Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Vanndale

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
–Not graded
History · Vanndale

Vanndale’s post office opened in 1879

Most of Vanndale was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1992. Below: maps from 1939 on.

1879first post office
0on the National Register
8%homes built before 1940
3famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Vanndale began

When was Vanndale founded?

1879

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

2020 census: 339147 years
Founding year: the first Vanndale post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Vanndale’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 Vanndale are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Vanndale’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Vanndale’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
The story so far

Vanndale, in brief

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

Vanndale (formerly Oak Grove) is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Searcy Township, Cross County, Arkansas, United States. It was first listed as a CDP in the 2020 census with a population of 339. Vanndale was the county seat of Cross County from 1886 until 1903, when it was moved to the booming railroad town of Wynne. The community was named for John W. Vann, postmaster. Vanndale was formerly on Highway 1, but has now been bypassed and is on Highway 1B.

Its first post office opened in 1879.

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

Timeline

Vanndale, 1879 to 1939

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1879Post officeThe Vanndale post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1908Born hereC. Vann Woodward is born here
  5. 1913Born hereWes Flowers is born here
  6. 1927Born hereDoug Poindexter is born here
  7. 1939On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
Add from your album
On the map

Vanndale on the map, 1939 to 1984

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

Vanndale on the 1939 USGS mapVanndale on the 1958 USGS mapVanndale on the 1984 USGS map1939Vanndale 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 Vanndale.

Famous people

3 famous people were born in Vanndale

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

See all →
C
C. Vann WoodwardAmerican historian · b. 1908
W
Wes FlowersAmerican baseball player · b. 1913
D
Doug PoindexterAmerican musician · b. 1927
Places that used to be

Places now gone and burying grounds

Vanndale’s post office has been open since 1879.

Gone or out of use
Vanndale High Schoolschool
1cemetery inside Vanndale
Warren

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

Questions about Vanndale’s history

What year was Vanndale founded?

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

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 Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.