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DHistory
History · Vilonia

Vilonia’s post office opened in 1879

More historic than 9% of U.S. towns · #105 of 123 in Arkansas. What drives it

Most of Vilonia was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2000. Below: maps from 1963 on and the census since 1940.

1879first post office
0on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Eagle1938 · CC BY-SA 4.0
Quick answers

How Vilonia began

When was Vilonia founded?

1879

The Vilonia post office opened in 1879, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1938. Another post office, Beryl (1894), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

First census: 259 in 19402020 census: 4,288147 years

How historic is Vilonia?

D

More historic than 9% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Vilonia post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1938.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Vilonia’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Vilonia is more historic than 9% of U.S. towns, #105 of 123 in Arkansas. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

D
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Vilonia’s overall grade.
Founding era1879, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19400.0% of homes (±0.8) · typical AR town 3.1% · U.S. 8.4%D−National RegisterNo listings counted · typical AR town 20.5 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 9%
NewerOlder
Arkansas towns of 2,500+ (123)Ahead of 15%

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 Vilonia’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (11% of Arkansas towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D− to D. The pre-1940 share (±0.8 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata gives 1938.

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

Start Vilonia’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Vilonia’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

How Vilonia came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Vilonia.

Read it all →

When Vilonia was originally settled in the 1860s, it was listed as Cypress Township, but settlers quickly named it Vilsonia, or "land of two valleys". When the local Masons applied for national affiliation, a transcription error removed the 's', leaving the town, officially, Vilonia. It was incorporated on August 23, 1938, under the leadership of Mayor Thomas Henry Hill.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Vilonia, 1879 to 1966

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1879Post officeThe Vilonia post office opens
  3. 1894Post officeThe Beryl post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1908Post officeThe Beryl post office closes
  6. 1963On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 1966Born herePreston Scroggin is born here
By decade

Vilonia, decade by decade

Today13 recent
A old well located at a old homeplace2023A old well located at a old homeplaceWelcome to Vilonia Sign2019Welcome to Vilonia SignVilonia Arkansas Flyover2019Vilonia Arkansas FlyoverVeterans Memorial2019Veterans MemorialFire Department2019Fire DepartmentBaseball Fields2019Baseball Fields28 Cardinal Way Vilonia AR 72173201928 Cardinal Way Vilonia AR 72173Vilonia City Hall Sunset2015Vilonia City Hall SunsetSunset in2015Sunset inSoaring Eagle Memorial Park2015Soaring Eagle Memorial ParkMuseum of Veterans and Military History2015Museum of Veterans and Military HistoryVilonia20112011Vilonia2011ARMap-doton-Vilonia2005ARMap-doton-Vilonia
On the map

Vilonia on the map, 1963 to 1994

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

Vilonia on the 1963 USGS mapVilonia on the 1975 USGS mapVilonia on the 1981 USGS mapVilonia on the 1994 USGS map1963Vilonia 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 Vilonia.

People over time

Vilonia, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,5004,0004,500194019601980200020204,288

Grew from 259 people in 1940 to 4,288 in 2020, more than tenfold.

9 censuses, 1940–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

Vilonia’s post office has been open since 1879. Another post office, Beryl, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Vilonia
1879–today
Beryl
1894–1908
18701950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Beryl
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Vilonia
Cypress ValleyVilonia

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

Questions about Vilonia’s history

What year was Vilonia founded?

The Vilonia post office opened in 1879, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1938.

How does Vilonia rank for history?

Vilonia is more historic than 9% of U.S. towns, #105 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.

How old are the homes in Vilonia?

0.0% of Vilonia’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 3.1% for an Arkansas town; the median home was built in 2000.

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 (13), 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) 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.