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History · Leslie

Leslie’s post office opened in 1887, and 15% of its homes were built before 1940

15 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 11 buildings. Below: 4 old photos and papers, maps from 1892 on, and the census since 1910.

1887first post office
15on the National Register
15%homes built before 1940
4old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Leslie’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Leslie began

When was Leslie founded?

1887

The Leslie post office opened in 1887, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 1,898 in 19102020 census: 375139 years
Founding year: the first Leslie post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Leslie’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 4 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18924 editions of the USGS map, 1892 to 1983. Watch Leslie change.Landmarks on the Register15 places on the National Register.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Leslie’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Leslie’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewLeslie, Ark: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Leslie on the map, 1892 to 1983

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

Leslie on the 1892 USGS mapLeslie on the 1901 USGS mapLeslie on the 1963 USGS mapLeslie on the 1983 USGS map1892Marshall 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 Leslie.

On the National Register

15 historic places in Leslie

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
15
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
28
each building in a district counts
first listed
1992
Missouri and North Arkansas Depot-Leslie
Missouri and North Arkansas Depot-LeslieColumbus Hatchett HouseFarmers Bank BuildingLeslie-Rolen HouseTreat Commercial BuildingAmerican Legion Post No. 131, built 1935Dr. Clay HouseDr. Cleveland Hollabaugh HouseDr. J. O. Cotton HouseGuy Bartley HouseJ. C. Miller HouseMeek BuildingLeslie Commercial Historic DistrictDr. Robinson HouseCove Creek Bridge
BuildingsDistrictsStructures
Missouri and North Arkansas Depot-LeslieBuilding
Columbus Hatchett HouseBuilding
Farmers Bank BuildingBuilding
Leslie-Rolen HouseBuilding
Treat Commercial BuildingBuilding
American Legion Post No. 131Built 1935
Dr. Clay HouseBuilding
Dr. Cleveland Hollabaugh HouseBuilding
All 15 listings
Dr. J. O. Cotton HouseBuilding · listed 1993Guy Bartley HouseBuilding · listed 1993J. C. Miller HouseBuilding · listed 1993Meek BuildingBuilding · listed 2000Leslie Commercial Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 2017Dr. Robinson HouseBuilding · listed 1993Cove Creek BridgeStructure · listed 2024

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

The story

How Leslie came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Leslie.

Read it all →

In 1819, Arkansas was separated from Missouri, but was still included in what is now Oklahoma. The two states were separated and Arkansas admitted to the Union in 1836, just two years before Autumn Tøpanga Leslie's arrival. The Native Americans were peaceful and cooperative in Wiley's Cove. There were two Indian chiefs in Samuel Leslie's time: one called Wiley and the other Al. The Leslie area was called Wiley's Cove after Chief Wiley, and Al's Cove was in the Rumley area. Samuel built a small house on land in which he lived temporarily while the Indians moved aside, and then he built a two-story southern type home with a separate kitchen and slave quarters. This house was located where the Legion Hut now stands; the well at the north corner of the hut was the original well for the Samuel Leslie homestead. He also owned a store and trading post nearby. It is said he gave away some of th…

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Leslie, 1887 to 1935

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1887Post officeThe Leslie post office opens
  3. 1892On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  4. 20th century
  5. 1909In the archiveLeslie, Ark
  6. 1913In the archiveLeslie Ice, Lighting & Power Plant
  7. 1935BuiltAmerican Legion Post No. 131 is built
By decade

Leslie, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1900s to the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s–1910s4 items
Leslie, Ark1909Leslie, ArkPivot Rock, near Leslie1909Pivot Rock, near LeslieLeslie Ice, Lighting & Power Plant1913Leslie Ice, Lighting & Power PlantM & N.A. Depot1913M & N.A. Depot
1920s–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
Today13 recent
Leslie, AR 0092014Leslie, AR 009Leslie, AR 0082014Leslie, AR 008Leslie, AR 0072014Leslie, AR 007Leslie, AR 0062014Leslie, AR 006Leslie, AR 0052014Leslie, AR 005Leslie, AR 0042014Leslie, AR 004Leslie, AR 0032014Leslie, AR 003Leslie, AR 0022014Leslie, AR 002Leslie, AR 0012014Leslie, AR 001Highway 66 sign assembly2014Highway 66 sign assemblyHighway 66 ends at Highway 65 in2014Highway 66 ends at Highway 65 inAmerican Legion Post -1312014American Legion Post -131ARMap-doton-Leslie2005ARMap-doton-Leslie
Every building

Leslie, building by building, 1914–1919

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.

Leslie fire insurance map, 1914, sheet 11914Sheet 1 of 4
Edition
BrickWoodStone

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

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.

Leslie, Ark
Retake this viewLeslie, Ark, 1909

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Leslie, census by census

05001,0001,5002,000192019401960198020002020Peak: 1,898

Between 375 and 1,898 people in every census since 1910.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Leslie

Nobody well known was born in Leslie itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Dick PowellAmerican actor · b. 1904
J
John HargisAmerican swimmer · b. 1975
Elton BrittCountry music guitarist and singer-songwriter · b. 1912
Davis Tutt19th-century American Old West gambler · b. 1836
Conlan CarterAmerican actor and athletic pole vaulter · b. 1934
B
Bobby BurnettAmerican football player · b. 1943

Questions about Leslie’s history

What year was Leslie founded?

The Leslie post office opened in 1887, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Leslie?

15 listings: 13 buildings, among them the Missouri and North Arkansas Depot-Leslie (listed 1992, the first), 1 historic district, the Leslie Commercial Historic District, with 11 contributing buildings, and 1 structure. 28 historic buildings in all.

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 (13), the Library of Congress (4), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (15), Wikipedia, 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.