Pine Bluff’s post office opened in 1828, and 57 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 77% of U.S. towns · #9 of 123 in Arkansas. What drives it
Most of Pine Bluff was built recently: 9% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1972. 57 places in town are on the National Register, among them two historic districts with 97 buildings between them. Below: 8 old photos and papers, maps from 1885 on, and the census since 1850.
Founding year: the first Pine Bluff post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1839.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Pine Bluff’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Pine Bluff is more historic than 77% of U.S. towns, #9 of 123 in Arkansas. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Pine Bluff’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 Pine Bluff’s 36.7 sits near the middle of its state (64% of Arkansas towns have fewer) while its 146 historic buildings outnumber those of 91% 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 (±1.6 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata’s 1839 falls in the same era, so the grade doesn’t depend on which one is used.
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 Pine Bluff’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Every building
Pine Bluff, building by building, 1885–1920
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.
The area along the Arkansas River had been inhabited for thousands of years by indigenous peoples of various cultures. They used the river for transportation as did European settlers after them, and for fishing. By the time of encounter with Europeans, the historical Quapaw were the chief people in the area, having migrated from the Ohio River valley centuries before.
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.
The Pine Bluff post office opened in 1828, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1839.
How does Pine Bluff rank for history?
Pine Bluff is more historic than 77% of U.S. towns, #9 of 123 in Arkansas. 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 Pine Bluff?
57 listings: 41 buildings, among them the Hudson-Grace-Borreson House (listed 1971, the first), 2 historic districts, the Pine Bluff Fifth Avenue Historic District and the Pine Bluff Commercial Historic District, with 97 contributing buildings, 12 structures, and 2 objects. 146 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Pine Bluff?
9% of Pine Bluff’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.6 points), against a typical 3.1% for an Arkansas town; the median home was built in 1972.
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 Library of Congress (7), Wikidata (4), the National Register of Historic Places (57), Wikipedia, 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.
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