Mountain View’s post office opened in 1874, and 15 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 34% of U.S. towns · #72 of 123 in Arkansas. What drives it
Most of Mountain View was built recently: 0.2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1984. Below: maps from 1892 on and the census since 1880.
Founding year: the first Mountain View post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Mountain View’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Mountain View is more historic than 34% of U.S. towns, #72 of 123 in Arkansas. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
C
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Mountain View’s overall grade.
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 Mountain View’s 51.5 sits above most of its state (71% of Arkansas towns have fewer) while its 15 listings outnumber those of 78% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to B. The pre-1940 share (±0.6 points) is firm at this size. 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 Mountain View’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Mountain View. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1892Mountain View sheet · 1:125,000
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Mountain View.
On the National Register
15 historic places in Mountain View
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
The town's name is derived from its location in a valley bordered by the Blue Mountain Range of the Ozark Mountains. Mountain View was incorporated on August 14, 1890. Prior to the founding of Mountain View in 1890, the town of Riggsville, established in 1819 by Thomas Augustus Riggs, existed immediately to the east remaining until after the Civil War, when towns with southern sympathies were to be renamed or moved altogether.
An EF4 tornado caused major damage to the town on February 5, 2008, in the 2008 Super Tuesday tornado outbreak.
Mountain View’s post office has been open since 1874.
Gone or out of use
Mountain View Fire Department East End Stationbuilding
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Mountain View
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US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Mountain View’s history
What year was Mountain View founded?
The Mountain View post office opened in 1874, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Mountain View rank for history?
Mountain View is more historic than 34% of U.S. towns, #72 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 Mountain View?
15 listings: 14 buildings, among them the Stone County Courthouse (listed 1976, the first), and 1 structure.
How old are the homes in Mountain View?
0.2% of Mountain View’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 3.1% for an Arkansas town; the median home was built in 1984.
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 (5), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (15), 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) 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.
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