6 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 11 buildings. Most of Star City was built recently: 6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1978. Below: maps from 1935 on and the census since 1890.
Founding year: the first Star City post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade
What drives Star City’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Star City is more historic than 50% 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 Star City’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 Star City’s 66.5 sits above most of its state (76% of Arkansas towns have fewer) while its 16 historic buildings outnumber those of 78% 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 (±4.5 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 Star City’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.
The story so far
Star City, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Star City yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Star City is a city in and the county seat of Lincoln County, Arkansas, United States. Incorporated in 1876, the city is located between the Arkansas Delta and the Arkansas Timberlands. With an economy historically based on agriculture, today Star City has developed a diverse economy based on both industry and agriculture. As of the 2020 census, Star City had a population of 2,173.
Its first post office opened in 1872. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 2,274 to 2,173 (-4%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Timeline
Star City, 1872 to 1988
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
The Star City post office opened in 1872, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Star City rank for history?
Star City is more historic than 50% 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 Star City?
6 listings: 4 buildings, among them the Crow House (listed 1976, the first), 1 historic district, the Star City Commercial Historic District, with 11 contributing buildings, and 1 object. 16 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Star City?
6% of Star City’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.5 points), against a typical 3.1% for an Arkansas town; the median home was built in 1978.
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 (9), Wikidata (4), the National Register of Historic Places (6), 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.
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