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History · Perla

Perla’s post office opened in 1898

Most of Perla was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1980. Below: maps from 1948 on and the census since 1970.

1898first post office
0on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Perla began

When was Perla founded?

1898

The Perla post office opened in 1898, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 227 in 19702020 census: 257128 years
Founding year: the first Perla post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Perla’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 Perla are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Shrank, then grewLost half of its people between 1970 and 2000, then more than doubled.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Perla’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Perla’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

Perla, census by census

0100200198020002020227 in 1970Low: 115

Lost half of its people between 1970 and 2000, then more than doubled.

6 censuses, 1970–2020.

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

The story so far

Perla, in brief

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

Perla is a town in Hot Spring County, Arkansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, Perla had a population of 257. The city's water association filed for Chapter 9 Bankruptcy in the Western District of Arkansas Bankruptcy Court on May 26, 2019.

Its first post office opened in 1898. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 241 to 257 (+7%).

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

Timeline

Perla, 1898 to 2020

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1898Post officeThe Perla post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1948On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 1974Post officeThe Perla post office closes
  6. 21st century
  7. 2020CensusPopulation peaks at 257
By decade

Perla, decade by decade

Today1 recent
ARMap-doton-Perla2005ARMap-doton-Perla
On the map

Perla on the map, 1948 to 2000

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

Perla on the 1948 USGS mapPerla on the 1978 USGS mapPerla on the 2000 USGS map1948Malvern 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 Perla.

Famous people

Famous people close to Perla

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

See all →
Billy Bob ThorntonAmerican actor, filmmaker, and musician · b. 1955
Alan LaddAmerican actor · b. 1913
James RectorAmerican athlete · b. 1884
John L. McClellanAmerican lawyer, politician, and U.S. Senator f… · b. 1896
Justin MooreAmerican country music singer and songwriter · b. 1984
Bruce WestermanAmerican politician · b. 1967
Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Perla had its own post office from 1898 to 1974.

Perla
1898–1974
18901960today

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.

Malvern14 historic placesB−

Questions about Perla’s history

What year was Perla founded?

The Perla post office opened in 1898, 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 (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.