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History · Tillar

Tillar’s post office opened in 1879, and 24% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listings are the Tillar, Frank, Memorial Methodist Episcopal Church, South and the Bank of Tillar. Below: maps from 1912 on and the census since 1910.

1879first post office
2on the National Register
24%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Tillar began

When was Tillar founded?

1879

The Tillar post office opened in 1879, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 180 in 19102020 census: 172147 years
Founding year: the first Tillar post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Tillar’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 Tillar are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 350 in 1920; 172 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Tillar’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Tillar’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
People over time

Tillar, census by census

0100200300192019401960198020002020Peak: 350

Peaked at 350 in 1920; 172 people lived here in 2020.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

The story so far

Tillar, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Tillar yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Tillar is a town in Desha and Drew counties in the U.S. state of Arkansas. The population was 172 at the 2020 census. The area west of it was known as Tillar Station. Frank Tillar Memorial Methodist Episcopal Church, South is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Its first post office opened in 1879. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 225 to 172 (-24%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Tillar, 1879 to 1936

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1879Post officeThe Tillar post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1920CensusPopulation peaks at 350
  5. 1936On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Tillar, decade by decade

Today9 recent
Tillar, Arkansas Water Tower2026Tillar, Arkansas Water TowerTillar Cotton Gin2026Tillar Cotton GinTillar City Hall2026Tillar City HallTillar Cemetery2026Tillar CemeteryHistoric home in2026Historic home inFirst Baptist Church of2026First Baptist Church ofBank of2026Bank ofHighway 277 at US 65 and US 165 at2012Highway 277 at US 65 and US 165 atARMap-doton-Tillar2005ARMap-doton-Tillar
On the map

Tillar on the map, 1936 to 1981

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

Tillar on the 1936 USGS mapTillar on the 1955 USGS mapTillar on the 1975 USGS mapTillar on the 1981 USGS map1936McGehee sheet · 1:62,500

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

Every building

Tillar, building by building, 1912–1917

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.

Tillar fire insurance map, 1912, sheet 11912Sheet 1 of 1
Edition
Sheets
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

2 historic places in Tillar

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

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
first listed
1997
Tillar, Frank, Memorial Methodist Episcopal Chu…
Tillar, Frank, Memorial Methodist Episcopal Church, SouthBank of Tillar
Buildings
Tillar, Frank, Memorial Methodist Episcopal Church, SouthBuilding
All 2 listings
Bank of TillarBuilding · listed 2022

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

Questions about Tillar’s history

What year was Tillar founded?

The Tillar post office opened in 1879, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Tillar?

Two places: the Tillar, Frank, Memorial Methodist Episcopal Church, South (listed 1997) and the Bank of Tillar (2022).

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (9), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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.