The story
Read it all →How Lowell came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Lowell.
Lowell was platted in 1881. A post office has been in operation at Lowell since 1881.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
C−History
History · Lowell
Lowell’s post office opened in 1881, and 3 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 22% of U.S. towns · #87 of 123 in Arkansas. What drives it
Most of Lowell was built recently: 0.7% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2000. Its Register listings are the Pinkston-Mays Store Building, the Springfield to Fayetteville Road-Cross Hollow Segment and the Green Barn. Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1899 on, and the census since 1910.
1881first post office
3on the National Register
0.7%homes built before 1940
3old photos & papers
Quick answers
How Lowell began
When was Lowell founded?
1881
The Lowell post office opened in 1881, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Bloomington (1858) and Colville (1879), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
First census: 193 in 19102020 census: 9,839145 years
How historic is Lowell?
C−
What drives the grade ↓More historic than 22% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Lowell post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Lowell’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Lowell is more historic than 22% of U.S. towns, #87 of 123 in Arkansas. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Lowell’s overall grade.
Founding era1881, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19400.7% of homes (±0.7) · typical AR town 3.1% · U.S. 8.4%DNational Register3 listings, 2.8 per 10,000 residents · typical AR town 20.5 · U.S. 2.4B−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 22%
NewerOlder
Arkansas towns of 2,500+ (123)Ahead of 30%
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 Lowell’s 2.8 sits below most of its state (28% of Arkansas towns have fewer) while its 3 listings outnumber those of 65% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to C. The pre-1940 share (±0.7 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 Lowell’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 3 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18993 editions of the USGS map, 1899 to 1976. Watch Lowell change.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Lowell, and 2 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Lowell’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Lowell’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.On the map
Lowell on the map, 1899 to 1976
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Lowell. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1899Fayetteville sheet · 1:125,000U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Lowell.
Places that used to be
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Lowell’s post office has been open since 1881. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Bloomington
Colville
Lowell
18501940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
ColvilleLiberty
Gone or out of use
Center Corner SchoolschoolUnion Schoolschool
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Lowell
Goad SpringsMount Hebron
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Timeline
Lowell, 1858 to 1984
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1858Post officeThe Bloomington post office opens
- 1879Post officeThe Colville post office opens
- 1881Post officeThe Bloomington post office closes
- 1881Post officeThe Lowell post office opens
- 1899
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey - 20th century
- 1904Post officeThe Colville post office closes
- 1909
In the archivePanorama of Lowell, Ariz - 1984
In the archive1941 Cafe sign
By decade
Lowell, decade by decade
2 decades in the archive, from the 1900s to the 1980s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
1900s1 item
1910s–1970snothing 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 album1980s2 items
19841990snothing 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
2015
2014
2014
2014
2014
2014
2013
2005Then & 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.
Retake this viewPanorama of Lowell, Ariz, 1909
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Lowell’s page.
Retake this view · +15On the National Register
3 historic places in Lowell
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. Boundary changes and added documentation are counted with their listing.
places listed
3
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
3
each building in a district counts
first listed
1988
Pinkston-Mays Store Building
BuildingsStructures
All 3 listings
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
People over time
Lowell, census by census
Grew from 193 people in 1910 to 9,839 in 2020, more than tenfold.
12 censuses, 1910–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Lowell’s Wikipedia page.
Famous people
See all →Famous people close to Lowell
Nobody well known was born in Lowell itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Stories next door
History across the town line
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Questions about Lowell’s history
What year was Lowell founded?
The Lowell post office opened in 1881, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Lowell rank for history?
Lowell is more historic than 22% of U.S. towns, #87 of 123 in Arkansas. 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 Lowell?
Three places: the Pinkston-Mays Store Building (listed 1988), the Springfield to Fayetteville Road-Cross Hollow Segment (2005) and the Green Barn (1988).
How old are the homes in Lowell?
0.7% of Lowell’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 3.1% for an Arkansas town; the median home was built in 2000.
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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).
From Wikimedia Commons (11), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (3), Wikipedia, 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.