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History · McNeil

McNeil’s post office opened in 1883, and 13% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the McNeil Overpass. Below: maps from 1913 on and the census since 1890.

1883first post office
1on the National Register
13%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How McNeil began

When was McNeil founded?

1883

The McNeil post office opened in 1883, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 294 in 18902020 census: 381143 years
Founding year: the first McNeil post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about McNeil’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 McNeil are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 746 in 1960; 381 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start McNeil’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how McNeil’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

McNeil, census by census

02004006008001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 746

Peaked at 746 in 1960; 381 people lived here in 2020.

14 censuses, 1890–2020.

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

The story so far

McNeil, in brief

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

McNeil is a town in Columbia County, Arkansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, McNeil had a population of 381. The community was named after William B. McNeil, founder of the College Hill Academy.

Its first post office opened in 1883. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 516 to 381 (-26%).

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

Timeline

McNeil, 1883 to 1968

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1883Post officeThe Mc Neil post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1960CensusPopulation peaks at 746
  5. 1968On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

McNeil, decade by decade

Today1 recent
ARMap-doton-McNeil2005ARMap-doton-McNeil
On the map

McNeil on the map, 1968 to 2000

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

McNeil on the 1968 USGS mapMcNeil on the 2000 USGS map1968Magnolia 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 McNeil.

Every building

McNeil, 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.

McNeil 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

1 historic place in McNeil

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
2021
McNeil Overpass
McNeil Overpass
Structures
All 1 listings
McNeil OverpassStructure · listed 2021

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

Famous people

Famous people close to McNeil

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

See all →
Ne-YoAmerican singer and songwriter · b. 1979
Mike HuckabeeGovernor of Arkansas from 1996 to 2007 · b. 1955
Melinda DillonAmerican actress · b. 1939
Barbara HendricksAmerican operatic soprano and concert singer · b. 1948
Tommy TubervilleAmerican football coach and politician · b. 1954
David PryorAmerican politician · b. 1934

Questions about McNeil’s history

What year was McNeil founded?

The McNeil post office opened in 1883, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in McNeil?

One place: the McNeil Overpass (listed 2021).

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 (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.