Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: maps from 1959 on and the census since 1940.
The Oden post office opened in 1882, the earliest record of the town by name.
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Oden’s history is told.
Lost a third of its people between 1950 and 1960, then more than doubled.
9 censuses, 1940–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Oden’s Wikipedia page.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Oden yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Oden is a town in Montgomery County, Arkansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, its population was 180, down from 232 in 2010.
Its first post office opened in 1882. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 232 to 180 (-22%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Oden. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Oden.
Nobody well known was born in Oden itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
The Oden post office opened in 1882, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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.
2005
