Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Lead Hill

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 · Lead Hill

Lead Hill’s post office opened in 1857

Most of Lead Hill was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1979. Below: maps from 1893 on and the census since 1880.

1857first post office
0on the National Register
5%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Lead Hill began

When was Lead Hill founded?

1857

The Lead Hill post office opened in 1857, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 253 in 18802020 census: 274169 years
Founding year: the first Lead Hill post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Lead Hill’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 Lead Hill are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Shrank, then grewLost two-thirds of its people between 1890 and 1960, then more than doubled.On the map since 18934 editions of the USGS map, 1893 to 1985. Watch Lead Hill change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Lead Hill’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Lead Hill’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

Lead Hill, census by census

010020030018801900192019401960198020002020333 in 1890Low: 102

Lost two-thirds of its people between 1890 and 1960, then more than doubled.

13 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

On the map

Lead Hill on the map, 1893 to 1985

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

Lead Hill on the 1893 USGS mapLead Hill on the 1903 USGS mapLead Hill on the 1929 USGS mapLead Hill on the 1985 USGS map1893Yellville sheet · 1:125,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Lead Hill.

The story

How Lead Hill came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Lead Hill.

Read it all →

Lead Hill was named from valuable deposits of lead in the vicinity.

The unfinished ruins of the Ozark Medieval Fortress, built between 2009-2012, are located in Lead Hill.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Lead Hill, 1857 to 1930

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1857Post officeThe Lead Hill post office opens
  3. 1890CensusPopulation peaks at 333
  4. 1893On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 20th century
  6. 1930Born hereRita Riggs is born here
By decade

Lead Hill, decade by decade

Today2 recent
Lead Hill High School View2024Lead Hill High School ViewARMap-doton-Lead Hill2005ARMap-doton-Lead Hill
Every building

Lead Hill, building by building, 1913

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 sheet.

Lead Hill fire insurance map, 1913, sheet 11913Sheet 1 of 1
Sheets
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

Questions about Lead Hill’s history

What year was Lead Hill founded?

The Lead Hill post office opened in 1857, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

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 (2), 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.