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History · Parkin

Parkin’s post office opened in 1897, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

Most of Parkin was built recently: 9% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1972. Its Register listing is the Northern Ohio School. Below: 11 old photos and papers, maps from 1913 on, and the census since 1920.

1897first post office
1on the National Register
9%homes built before 1940
11old photos & papers
9famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Parkin’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Parkin began

When was Parkin founded?

1897

The Parkin post office opened in 1897, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 1,378 in 19202020 census: 794129 years
Founding year: the first Parkin post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Parkin’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

Boom and bustPeaked at 2,035 in 1980; 794 people lived here in 2020.Famous sons and daughtersHarry Kelley, Billy Bowers and 7 more were born here.
★ What stands out · People over time

Parkin, census by census

05001,0001,5002,000192019401960198020002020Peak: 2,035

Peaked at 2,035 in 1980; 794 people lived here in 2020.

11 censuses, 1920–2020.

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

Famous people

9 famous people were born in Parkin

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Harry KelleyAmerican baseball player · b. 1906
B
Billy BowersMajor League Baseball outfielder · b. 1922
Dave HannerAmerican football player · b. 1930
D
Deborah FergusonAmerican politician
Harvey Locke CareyAmerican judge · b. 1915
R
Roy JohnsonAmerican baseball player · b. 1959
The story so far

Parkin, in brief

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

Parkin is a city in Cross County, Arkansas, United States, along the St. Francis River. The population was 1,105 at the 2010 census, down from 1,602 in 2000. In the 2020 census, it dropped further to 794 people. Due to the recent population loss, a large segment of the downtown area has many abandoned and boarded-up buildings. The town has recently become known as a speed trap.

Its first post office opened in 1897. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 1,105 to 794 (-28%).

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

Timeline

Parkin, 1872 to 1980

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1872Post officeThe Tyronza post office opens
  3. 1897Post officeThe Parkin post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1906Born hereHarry Kelley is born here
  6. 1922Born hereBilly Bowers is born here
  7. 1930Born hereDave Hanner is born here
  8. 1936In the archiveArkansas tenant farmers evicted January 1936
  9. 1940On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  10. 1980CensusPopulation peaks at 2,035
By decade

Parkin, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1930s11 items
Arkansas tenant farmers evicted January 19361936Arkansas tenant farmers evicted January 1936Furniture of evicted sharecroppers on the Dibble plantation, near Parkin, Arkansas, 8b309411936Furniture of evicted sharecroppers on the Dibble plan…Furniture of evicted sharecroppers on the Dibble plantation, near Parkin, Arkansas, 8b309411936Furniture of evicted sharecroppers on the Dibble plan…Families of evicted sharecroppers on the Dibble plantation. Parkin (vicinity), Arkansas1936Families of evicted sharecroppers on the Dibble plant…Furniture of evicted sharecroppers on the Dibble plantation. Parkin (vicinity), Arkansas1936Furniture of evicted sharecroppers on the Dibble plan…The families of evicted sharecroppers of the Dibble plantation. Parkin (vicinity), Arkansas1936The families of evicted sharecroppers of the Dibble p…Untitled photo, possibly related to: Families of evicted sharecroppers on the Dibble plantation. Parkin (vicinity), Ark…1936Untitled photo, possibly related to: Families of evic…Parkin (vicinity), Arkansas. The families of evicted sharecroppers from the Dibble plantation. Were legally evicted the…1936Parkin (vicinity), Arkansas. The families of evicted …Parkin (vicinity), Arkansas. The families of evicted sharecroppers of the Dibble plantation. They were legally evicted …1936Parkin (vicinity), Arkansas. The families of evicted …Untitled photo, possibly related to: Parkin (vicinity), Arkansas. The families of evicted sharecroppers of the Dibble p…1936Untitled photo, possibly related to: Parkin (vicinity…Parkin (vicinity), Arkansas. The families of evicted sharecroppers of the Dibble plantation. They were legally evicted …1936Parkin (vicinity), Arkansas. The families of evicted …
1940s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
On the map

Parkin on the map, 1940 to 1984

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

Parkin on the 1940 USGS mapParkin on the 1956 USGS mapParkin on the 1962 USGS mapParkin on the 1984 USGS map1940Princedale 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 Parkin.

Every building

Parkin, building by building, 1913–1921

Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.

Parkin fire insurance map, 1913, sheet 11913Sheet 1 of 1
Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Arkansas tenant farmers evicted January 1936
Retake this viewArkansas tenant farmers evicted January 1936, 1936

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Parkin’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Parkin

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
2014
Northern Ohio School
Northern Ohio School
Buildings
Northern Ohio SchoolBuilding

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

Places that used to be

Old burying grounds

Parkin’s post office has been open since 1897.

Tyronza
1872–today
Parkin
1897–today
18701950today
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Parkin
Parkin Archeological State ParkParkin

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

Help out

Finish Parkin’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewArkansas tenant farmers evicted January…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Questions about Parkin’s history

What year was Parkin founded?

The Parkin post office opened in 1897, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Parkin?

One place: the Northern Ohio School (listed 2014).

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 (3), the Library of Congress (8), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.