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History · Hector

Hector’s post office opened in 1888

Most of Hector was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1976. Below: maps from 1889 on and the census since 1970.

1888first post office
0on the National Register
4%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Hector began

When was Hector founded?

1888

The Hector post office opened in 1888, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 387 in 19702020 census: 411138 years
Founding year: the first Hector post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Hector’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 Hector are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18893 editions of the USGS map, 1889 to 1989. Watch Hector change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Hector’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Hector’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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On the map

Hector on the map, 1889 to 1989

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

Hector on the 1889 USGS mapHector on the 1962 USGS mapHector on the 1989 USGS map1889Morrilton No 2 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 Hector.

The story

How Hector came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Hector.

Read it all →

The community was named for President Grover Cleveland's dog by the President himself when postal officials grew frustrated with the residents' indecision on whether to name the community Avondale or The Plain.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Hector, decade by decade

Today2 recent
Terry Small's Animal Mortality Facility In-Vessel Composter (20190626-NRCS-LSC-0702)2019Terry Small's Animal Mortality Facility In-Vessel Com…ARMap-doton-Hector2005ARMap-doton-Hector
People over time

Hector, census by census

0100200300400500198020002020Peak: 506

Between 387 and 506 people in every census since 1970.

6 censuses, 1970–2020.

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

Questions about Hector’s history

What year was Hector founded?

The Hector post office opened in 1888, 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 Wikimedia Commons (2), Wikipedia, 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.