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History · Midland

Midland’s post office opened in 1904, and 56% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1887 on and the census since 1910.

1904first post office
0on the National Register
56%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Midland began

When was Midland founded?

1904

The Midland post office opened in 1904, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 639 in 19102020 census: 227122 years
Founding year: the first Midland post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Midland’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 Midland are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18875 editions of the USGS map, 1887 to 1987. Watch Midland change.Old housesHalf of Midland’s homes were built before 1938.Boom and bustPeaked at 787 in 1920; 227 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Midland’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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On the map

Midland on the map, 1887 to 1987

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

Midland on the 1887 USGS mapMidland on the 1948 USGS mapMidland on the 1951 USGS mapMidland on the 1978 USGS mapMidland on the 1987 USGS map1887Greenwood 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 Midland.

The story so far

Midland, in brief

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

Midland is a town in Sebastian County, Arkansas, United States. It is part of the Fort Smith, Arkansas-Oklahoma Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of the 2020 census, Midland had a population of 227.

Its first post office opened in 1904. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 325 to 227 (-30%).

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

Timeline

Midland, 1887 to 1920

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1887On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  3. 20th century
  4. 1904Post officeThe Midland post office opens
  5. 1920CensusPopulation peaks at 787
By decade

Midland, decade by decade

Today1 recent
ARMap-doton-Midland2005ARMap-doton-Midland
People over time

Midland, census by census

0200400600800192019401960198020002020Peak: 787

Peaked at 787 in 1920; 227 people lived here in 2020.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

Questions about Midland’s history

What year was Midland founded?

The Midland post office opened in 1904, 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 Wikimedia Commons (1), 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.