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C−History
History · Manila

Manila’s post office opened in 1901, and 2 of its places are on the National Register

More historic than 17% of U.S. towns · #95 of 123 in Arkansas. What drives it

Most of Manila was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1983. Its Register listings are the Herman Davis Memorial and the Jonesboro, Lake City & Eastern Railroad Depot. Below: maps from 1913 on and the census since 1910.

1901first post office
2on the National Register
3%homes built before 1940
4famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Manila began

When was Manila founded?

1901

The Manila post office opened in 1901, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Cinda (1888), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

First census: 562 in 19102020 census: 3,682125 years

How historic is Manila?

C−

More historic than 17% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Manila post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Manila’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Manila is more historic than 17% of U.S. towns, #95 of 123 in Arkansas. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.

C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Manila’s overall grade.
Founding era1901, from the first post office: founded 1900–1944, an older era than 9% of U.S. townsDHomes built before 19403.1% of homes (±3.7) · typical AR town 3.1% · U.S. 8.4%C−National Register2 listings, 5.4 per 10,000 residents · typical AR town 20.5 · U.S. 2.4B−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 17%
NewerOlder
Arkansas towns of 2,500+ (123)Ahead of 23%

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 Manila’s 5.4 sits near the middle of its state (36% of Arkansas towns have fewer) while its 2 listings outnumber those of 60% 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 is a Census survey estimate (±3.7 points). 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 Manila’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 Manila are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Manila’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Manila’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
The story

How Manila came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Manila.

Read it all →

Manila has its origins in a herdsman's camp established by John Needham in the late 1860s. By the late 1890s, a community known as "Cinda" (named after an early postmaster's sister) had developed in the area. In 1901, this community incorporated as a city, and chose the name "Manila" to honor Commodore George Dewey's 1898 victory in the Battle of Manila Bay during the Spanish–American War.

In the early 1900s, the Jonesboro, Lake City and Eastern Railroad (later part of the St. Louis-San Francisco Railway system) extended a rail line to Manila. In 1910, the Manila Depot was constructed by the railroad. This train station now serves as a museum, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Manila, 1888 to 1953

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1888Born hereHerman Davis is born here
  3. 1888Post officeThe Cinda post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1901Post officeThe Cinda post office closes
  6. 1901Post officeThe Manila post office opens
  7. 1928Born hereMel Wright is born here
  8. 1941On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  9. 1942Born hereCloria Brown is born here
  10. 1946Born hereWayne Wagner is born here
  11. 1953BuiltHerman Davis Memorial is built
By decade

Manila, decade by decade

Today2 recent
Manila-Depot-Museum-ar2018Manila-Depot-Museum-arARMap-doton-Manila2005ARMap-doton-Manila
On the map

Manila on the map, 1941 to 1983

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

Manila on the 1941 USGS mapManila on the 1956 USGS mapManila on the 1983 USGS map1941Manila sheet · 1:62,500

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

Every building

Manila, 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.

Manila 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.

On the National Register

2 historic places in Manila

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

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
first listed
1995
Herman Davis Memorial
Herman Davis Memorial, built 1953Jonesboro, Lake City & Eastern Railroad Depot
BuildingsSites
Herman Davis MemorialBuilt 1953
Jonesboro, Lake City & Eastern Railroad DepotBuilding

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

People over time

Manila, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,5004,0001920194019601980200020203,682

Grew from 562 people in 1910 to 3,682 in 2020, 6 times over.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

Famous people

4 famous people were born in Manila

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

See all →
H
Herman DavisSoldier · b. 1888
Mel WrightAmerican baseball pitcher-coach · b. 1928
C
Cloria BrownAmerican politician · b. 1942
W
Wayne WagnerArkansas politician · b. 1946
Places that used to be

Lost post offices and places now gone

Manila’s post office has been open since 1901. Another post office, Cinda, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Cinda
1888–1901
Manila
1901–today
18801950today
Gone or out of use
Buffalo Island Community HospitalhospitalNew Hope Schoolschool

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

Questions about Manila’s history

What year was Manila founded?

The Manila post office opened in 1901, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Manila rank for history?

Manila is more historic than 17% of U.S. towns, #95 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 Manila?

Two places: the Herman Davis Memorial (listed 1995) and the Jonesboro, Lake City & Eastern Railroad Depot (1997).

How old are the homes in Manila?

3% of Manila’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.7 points), against a typical 3.1% for an Arkansas town; the median home was built in 1983.

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).

From Wikimedia Commons (2), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (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.