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Lafayette County Courthouse, Lewisville, AR IMG 1464Photo: Billy Hathorn at en.wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0
–Not graded
History · Lewisville

Lewisville’s post office opened in 1846, and 14% of its homes were built before 1940

6 places in town are on the National Register. Below: maps from 1908 on and the census since 1880.

1846first post office
6on the National Register
14%homes built before 1940
3famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Lewisville began

When was Lewisville founded?

1846

The Lewisville post office opened in 1846, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, La Fayette Court House (1828) and New Lewisville (1890), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

First census: 301 in 18802020 census: 915180 years
Founding year: the first Lewisville post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Lewisville’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 Lewisville are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 1,653 in 1970; 915 people lived here in 2020.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Lewisville, and 1 old place names are still on the map.Landmarks on the Register6 places on the National Register.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Lewisville’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Lewisville’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

Lewisville, census by census

02004006008001,0001,2001,4001,6001,80018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 1,653

Peaked at 1,653 in 1970; 915 people lived here in 2020.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

Lewisville’s post office has been open since 1846. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

La Fayette Court House
1828–1846
Lewisville
1846–today
New Lewisville
1890–1903
18201920today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Old Town
1cemetery inside Lewisville
Old Lewisville

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

The story so far

Lewisville, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Lewisville yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Lewisville is a city in Lafayette County, Arkansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, Lewisville had a population of 915. It is the county seat of Lafayette County.

Its first post office opened in 1846. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 1,280 to 915 (-29%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Lewisville, 1828 to 1970

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1828Post officeThe La Fayette Court House post office opens
  3. 1846Post officeThe La Fayette Court House post office closes
  4. 1846Post officeThe Lewisville post office opens
  5. 1862Born hereMax Wellborn is born here
  6. 1872Born hereTilman Bacon Parks is born here
  7. 1890Post officeThe New Lewisville post office opens
  8. 20th century
  9. 1903Post officeThe New Lewisville post office closes
  10. 1929Born hereMiriam Byrd-Nethery is born here
  11. 1952On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  12. 1970CensusPopulation peaks at 1,653
By decade

Lewisville, decade by decade

Today10 recent
An old, corner store in a downtown block2020An old, corner store in a downtown blockPart of a downtown block2020Part of a downtown blockTriplett Company Building2016Triplett Company BuildingPeoples Bank and Loan Building2016Peoples Bank and Loan BuildingP.D. Burton House2016P.D. Burton HouseFirst Methodist Church2016First Methodist ChurchBurges in Lewisville, AR IMG 83942011Burges in Lewisville, AR IMG 8394Lafayette County Courthouse, Lewisville, AR IMG 14642008Lafayette County Courthouse, Lewisville, AR IMG 1464Historic building in Lewisville, AR IMG 14652008Historic building in Lewisville, AR IMG 1465Burge's2008Burge's
On the map

Lewisville on the map, 1952 to 1978

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

Lewisville on the 1952 USGS mapLewisville on the 1978 USGS map1952Lewisville sheet · 1:24,000

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

Every building

Lewisville, building by building, 1908–1913

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 year, then a sheet.

Lewisville fire insurance map, 1908, sheet 11908Sheet 1 of 2
Edition
BrickWoodStone

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

On the National Register

6 historic places in Lewisville

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

places listed
6
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
8
each building in a district counts
first listed
1978
King-Whatley Building
King-Whatley BuildingLafayette County CourthouseFirst Methodist ChurchPeoples Bank and Loan BuildingTriplett Company BuildingP.D. Burton House
Buildings
King-Whatley BuildingBuilding
Lafayette County CourthouseBuilding
First Methodist ChurchBuilding
Peoples Bank and Loan BuildingBuilding
Triplett Company BuildingBuilding
P.D. Burton HouseBuilding

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

Famous people

3 famous people were born in Lewisville

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

See all →
M
Miriam Byrd-NetheryAmerican film actress · b. 1929
Tilman Bacon ParksAmerican politician · b. 1872
Max WellbornFirst chairman of the board and a governor of t… · b. 1862

Questions about Lewisville’s history

What year was Lewisville founded?

The Lewisville post office opened in 1846, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Lewisville?

6 listings: 6 buildings, among them the King-Whatley Building (listed 1978, the first). 8 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 (8), the Library of Congress (2), Wikidata (5), the National Register of Historic Places (6), 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.