthplace of the Concatenated Order of Hoo-Hoo, in 1892.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Gurdon, 1875 to 1980

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1875Post officeThe Gurdon post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1901On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 1919In the archiveW.L. Radcliffe Chautauqua
  6. 1920Born hereJimmy Witherspoon is born here
  7. 1924Born hereSailor Art Thomas is born here
  8. 1930In the archiveThe Hoo Hoo, Gurdon, Arkansas (88238)
  9. 1942In the archiveArkansas-Texas state line to Gurdon, Arkansas. War emergency pipeline from Longview, Texa…
  10. 1945Born hereDaniel Davis is born here
  11. 1980CensusPopulation peaks at 2,707
By decade

Gurdon, decade by decade

3 decades in the archive, from the 1910s to the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1910s–1940s3 items
W.L. Radcliffe Chautauqua1919W.L. Radcliffe ChautauquaThe Hoo Hoo, Gurdon, Arkansas (88238)c. 1930The Hoo Hoo, Gurdon, Arkansas (88238)Arkansas-Texas state line to Gurdon, Arkansas. War emergency pipeline from Longview, Texas to Norris City, Illinois. Ta…1942Arkansas-Texas state line to Gurdon, Arkansas. War em…
1950s–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
Date unknown1 to date
Gurdon 5M8Date?Gurdon 5M8
Today8 recent
Untitled photo2021Untitled photoJune Sandidge House2016June Sandidge HouseGurdon Jail2016Gurdon JailHoo hoo international2009Hoo hoo internationalGurdon hoohoo monument trainside2009Gurdon hoohoo monument trainsideGurdon hoohoo monument streetside2009Gurdon hoohoo monument streetsideGurdon hoohoo cats2009Gurdon hoohoo catsGurdon depot2008Gurdon depot
Every building

Gurdon, building by building, 1897–1924

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 year, then a sheet.

Gurdon fire insurance map, 1897, sheet 21897Sheet 2 of 2
Edition
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

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.

W.L. Radcliffe Chautauqua
Retake this viewW.L. Radcliffe Chautauqua, 1919

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

5 historic places in Gurdon

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

places listed
5
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
5
each building in a district counts
first listed
1989
Gurdon Jail
Gurdon JailMissouri-Pacific Railroad Depot-GurdonJune Sandidge HouseHoo Hoo MonumentHorace Estes House
BuildingsObjects
Gurdon JailBuilding
Missouri-Pacific Railroad Depot-GurdonBuilding
June Sandidge HouseBuilding
Hoo Hoo MonumentObject
All 5 listings
Horace Estes HouseBuilding · listed 1993

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

Famous people

3 famous people were born in Gurdon

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Daniel DavisAmerican actor · b. 1945
Jimmy WitherspoonAmerican jump blues singer · b. 1920
Sailor Art ThomasAmerican professional wrestler and bodybuilder · b. 1924

Questions about Gurdon’s history

What year was Gurdon founded?

The Gurdon post office opened in 1875, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Gurdon rank for history?

Gurdon is more historic than 42% of U.S. towns. 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.

What is on the National Register in Gurdon?

5 listings: 4 buildings, among them the Gurdon Jail (listed 1989, the first), and 1 object.

How old are the homes in Gurdon?

6% of Gurdon’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.6 points), against a typical 3.1% for an Arkansas town; the median home was built in 1976.

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).

From Wikimedia Commons (10), the Library of Congress (2), the National Register of Historic Places (5), Wikipedia, 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.