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History · Norman

Norman was first counted by the census in 1910, and 33% of its homes were built before 1940

2 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 3 buildings. Below: maps from 1942 on and the census since 1910.

1910first census
2on the National Register
33%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Norman began

When was Norman founded?

1910

Norman first appears in the census in 1910. Another post office, Womble (1907), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 552 in 19102020 census: 303116 years
Founding year: the first census.

What stands out about Norman’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 Norman are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Norman’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Norman’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
The story so far

Norman, in brief

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

Norman is a town in Montgomery County, Arkansas, United States. It was known as Womble until 1925. The population was 303 at the 2020 census, down from 378 in 2010.

Its first post office opened in 1910. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 378 to 303 (-20%).

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

Timeline

Norman, 1907 to 1942

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1907Post officeThe Womble post office opens
  3. 1925Post officeThe Womble post office closes
  4. 1925Post officeThe Norman post office opens
  5. 1942On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Norman, decade by decade

Today18 recent
Norman, AR 0142019Norman, AR 014Norman, AR 0132019Norman, AR 013Norman, AR 0122019Norman, AR 012Norman, AR 0102019Norman, AR 010Norman, AR 0092019Norman, AR 009Norman, AR 0082019Norman, AR 008Norman, AR 0072019Norman, AR 007Norman, AR 0062019Norman, AR 006Norman, AR 0052019Norman, AR 005Norman, AR 0042019Norman, AR 004Norman, AR 0032019Norman, AR 003Norman, AR 0022019Norman, AR 002Norman, AR 0012019Norman, AR 001Norman Town Square2016Norman Town SquareCrystal Springs Camp Shelter2016Crystal Springs Camp ShelterCollier Springs Shelter2016Collier Springs ShelterCaddo Valley Academy Complex2016Caddo Valley Academy ComplexARMap-doton-Norman2005ARMap-doton-Norman
On the map

Norman on the map, 1942 to 1979

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

Norman on the 1942 USGS mapNorman on the 1979 USGS map1942Glenwood 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 Norman.

On the National Register

2 historic places in Norman

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

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
4
each building in a district counts
first listed
1993
Norman Town Square
Norman Town SquareCaddo Valley Academy Complex
DistrictsSites
Norman Town SquareSite
Caddo Valley Academy ComplexDistrict

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

People over time

Norman, census by census

0100200300400500600192019401960198020002020Peak: 552

Between 303 and 552 people in every census since 1910.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, places now gone and burying grounds

Norman’s post office has been open since 1925. Another post office, Womble, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Womble
1907–1925
Norman
1925–today
19001960today
Gone or out of use
Caddo Valley AcademyschoolCedar Bluff Schoolschool
1cemetery inside Norman
Montgomery

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

Questions about Norman’s history

What year was Norman founded?

The Norman post office opened in 1910, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Norman?

Two places: the Norman Town Square (listed 1993) and the Caddo Valley Academy Complex (2002).

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 (18), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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.