History · Sheridan

Sheridan’s post office opened in 1870, and 8 of its places are on the National Register

More historic than 42% of U.S. towns · #57 of 123 in Arkansas. What drives it

Most of Sheridan was built recently: 6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1989. Below: maps from 1913 on and the census since 1880.

1870first post office

8on the National Register

6%homes built before 1940

5famous people

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Quick answers

How Sheridan began

When was Sheridan founded?

1870

The Sheridan post office opened in 1870, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 42 in 18802020 census: 4,920156 years

How historic is Sheridan?

C⁺

More historic than 42% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓

Founding year: the first Sheridan post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

History grade

What drives Sheridan’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Sheridan is more historic than 42% of U.S. towns, #57 of 123 in Arkansas. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

C⁺

HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Sheridan’s overall grade.

Founding era1870, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC⁺Homes built before 19406.2% of homes (±3.9) · typical AR town 3.1% · U.S. 8.4%C National Register8 listings, 9 historic buildings, 17.4 per 10,000 residents · typical AR town 20.5 · U.S. 2.4B

All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 42%

NewerOlder

Arkansas towns of 2,500+ (123)Ahead of 54%

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 Sheridan’s 17.4 sits near the middle of its state (52% of Arkansas towns have fewer) while its 9 historic buildings outnumber those of 75% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C to B−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.9 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 Sheridan’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 Sheridan are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Landmarks on the Register8 places on the National Register.

★ What stands out · Help out

Start Sheridan’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Sheridan’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

On the National Register

8 historic places in Sheridan

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

places listed

National Historic Landmarks

none yet

historic buildings protected

each building in a district counts

first listed

1986

Dr. John L. Butler House

Buildings

Dr. John L. Butler HouseBuilding

Glaser-Kelly HouseBuilding

Koon House #1Building

Koon House #6Building

All 8 listings

Koon House #2Building · listed 1999 Koon House #3Building · listed 1999 Koon House #4Building · listed 1999 Grant County CourthouseBuilding · listed 2026

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

The story

How Sheridan came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Sheridan.

Read it all →

What is now Sheridan was formerly part of the historical territories of the Quapaw Nation. After the Indian Removal Act of 1830, the Quapaw were removed from the land and pushed further west. By 1833 most had been removed to the Indian Territory and the land was ceded to the United States. The first recorded Anglo-American settler was Dr. Richard C. Rhodes, a native of North Carolina.

ChaptersIndigenous peoples, pioneers and Trail of Tears Founding and the early 20th century (1870–1941)World War II and the Cold War (1941–1991)

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Sheridan, 1870 to 1964

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

19th century
1870Post officeThe Sheridan post office opens
1896Born hereJohn L. McClellan is born here
1897Born hereEarl Smith is born here
20th century
1908Born hereBuck Fausett is born here
1954Born hereEddie Joe Williams is born here
1964On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey

On the map

Sheridan on the map, 1964 to 1984

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

1964Sheridan sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Sheridan.

Every building

Sheridan, building by building, 1913

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.

Sheridan fire insurance map, 1913, sheet 1

1913Sheet 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.

People over time

Sheridan, census by census

Grew from 42 people in 1880 to 4,920 in 2020, more than tenfold.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Famous people

5 famous people were born in Sheridan

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →

John L. McClellanAmerican lawyer, politician, and U.S. Senator f… · b. 1896

Earl SmithAmerican baseball player · b. 1897

Buck FausettAmerican baseball player · b. 1908

Eddie Joe WilliamsAmerican politician · b. 1954

Ray HamiltonAmerican football player · b. 1916

Questions about Sheridan’s history

What year was Sheridan founded?

The Sheridan post office opened in 1870, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Sheridan rank for history?

Sheridan is more historic than 42% of U.S. towns, #57 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 Sheridan?

8 listings: 8 buildings, among them the Dr. John L. Butler House (listed 1986, the first). 9 historic buildings in all.

How old are the homes in Sheridan?

6% of Sheridan’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.9 points), against a typical 3.1% for an Arkansas town; the median home was built in 1989.

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).

From Wikimedia Commons (24), the National Register of Historic Places (8), 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), 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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