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History · Havana

Havana’s post office opened in 1902, and 11% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1887 on and the census since 1910.

1902first post office
0on the National Register
11%homes built before 1940
3famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Havana began

When was Havana founded?

1902

The Havana post office opened in 1902, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Greenville (1900), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

First census: 621 in 19102020 census: 239124 years
Founding year: the first Havana post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

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

Start Havana’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story so far

Havana, in brief

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

Havana is a city in northwest Yell County, Arkansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, Havana had a population of 239. It is part of the Russellville Micropolitan Statistical Area. Arkansas Scenic State Highway 309 leads from Havana to the top of Mount Magazine, home of Arkansas's newest State Park, and the highest peak in Arkansas. Havana is located between Booneville and Danville on State Highway 10. The area has views of Mount Magazine, the tallest mountain in Arkansas. West of Havana lies Blue Mountain Lake, a US Army Corps of Engineers Lake, which provides recreational fishing, camping, swimming and boating. Havana is in the Petit Jean River Valley, with the Ouachita Mountain range…

Its first post office opened in 1902. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 375 to 239 (-36%).

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

Timeline

Havana, 1887 to 1917

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1887On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  3. 1895Born hereJim Walkup is born here
  4. 20th century
  5. 1900Post officeThe Greenville post office opens
  6. 1902Post officeThe Greenville post office closes
  7. 1902Post officeThe Havana post office opens
  8. 1909Born hereJim Walkup is born here
  9. 1917Born hereJohnny Sain is born here
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.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
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On the map

Havana on the map, 1887 to 1966

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

Havana on the 1887 USGS mapHavana on the 1966 USGS map1887Magazine Mountain #4 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 Havana.

People over time

Havana, census by census

0100200300400500600192019401960198020002020Peak: 621

Between 239 and 621 people in every census since 1910.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

Famous people

3 famous people were born in Havana

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

See all →
Johnny SainAmerican baseball player and coach · b. 1917
J
Jim WalkupAmerican baseball player · b. 1895
J
Jim WalkupAmerican MLB pitcher · b. 1909
Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Havana’s post office has been open since 1902. Another post office, Greenville, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Greenville
1900–1902
Havana
1902–today
19001960today

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

Questions about Havana’s history

What year was Havana founded?

The Havana post office opened in 1902, 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 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) 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.