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C−History
History · Marmaduke

Marmaduke’s post office opened in 1885

More historic than 24% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Most of Marmaduke was built recently: 9% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1981. Below: 1 old photo or paper from 1921 on.

1885first post office
0on the National Register
9%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Brian Stansberry · CC BY 4.0
Quick answers

How Marmaduke began

When was Marmaduke founded?

1885

The Marmaduke post office opened in 1885, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1909.

2020 census: 1,212141 years

How historic is Marmaduke?

C−

More historic than 24% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Marmaduke post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1909.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Marmaduke’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Marmaduke is more historic than 24% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.

C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Marmaduke’s overall grade.
Founding era1885, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19409.1% of homes (±14.1) · typical AR town 3.1% · U.S. 8.4%C+National RegisterNo listings counted · typical AR town 20.5 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 24%
NewerOlder

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 Marmaduke’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (11% of Arkansas towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% 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 (±14.1 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata gives 1909.

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 Marmaduke’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 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Marmaduke’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Marmaduke came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Marmaduke.

Read it all →

The town of Marmaduke was named for Confederate Major General John Sappington Marmaduke, remembered for the Poison Spring massacre and who later served as governor of Missouri. Marmaduke was said to have established a camp for his soldiers near the site of the present town. The Texas and St. Louis Railroad was built through the area in 1882.

Marmaduke was incorporated on August 2, 1909, and, by 1914, had expanded to include two drugstores, three banks, three restaurants, a Methodist and a Southern Baptist church, two barber shops, a hotel, a boarding house, and two dime stores. The primary employers at the time were a sawmill, a lumber mill, a stave mill, and large and cut timber distributors.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Marmaduke, 1885 to 1924

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1885Post officeThe Marmaduke post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1921In the archiveSanborn Fire Insurance Map from Marmaduke, Greene County, Arkansas. LOC sanborn00302 003-2
  5. 1924Born hereJerry Fahr is born here
By decade

Marmaduke, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1920s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1920s1 item
Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from Marmaduke, Greene County, Arkansas. LOC sanborn00302 003-21921Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from Marmaduke, Greene Cou…Map
1930s–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
Today5 recent
Detail, Marmaduke-historical-marker-ar (cropped)2017Detail, Marmaduke-historical-marker-ar (cropped)Marmaduke, AR storm 2006 John Deere 595D on clean up2006Marmaduke, AR storm 2006 John Deere 595D on clean upFEMA - 23782 - Photograph by Win Henderson taken on 04-08-2006 in Arkansas2006FEMA - 23782 - Photograph by Win Henderson taken on 0…(Severe Storms and Tornadoes) Marmaduke, Ar. -- A volunteer cleans up rubble from the open area that is left after a to…2006(Severe Storms and Tornadoes) Marmaduke, Ar. -- A vol…ARMap-doton-Marmaduke2005ARMap-doton-Marmaduke

Questions about Marmaduke’s history

What year was Marmaduke founded?

The Marmaduke post office opened in 1885, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1909.

How does Marmaduke rank for history?

Marmaduke is more historic than 24% of U.S. towns. 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.

How old are the homes in Marmaduke?

9% of Marmaduke’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±14.1 points), against a typical 3.1% for an Arkansas town; the median home was built in 1981.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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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 (6), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.