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History · Perry

Perry’s post office opened in 1899, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

Most of Perry was built recently: 7% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1970. Its Register listing is the Perry Rock Island Railroad Depot. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1889 on, and the census since 1920.

1899first post office

1on the National Register

7%homes built before 1940

1old photo or paper

1famous people

Add an old photo Share a memory

From Perry’s archive · credits on each photo

Quick answers

How Perry began

When was Perry founded?

1899

The Perry post office opened in 1899, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 540 in 19202020 census: 262127 years

Founding year: the first Perry post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Perry’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18893 editions of the USGS map, 1889 to 1984. Watch Perry change.

★ What stands out · Help out

Start Perry’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Perry’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos

00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s

0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.

Date a photo1 archive item has no date. Guess the decade.+2 Retake an old viewCypress Creek Bridge, Spanning Cypress …: stand where they stood+15 Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

On the map

Perry on the map, 1889 to 1984

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

1889Morrilton No 3 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 Perry.

The story so far

Perry, in brief

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

Perry is a town in Perry County, Arkansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, Perry had a population of 262. It is part of the Little Rock–North Little Rock–Conway Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Its first post office opened in 1899. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 270 to 262 (-3%).

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

From the old history books

What they wrote about Perry in 1889

Passages that mention Perry, cut from the printed page as they were published.

Hill, of Perry County, and since 1880 he has practiced his profession with ability and success. Coming to Perry County, in 1856, he remained till the beginning of the war, when he entered the Confederate service in Company H, in the first regiment ever organized in Arkansas. He was first sergeant o… — Biographical and historical memoirs of Pulaski, Jefferson, Lonoke, Faulkner, Grant, Saline, Perry, Garland and Hot Spring counties, Arkansas, comprising a condensed history of the state... biographies of distinguished citizens...[etc.]1889 · page 678Read the page →
Read the text
Hill, of Perry County, and since 1880 he has practiced his profession with ability and success. Coming to Perry County, in 1856, he remained till the beginning of the war, when he entered the Confederate service in Company H, in the first regiment ever organized in Arkansas. He was first sergeant one year, and then ordnance sergeant till the close of the war, taking part in the
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.

Biographical and historical memoirs of Pulaski, Jefferson, Lonoke, Faulkner, Grant, Saline, Perry, Garland and Hot Spring counties, Arkansas, comprising a condensed history of the state... biographies of distinguished citizens...[etc.]1889 · page 664Read the page →
Read the text
Railroad Company owns 61,855 acres, valued at $123,690. The real estate of Perry ville, the county seat and the only incorporated town in the county, is valued at $18,950. The maximum limit of assessment is 50 cents on the $100 of the assessed value of property.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.

Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

Timeline

Perry, 1889 to 1924

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

19th century
1889On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
1899Post officeThe Perry post office opens
20th century
1924Born hereEd McGhee is born here

By decade

Perry, decade by decade

Date unknown1 to date

Cypress Creek Bridge, Spanning Cypress Creek at County Road 64

Date?Cypress Creek Bridge, Spanning Cypress Creek at Count…

Today1 recent

2005ARMap-doton-Perry

Every building

Perry, building by building, 1914

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 sheet.

1914Sheet 1 of 1

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.

Retake this viewCypress Creek Bridge, Spanning Cypress Creek at County Road 64

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

Retake this view · +15

On the National Register

1 historic place in Perry

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

place listed

National Historic Landmarks

none yet

historic buildings protected

each building in a district counts

first listed

2021

Perry Rock Island Railroad Depot

Buildings

Perry Rock Island Railroad DepotBuilding

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

People over time

Perry, census by census

Between 218 and 540 people in every census since 1920.

11 censuses, 1920–2020.

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

Questions about Perry’s history

What year was Perry founded?

The Perry post office opened in 1899, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Perry?

One place: the Perry Rock Island Railroad Depot (listed 2021).

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), the Library of Congress (1), 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, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.

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