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History · Okolona

Okolona’s post office opened in 1877, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

Most of Okolona was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1979. Its Register listing is the Okolona Colored High School Gymnasium.

1877first post office
1on the National Register
5%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Okolona began

When was Okolona founded?

1877

The Okolona post office opened in 1877, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Okalona (1858), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 97149 years
Founding year: the first Okolona post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

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

Start Okolona’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Okolona’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

Okolona, in brief

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

Its first post office opened in 1877. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 147 to 97 (-34%).

Timeline

Okolona, 1858 to 1926

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1858Post officeThe Okalona post office opens
  3. 1867Post officeThe Okalona post office closes
  4. 1877Post officeThe Okolona post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1926Born hereFaye Treadwell is born here
By decade

Okolona, decade by decade

Today5 recent
Okolona, AR 0032018Okolona, AR 003Okolona, AR 0022018Okolona, AR 002Okolona, AR 0012018Okolona, AR 001Okolona Colored High School Gymnasium2016Okolona Colored High School GymnasiumARMap-doton-Okolona2005ARMap-doton-Okolona
On the National Register

1 historic place in Okolona

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
2011
Okolona Colored High School Gymnasium
Okolona Colored High School Gymnasium
Buildings
Okolona Colored High School GymnasiumBuilding

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Okolona’s post office has been open since 1877. Another post office, Okalona, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Okalona
1858–1867
Okolona
1877–today
18501940today

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

Questions about Okolona’s history

What year was Okolona founded?

The Okolona post office opened in 1877, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Okolona?

One place: the Okolona Colored High School Gymnasium (listed 2011).

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 (5), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.