Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Hughes

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 · Hughes

Hughes’ post office opened in 1913, and 11% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the Hughes Water Tower. Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1939 on, and the census since 1920.

1913first post office
1on the National Register
11%homes built before 1940
3old photos & papers
3famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Hughes’ archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Hughes began

When was Hughes founded?

1913

The Hughes post office opened in 1913, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 451 in 19202020 census: 1,056113 years
Founding year: the first Hughes post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Hughes’ past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 3 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 1,960 in 1960; 1,056 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Hughes’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewHughes, Ark., street views: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Hughes, census by census

05001,0001,5002,000192019401960198020002020Peak: 1,960

Peaked at 1,960 in 1960; 1,056 people lived here in 2020.

11 censuses, 1920–2020.

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

The story so far

Hughes, in brief

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

Hughes is a city in St. Francis County, Arkansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 1,056.

Its first post office opened in 1913. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 1,441 to 1,056 (-27%).

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

Timeline

Hughes, 1900 to 1960

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1900Born hereErnest Lawlers is born here
  3. 1913Post officeThe Hughes post office opens
  4. 1926Born hereForest City Joe is born here
  5. 1927In the archiveHughes, Ark., street views
  6. 1939Born hereSonny Rodgers is born here
  7. 1939On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  8. 1960CensusPopulation peaks at 1,960
By decade

Hughes, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1920s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1920s3 items
Hughes, Ark., street views1927Hughes, Ark., street viewsHughes, Ark., street views1927Hughes, Ark., street viewsHughes, Ark., street views1927Hughes, Ark., street views
1930s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Today9 recent
Hughes AR 0082012Hughes AR 008Hughes AR 0072012Hughes AR 007Hughes AR 0062012Hughes AR 006Hughes AR 0052012Hughes AR 005Hughes AR 0042012Hughes AR 004Hughes AR 0032012Hughes AR 003Hughes AR 0022012Hughes AR 002Hughes AR 0012012Hughes AR 001ARMap-doton-Hughes2005ARMap-doton-Hughes
On the map

Hughes on the map, 1939 to 1993

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

Hughes on the 1939 USGS mapHughes on the 1954 USGS mapHughes on the 1960 USGS mapHughes on the 1975 USGS mapHughes on the 1981 USGS mapHughes on the 1993 USGS map1939Horseshoe Lake 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 Hughes.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Hughes, Ark., street views
Retake this viewHughes, Ark., street views, 1927

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Hughes’ page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Hughes

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
2006
Hughes Water Tower
Hughes Water Tower
Structures
Hughes Water TowerStructure

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

Famous people

3 famous people were born in Hughes

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

See all →
E
Ernest LawlersAmerican musician · b. 1900
Sonny RodgersMusical artist · b. 1939
F
Forest City JoeAmerican musician · b. 1926
Places that used to be

Places now gone

Hughes’s post office has been open since 1913.

Gone or out of use
Tucker Fieldairport

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

Questions about Hughes’ history

What year was Hughes founded?

The Hughes post office opened in 1913, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Hughes?

One place: the Hughes Water Tower (listed 2006).

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 Wikimedia Commons (9), the Library of Congress (3), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.