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History · Patterson

Patterson’s post office opened in 1919

Most of Patterson was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1978. Below: maps from 1940 on and the census since 1920.

1919first post office
0on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
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Photo: Brandonrush · CC BY-SA 4.0
Quick answers

How Patterson began

When was Patterson founded?

1919

The Patterson post office opened in 1919, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Jelks (1902), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

First census: 261 in 19202020 census: 310107 years
Founding year: the first Patterson post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Patterson’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 Patterson are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 567 in 1980; 310 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Patterson’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Patterson’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
People over time

Patterson, census by census

0100200300400500600192019401960198020002020Peak: 567

Peaked at 567 in 1980; 310 people lived here in 2020.

11 censuses, 1920–2020.

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

The story so far

Patterson, in brief

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

Patterson is a city in Woodruff County, Arkansas, United States. The population was 310 as of the 2020 Census. The townsite was originally known as Martin’s Junction, because the junction of the St. Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern Railway with the Batesville and Brinkley Railroad occurred at this spot. The town name later changed to Jelks, and it was briefly the western terminus of a third railroad, the McCrory and Beedeville Southern Railway, which arrived in 1911 but was bankrupt and out of business by 1914. The town name changed again to Patterson in 1919. While the town still has a rail connection, the junction is gone because the successors of the Batesville and Brinkley removed that…

Its first post office opened in 1919. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 452 to 310 (-31%).

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

Timeline

Patterson, 1902 to 1980

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1902Post officeThe Jelks post office opens
  3. 1919Post officeThe Jelks post office closes
  4. 1919Post officeThe Patterson post office opens
  5. 1940On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  6. 1980CensusPopulation peaks at 567
By decade

Patterson, decade by decade

Today3 recent
Patterson, AR 0032015Patterson, AR 003Patterson, AR 0022015Patterson, AR 002Patterson, AR 0012015Patterson, AR 001
On the map

Patterson on the map, 1940 to 1980

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

Patterson on the 1940 USGS mapPatterson on the 1956 USGS mapPatterson on the 1980 USGS map1940Tilton 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 Patterson.

Famous people

Famous people close to Patterson

Nobody well known was born in Patterson itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Mary SteenburgenAmerican actress, singer and songwriter · b. 1953
Alice WaltonAmerican heiress to the fortune of Wal-Mart Sto… · b. 1949
Sister Rosetta TharpeAmerican gospel musician · b. 1915
Mike BeebeGovernor of Arkansas from 2007 to 2015 · b. 1946
Jim WaltonAmerican businessman · b. 1948
Louis JordanAmerican jazz, blues and rhythm and blues music… · b. 1908
Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Patterson’s post office has been open since 1919. Another post office, Jelks, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Jelks
1902–1919
Patterson
1919–today
19001960today

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

McCrory3 historic placesB−

Questions about Patterson’s history

What year was Patterson founded?

The Patterson post office opened in 1919, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

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), 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.