Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 24% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Most of Lamar was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1993. Its Register listing is the Cabin Creek Bridge. Below: maps from 1888 on and the census since 1900.
The Lamar post office opened in 1887, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Cabin Creek (1874), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
More historic than 24% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Lamar is more historic than 24% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
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 Lamar’s 5.6 sits near the middle of its state (36% of Arkansas towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Lamar’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Lamar. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Lamar.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Lamar yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Lamar is a city in Johnson County, Arkansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, Lamar had a population of 1,719.
Its first post office opened in 1887. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 1,605 to 1,719 (+7%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Grew from 474 people in 1900 to 1,719 in 2020, 3 times over.
13 censuses, 1900–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Lamar’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in Lamar itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Lamar’s post office has been open since 1887. Another post office, Cabin Creek, opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Lamar post office opened in 1887, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Lamar is more historic than 24% 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.
One place: the Cabin Creek Bridge (listed 2023).
2% of Lamar’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.5 points), against a typical 3.1% for an Arkansas town; the median home was built in 1993.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (1), 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.
2005
