Most of Lake Village was built recently: 6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1981. 10 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 23 buildings. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1908 on, and the census since 1910.
Founding year: the first Lake Village post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Lake Village’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Lake Village is more historic than 55% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Lake Village’s overall grade.
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 Village’s 145 sits above most of its state (93% of Arkansas towns have fewer) while its 31 historic buildings outnumber those of 82% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C to B+. The pre-1940 share (±2.9 points) is firm at this size. 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 →
What stands out about Lake Village’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
According to legend, the remains of Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto might be buried under Lake Chicot. His expedition visited Guachoya, a native village along the edge of the lake, which is recorded as the site of his death (see list of sites and peoples visited by the Hernando de Soto Expedition).
Lake Village was later founded at this location by European-American colonists. The area was developed for cotton plantations, and the county seat was the center of government and county trading. The antebellum years were when the county generated its greatest wealth, at least for planters.
Solo pilot Charles Lindbergh made his first nighttime flight in April 1923 over Lake Chicot and Lake Village.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Lake Village. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1936Lake Village 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 Village.
Every building
Lake Village, building by building, 1908–1917
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
Lake Village’s post office has been open since 1857.
Hamlets and corners on the map
Chanticleer
1cemetery inside Lake Village
Woodson Temple
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Lake Village’s history
What year was Lake Village founded?
The Lake Village post office opened in 1857, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Lake Village rank for history?
Lake Village is more historic than 55% of U.S. towns. 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 Village?
10 listings: 6 buildings, among them the Carlton House (listed 1991, the first), 1 historic district, the Lake Village Commercial Historic District, with 23 contributing buildings, 1 site, 1 structure, and 1 object. 31 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Lake Village?
6% of Lake Village’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.9 points), against a typical 3.1% for an Arkansas town; the median home was built in 1981.
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 (8), Wikidata (7), the National Register of Historic Places (10), 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), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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