Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Houston

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
–Not graded
History · Houston

Houston’s post office opened in 1878, and 31% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the Houston Methodist Episcopal Church, South. Below: maps from 1961 on and the census since 1920.

1878first post office
1on the National Register
31%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Houston began

When was Houston founded?

1878

The Houston post office opened in 1878, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 403 in 19202020 census: 143148 years
Founding year: the first Houston post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

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

Start Houston’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Houston’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

Houston, in brief

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

Houston is a town in Perry County, Arkansas, United States. The population was 143 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Little Rock–North Little Rock–Conway Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Its first post office opened in 1878. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 173 to 143 (-17%).

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

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.
Add from your album
On the map

Houston on the map, 1961 to 1990

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

Houston on the 1961 USGS mapHouston on the 1981 USGS mapHouston on the 1990 USGS map1961Houston sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Houston.

On the National Register

1 historic place in Houston

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1994
Houston Methodist Episcopal Church, South
Houston Methodist Episcopal Church, South
Buildings
Houston Methodist Episcopal Church, SouthBuilding

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Houston, census by census

0100200300400192019401960198020002020Peak: 403

Between 143 and 403 people in every census since 1920.

11 censuses, 1920–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Houston

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

See all →
Rebecca RoanhorseAmerican speculative fiction author · b. 1971
Ray ThorntonAmerican politician · b. 1928
A
Archie ClarkAmerican basketball player · b. 1941
Shekinna StricklenAmerican basketball player · b. 1990
J
Jimmy OliverAmerican basketball player · b. 1969
M
Maurice JeffersAmerican basketball player · b. 1979

Questions about Houston’s history

What year was Houston founded?

The Houston post office opened in 1878, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Houston?

One place: the Houston Methodist Episcopal Church, South (listed 1994).

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 the National Register of Historic Places (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.