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History · Mellwood

Mellwood’s post office opened in 1906

Below: 1 old photo or paper and maps from 1930 on.

1906first post office
0on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Mellwood’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Mellwood began

When was Mellwood founded?

1906

The Mellwood post office opened in 1906, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 21120 years
Founding year: the first Mellwood post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Mellwood’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 Mellwood’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewLaconia Circle: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story so far

Mellwood, in brief

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

Mellwood is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Phillips County, Arkansas, United States. Mellwood is located on Arkansas Highway 44, 8.5 miles (13.7 km) southwest of Elaine. Mellwood has a post office with ZIP code 72367. It was first listed as a CDP in the 2020 census with a population of 21. The lynching of Owen Flemming occurred near Mellwood on June 8, 1927.

Its first post office opened in 1906.

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

Timeline

Mellwood, 1906 to 1930

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1906Post officeThe Mellwood post office opens
  3. 1927In the archiveLaconia Circle
  4. 1930On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Mellwood, decade by decade

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

1920s1 item
Laconia Circle1927Laconia Circle
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
On the map

Mellwood on the map, 1930 to 1982

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

Mellwood on the 1930 USGS mapMellwood on the 1954 USGS mapMellwood on the 1962 USGS mapMellwood on the 1982 USGS map1930Mellwood 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 Mellwood.

Then & 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.

Laconia Circle
Retake this viewLaconia Circle, 1927

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Mellwood’s page.

Retake this view · +15
Famous people

Famous people close to Mellwood

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

See all →
John Lee HookerAmerican blues musician (1912 or 1917–2001) · b. 1917
Sam CookeAmerican singer and songwriter · b. 1931
Ike TurnerAmerican musician · b. 1931
Rick RossAmerican rapper and record executive · b. 1976
L
Levon HelmAmerican musician · b. 1940
Conway TwittyAmerican country singer · b. 1933
Places that used to be

Places now gone

Mellwood’s post office has been open since 1906.

Gone or out of use
Mellwood Schoolschool

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

Questions about Mellwood’s history

What year was Mellwood founded?

The Mellwood post office opened in 1906, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

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 the Library of Congress (1), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.