Ward’s post office opened in 1883, and 1 of its places is on the National Register
More historic than 22% of U.S. towns · #86 of 123 in Arkansas. What drives it
Most of Ward was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2006. Its Register listing is the Sears House. Below: maps from 1963 on and the census since 1930.
Founding year: the first Ward post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade
What drives Ward’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Ward is more historic than 22% of U.S. towns, #86 of 123 in Arkansas. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Ward’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 Ward’s 1.5 sits below most of its state (26% of Arkansas towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to C. The pre-1940 share (±2.9 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 Ward’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Ward yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Ward is the second most populous city in Lonoke County, Arkansas, United States. The population was 6,052 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Little Rock–North Little Rock–Conway Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Its first post office opened in 1883. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 4,067 to 6,052 (+49%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
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.
The Ward post office opened in 1883, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Ward rank for history?
Ward is more historic than 22% of U.S. towns, #86 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 Ward?
One place: the Sears House (listed 1992).
How old are the homes in Ward?
2% of Ward’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.9 points), against a typical 3.1% for an Arkansas town; the median home was built in 2006.
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 the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.
