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History · Hickory Ridge

Hickory Ridge’s post office opened in 1875

Most of Hickory Ridge was built recently: 10% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1968. Below: maps from 1939 on and the census since 1950.

1875first post office
0on the National Register
10%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Hickory Ridge began

When was Hickory Ridge founded?

1875

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

First census: 345 in 19502020 census: 228151 years
Founding year: the first Hickory Ridge post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Hickory Ridge’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 Hickory Ridge are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 478 in 1980; 228 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Hickory Ridge’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Hickory Ridge’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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People over time

Hickory Ridge, census by census

01002003004005001960198020002020Peak: 478

Peaked at 478 in 1980; 228 people lived here in 2020.

8 censuses, 1950–2020.

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

The story

How Hickory Ridge came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Hickory Ridge.

Read it all →

A post office in Brushy Lake Township was named Hickory Ridge on October 5, 1875. The post office was closed shortly thereafter, and the area remained very sparsely populated because the soils were too wet to grow cotton. Following the Cotton Belt railway extension through the settlement around 1882, the community saw prosperity from timber and agriculture; reestablishing the Hickory Ridge post office in 1892.

The city was racially segregated along the railroad tracks (similar to the Delmar Divide), and around 1910, white residents dynamited the black section of town, expelling all black residents. The city became completely white and evolved into sundown town through unwritten rules.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Hickory Ridge, 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 Hickory Ridge post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1939On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 1980CensusPopulation peaks at 478
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

Hickory Ridge on the map, 1939 to 1984

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

Hickory Ridge on the 1939 USGS mapHickory Ridge on the 1958 USGS mapHickory Ridge on the 1984 USGS map1939Vanndale 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 Hickory Ridge.

Famous people

Famous people close to Hickory Ridge

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

See all →
Mary SteenburgenAmerican actress, singer and songwriter · b. 1953
Alice WaltonAmerican heiress to the fortune of Wal-Mart Sto… · b. 1949
Mike BeebeGovernor of Arkansas from 2007 to 2015 · b. 1946
Jim WaltonAmerican businessman · b. 1948
J
Jim BarnesAmerican basketball player · b. 1941
Charlie RichAmerican country singer · b. 1932
Places that used to be

Places now gone

Hickory Ridge’s post office has been open since 1875.

Gone or out of use
Hickory Ridge High Schoolschool

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

Questions about Hickory Ridge’s history

What year was Hickory Ridge founded?

The Hickory Ridge post office opened in 1875, 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 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.