Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Most of Hatfield was built recently: 7% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1949. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1959 on, and the census since 1920.
The Hatfield post office opened in 1907, the earliest record of the town by name.
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 Hatfield’s history is told.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Hatfield yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Hatfield is a town in western Polk County, Arkansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, Hatfield had a population of 345.
Its first post office opened in 1907. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 413 to 345 (-16%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Hatfield. 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 Hatfield.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Hatfield’s page.
Retake this view · +15Between 335 and 437 people in every census since 1920.
11 censuses, 1920–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Hatfield’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in Hatfield itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Hatfield’s post office has been open since 1907.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The Hatfield post office opened in 1907, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
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). How TownRatings grades history →
From the Library of Congress (1), 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.
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