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C+History
History · Lake City

Lake City’s post office opened in 1886, and 10% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 37% of U.S. towns · #67 of 123 in Arkansas. What drives it

Its Register listing is the St. Francis River Bridge. Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1941 on, and the census since 1900.

1886first post office
1on the National Register
10%homes built before 1940
6old photos & papers
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Lake City’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Lake City began

When was Lake City founded?

1886

The Lake City post office opened in 1886, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Sunk Land (1878), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

First census: 434 in 19002020 census: 2,326140 years

How historic is Lake City?

C+

More historic than 37% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Lake City post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Lake City’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Lake City is more historic than 37% of U.S. towns, #67 of 123 in Arkansas. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.

C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Lake City’s overall grade.
Founding era1886, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194010.2% of homes (±11.7) · typical AR town 3.1% · U.S. 8.4%B−National Register1 listing, 4.0 per 10,000 residents · typical AR town 20.5 · U.S. 2.4C+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 37%
NewerOlder
Arkansas towns of 2,500+ (123)Ahead of 46%

Arkansas towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Arkansas town has 20.5 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Lake City’s 4.0 sits below most of its state (32% of Arkansas towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C to C+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±11.7 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.

Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →

The story

How Lake City came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Lake City.

Read it all →

On April 2, 2025, a large EF3 tornado hit the western part of the city, destroying or inflicting severe damage to several homes. This area had previously been struck by an EF4 tornado that passed just northwest of the city on December 10, 2021.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Lake City, 1878 to 1998

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1878Post officeThe Sunk Land post office opens
  3. 1886Post officeThe Sunk Land post office closes
  4. 1886Post officeThe Lake City post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1941On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 1946Born hereDean Kirby is born here
  8. 1988In the archiveGENERAL VIEW OF VERTICAL LIFT SPAN BRIDGE FROM ROADBED, LOOKING NORTHEAST - St. Francis R…
  9. 1998Born hereGavin Stone is born here
By decade

Lake City, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1980s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1980s6 items
GENERAL VIEW OF VERTICAL LIFT SPAN BRIDGE FROM ROADBED, LOOKING NORTHEAST - St. Francis River Bridge, Spanning St. Fran…1988GENERAL VIEW OF VERTICAL LIFT SPAN BRIDGE FROM ROADBE…St. Francis River Bridge1988St. Francis River BridgeTHREE-QUARTER VIEW OF BRIDGE, LOOKING EAST - St. Francis River Bridge, Spanning St. Francis River at State Highway 18, …1988THREE-QUARTER VIEW OF BRIDGE, LOOKING EAST - St. Fran…THREE-QUARTER VIEW OF BRIDGE, LOOKING NORTHEAST - St. Francis River Bridge, Spanning St. Francis River at State Highway…1988THREE-QUARTER VIEW OF BRIDGE, LOOKING NORTHEAST - St.…VIEW OF LIFT SPAN, LOOKING NORTHEAST - St. Francis River Bridge, Spanning St. Francis River at State Highway 18, Lake C…1988VIEW OF LIFT SPAN, LOOKING NORTHEAST - St. Francis Ri…VIEW OF LIFT SPAN, LOOKING NORTHWEST - St. Francis River Bridge, Spanning St. Francis River at State Highway 18, Lake C…1988VIEW OF LIFT SPAN, LOOKING NORTHWEST - St. Francis Ri…
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
Today12 recent
Lake City AR 0132011Lake City AR 013Lake City AR 0102011Lake City AR 010Lake City AR 0092011Lake City AR 009Lake City AR 0082011Lake City AR 008Lake City AR 0072011Lake City AR 007Lake City AR 0062011Lake City AR 006Lake City AR 0052011Lake City AR 005Lake City AR 0042011Lake City AR 004Lake City AR 0032011Lake City AR 003Lake City AR 0022011Lake City AR 002Lake City AR 0012011Lake City AR 001ARMap-doton-Lake City2005ARMap-doton-Lake City
On the map

Lake City on the map, 1941 to 1983

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

Lake City on the 1941 USGS mapLake City on the 1956 USGS mapLake City on the 1983 USGS map1941Leachville 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 Lake City.

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.

GENERAL VIEW OF VERTICAL LIFT SPAN BRIDGE FROM ROADBED, LOOKING NORTHEAST - St. Francis River Bridge, Spanning St. Fran…
Retake this viewGENERAL VIEW OF VERTICAL LIFT SPAN BRIDGE FROM ROADBED, LOOKING NORTHEAST - St. Francis River Bridge, Spanning St. Fran…, 1988

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Lake City

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
1990
St. Francis River Bridge
St. Francis River Bridge
Structures
St. Francis River BridgeStructure

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

People over time

Lake City, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,50019001920194019601980200020202,326

Grew from 434 people in 1900 to 2,326 in 2020, 5 times over.

13 censuses, 1900–2020.

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

Famous people

2 famous people were born in Lake City

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

See all →
Gavin StoneAmerican baseball player · b. 1998
Dean KirbyAmerican politician · b. 1946
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Lake City’s post office has been open since 1886. Another post office, Sunk Land, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Sunk Land
1878–1886
Lake City
1886–today
18701950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Southland
Gone or out of use
Refuge Schoolschool
1cemetery inside Lake City
Lake City

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

Help out

Finish Lake City’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewGENERAL VIEW OF VERTICAL LIFT SPAN BRID…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Questions about Lake City’s history

What year was Lake City founded?

The Lake City post office opened in 1886, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Lake City rank for history?

Lake City is more historic than 37% of U.S. towns, #67 of 123 in Arkansas. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.

What is on the National Register in Lake City?

One place: the St. Francis River Bridge (listed 1990).

How old are the homes in Lake City?

10% of Lake City’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±11.7 points), against a typical 3.1% for an Arkansas town; the median home was built in 1985.

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).

From Wikimedia Commons (18), 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.