3 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 9 buildings. Most of Perryville was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1982. Below: maps from 1961 on and the census since 1880.
Founding year: the first Perryville post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Perryville’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Perryville is more historic than 66% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Perryville’s overall grade.
Arkansas towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Arkansas town has 20.5 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Perryville’s 79.1 sits above most of its state (80% of Arkansas towns have fewer) while its 11 historic buildings outnumber those of 76% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B− to A−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.6 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
What stands out about Perryville’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first Perry County courthouse was built in Perryville in 1841, a year after Perry County was created, and five years after the state of Arkansas was created. The town was platted sometime before 1850.
John Rison and his new wife, Harriet, moved to Perryville in 1844 and started the community's first church, a Methodist congregation. Their log home became a community gathering place and is now the oldest building in Perryville. In 1849, Rison bought six lots across from his home to build a log store and a schoolhouse.
The original log courthouse was burned during a dispute between two families. Historians are uncertain when the courthouse was burned — various sources say 1848 or 1850. Another log courthouse was built on the site.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Questions about Perryville’s history
What year was Perryville founded?
The Perryville post office opened in 1841, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Perryville rank for history?
Perryville is more historic than 66% of U.S. towns. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
What is on the National Register in Perryville?
Three places: the Perry County Courthouse (listed 1976), the Perryville American Legion Building (1990) and the Perryville Commercial Historic District (2012).
How old are the homes in Perryville?
3% of Perryville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.6 points), against a typical 3.1% for an Arkansas town; the median home was built in 1982.
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).
From Wikimedia Commons (1), the National Register of Historic Places (3), Wikipedia, 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) 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.
2023
