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History · Knobel

Knobel’s post office opened in 1874, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

Most of Knobel was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2002. Its Register listing is the Sink-Crumb Post No. 72 American Legion Hut. Below: maps from 1935 on and the census since 1900.

1874first post office
1on the National Register
2%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Knobel began

When was Knobel founded?

1874

The Knobel post office opened in 1874, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 410 in 19002020 census: 147152 years
Founding year: the first Knobel post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Knobel’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 Knobel are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 503 in 1980; 147 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Knobel’s collection

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

Knobel, census by census

01002003004005001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 503

Peaked at 503 in 1980; 147 people lived here in 2020.

13 censuses, 1900–2020.

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

The story

How Knobel came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Knobel.

Read it all →

Knobel was established in the 1870s as a stop along the St. Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern Railway. A post office with the name “Knobel” was operating in the town by 1874. In 1884, the railroad constructed a large hotel, Knobel House, and a town was platted shortly afterward. Knobel incorporated in 1896. On January 21, 1999, a violent F4 tornado hit areas around the town.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Knobel, 1874 to 1980

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1874Post officeThe Knobel post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1935On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 1950Born hereBarbara Fairchild is born here
  6. 1980CensusPopulation peaks at 503
By decade

Knobel, decade by decade

Today9 recent
Knobel, AR 0042026Knobel, AR 004Knobel, AR 0032026Knobel, AR 003Knobel, AR 0022026Knobel, AR 002Knobel, AR 0012026Knobel, AR 001Knobel-water-tower-ar2020Knobel-water-tower-arKnobel-RR-tracks-ar2020Knobel-RR-tracks-arKnobel-Maple-Street-ar2020Knobel-Maple-Street-arKnobel-Church-of-Christ-ar2020Knobel-Church-of-Christ-arARMap-doton-Knobel2005ARMap-doton-Knobel
On the map

Knobel on the map, 1935 to 1964

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

Knobel on the 1935 USGS mapKnobel on the 1941 USGS mapKnobel on the 1964 USGS map1935Knobel 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 Knobel.

On the National Register

1 historic place in Knobel

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
2008
Sink-Crumb Post No. 72 American Legion Hut
Sink-Crumb Post No. 72 American Legion Hut
Buildings
Sink-Crumb Post No. 72 American Legion HutBuilding

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

Questions about Knobel’s history

What year was Knobel founded?

The Knobel post office opened in 1874, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Knobel?

One place: the Sink-Crumb Post No. 72 American Legion Hut (listed 2008).

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), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, 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.