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History · Halley

Halley’s post office opened in 1884

Below: maps from 1936 on.

1884first post office
0on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
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Photo: Magnolia677 · CC BY-SA 4.0
Quick answers

How Halley began

When was Halley founded?

1884

The Halley post office opened in 1884, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Bowie (1873), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 44142 years
Founding year: the first Halley post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Halley’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 Halley are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Halley’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Halley’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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The story

How Halley came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Halley.

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John J. Bowie (eldest brother of James Bowie) purchased land in the area in 1857.

Construction of the Mississippi, Ouachita and Red River Railroad—the first chartered railway in Arkansas—began in 1852, and 7 mi (11 km) of track had been laid west from Eunice by the start of the Civil War. The line passed through Bowie's land, and a stop there was called "Bowie Station". The railroad was completed after the war, but abandoned in 1875 after flooding on the Mississippi River damaged the railbed and bridges. Highway 208 between Eunice and Halley was built on the abandoned railbed.

Bowie Station was later renamed "Halley" after early settlers, the Halley family.

In 1901, a line of the Missouri Pacific Railroad was built through Halley.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Halley, 1873 to 1971

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1873Post officeThe Bowie post office opens
  3. 1879Post officeThe Bowie post office closes
  4. 1884Post officeThe Halley post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1936On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 1971Post officeThe Halley post office closes
By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

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On the map

Halley on the map, 1936 to 1981

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

Halley on the 1936 USGS mapHalley on the 1955 USGS mapHalley on the 1975 USGS mapHalley on the 1981 USGS map1936McGehee 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 Halley.

Famous people

Famous people close to Halley

Nobody well known was born in Halley itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

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Jim HensonAmerican puppeteer · b. 1936
Jim HinesAmerican sprinter and football player · b. 1946
Mary WilsonAmerican singer · b. 1944
Archie MooreAmerican boxer · b. 1913
Thelma HoustonAmerican singer · b. 1946
Danny K. DavisAmerican politician · b. 1941
Places that used to be

Lost post offices and burying grounds

Halley had its own post office from 1884 to 1971. Another post office, Bowie, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Bowie
1873–1879
Halley
1884–1971
18701950today
1cemetery inside Halley
Bowie

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

Questions about Halley’s history

What year was Halley founded?

The Halley post office opened in 1884, 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 →
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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 Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.