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B−History
History · Stuttgart

Stuttgart’s post office opened in 1880, and 6 of its places are on the National Register

More historic than 47% of U.S. towns · #47 of 123 in Arkansas. What drives it

Most of Stuttgart was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1978. 6 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 43 buildings. Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1892 on, and the census since 1910.

1880first post office
6on the National Register
4%homes built before 1940
3old photos & papers
10famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Stuttgart’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Stuttgart began

When was Stuttgart founded?

1880

The Stuttgart post office opened in 1880, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 2,740 in 19102020 census: 8,264146 years

How historic is Stuttgart?

B−

More historic than 47% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Stuttgart post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Stuttgart’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Stuttgart is more historic than 47% of U.S. towns, #47 of 123 in Arkansas. 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 Stuttgart’s overall grade.
Founding era1880, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19404.4% of homes (±2.6) · typical AR town 3.1% · U.S. 8.4%CNational Register6 listings, 49 historic buildings, 62.0 per 10,000 residents · typical AR town 20.5 · U.S. 2.4A−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 47%
NewerOlder
Arkansas towns of 2,500+ (123)Ahead of 62%

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 Stuttgart’s 62.0 sits above most of its state (74% of Arkansas towns have fewer) while its 49 historic buildings outnumber those of 85% 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 (±2.6 points) is firm at this size. 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 Stuttgart’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 3 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Mapped building by building6 fire insurance maps, 1892 to 1917, drew every building in Stuttgart.A historic districtThe Stuttgart Commercial Historic District takes in 43 historic buildings.Landmarks on the Register6 places on the National Register.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Stuttgart’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old view1940 Census Enumeration District Maps -…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Every building

Stuttgart, building by building, 1892–1917

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.

Stuttgart fire insurance map, 1892, sheet 11892Sheet 1 of 2
Edition
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

On the National Register

6 listings protect 49 historic buildings

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

places listed
6
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
49
each building in a district counts
first listed
1979
Standard Ice Company Building
Standard Ice Company BuildingRiceland HotelArkansas County Courthouse-Northern DistrictUS Post Office-StuttgartStuttgart Commercial Historic DistrictPaul and Ella Buerkle House, built 1969
BuildingsDistricts
Standard Ice Company BuildingBuilding
Riceland HotelBuilding
Arkansas County Courthouse-Northern DistrictBuilding
US Post Office-StuttgartBuilding
Stuttgart Commercial Historic DistrictDistrict
All 6 listings
Paul and Ella Buerkle HouseBuilding · listed 2022

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

The story

How Stuttgart came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Stuttgart.

Read it all →

Stuttgart was founded by The Reverend Adam Bürkle of Plattenhardt, Württemberg (present-day Germany). He moved to the United States in 1852 and founded a settlement at Gum Pond after living for a time in Ohio. On April 30, 1880, Bürkle opened a post office and thus had to name the village. In honor of his homeland, he named it Stuttgart. In 1882, the Texas and St. Louis railroad was opened. Stuttgart was incorporated on April 19, 1889, and in 1904, rice farming was first introduced in the Stuttgart region. It became a dual county seat in Arkansas County with DeWitt in the 1920s.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Stuttgart, 1880 to 1997

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1880In the archive1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Arkansas - Arkansas County - Stuttgart - ED 1-8, …
  3. 1880Post officeThe Stuttgart post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1941Born hereLeo Graham is born here
  6. 1942Born hereRobert Marion Berry is born here
  7. 1948On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  8. 1964Born hereDouglas A. Blackmon is born here
  9. 1969BuiltPaul and Ella Buerkle House is built
  10. 1983Born hereOren O'Neal is born here
  11. 1997In the archiveRiceland Foods in
By decade

Stuttgart, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1880s to the 1990s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1880s2 items
1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Arkansas - Arkansas County - Stuttgart - ED 1-8, ED 1-9, ED 1-1018801940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Arkansas - Ar…1950 Census Enumeration District Maps - Arkansas - Arkansas County - Stuttgart - ED AR 1-8 to 1618801950 Census Enumeration District Maps - Arkansas - Ar…
1890s–1980snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
1990s1 item
Riceland Foods in1997Riceland Foods in
Today8 recent
Stuttgart, Arkansas 0012019Stuttgart, Arkansas 001Stuttgart, AR library2018Stuttgart, AR libraryMacks Prairie Wings, AR2018Macks Prairie Wings, ARBirdBuzz2013BirdBuzzStandard Ice Company Building2012Standard Ice Company BuildingRiceland Hotel2012Riceland HotelArkansas business destroyed2008Arkansas business destroyedStuttgart AR distance2007Stuttgart AR distance
On the map

Stuttgart on the map, 1948 to 1960

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

Stuttgart on the 1948 USGS mapStuttgart on the 1950 USGS mapStuttgart on the 1960 USGS map1948Helena sheet · 1:250,000

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

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.

1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Arkansas - Arkansas County - Stuttgart - ED 1-8, ED 1-9, ED 1-10
Retake this view1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Arkansas - Arkansas County - Stuttgart - ED 1-8, ED 1-9, ED 1-10, 1880

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Stuttgart, census by census

02,0004,0006,0008,00010,00012,000192019401960198020002020Peak: 10,941

Between 2,740 and 10,941 people in every census since 1910.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

Famous people

10 famous people were born in Stuttgart

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

See all →
Robert Marion BerryAmerican politician · b. 1942
Douglas A. BlackmonAmerican journalist · b. 1964
L
Leo GrahamAmerican songwriter and composer · b. 1941
O
Oren O'NealAmerican football player · b. 1983
C
Charlie RievesAmerican football player · b. 1939
F
Fonda HawthorneAmerican politician · b. 1956
Places that used to be

Old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Stuttgart’s post office has been open since 1880.

Hamlets and corners on the map
RicuskySouth Stuttgart
Gone or out of use
Gingerich Elementary Schoolschool
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Stuttgart
Green GroveHoly Rosary

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Questions about Stuttgart’s history

What year was Stuttgart founded?

The Stuttgart post office opened in 1880, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Stuttgart rank for history?

Stuttgart is more historic than 47% of U.S. towns, #47 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 Stuttgart?

6 listings: 5 buildings, among them the Standard Ice Company Building (listed 1979, the first), and 1 historic district, the Stuttgart Commercial Historic District, with 43 contributing buildings. 49 historic buildings in all.

How old are the homes in Stuttgart?

4% of Stuttgart’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.6 points), against a typical 3.1% for an Arkansas town; the median home was built in 1978.

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 (11), the National Register of Historic Places (6), 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.