Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Most of Wheatley was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1970. Its Register listing is the Smith House. Below: maps from 1940 on and the census since 1880.
Wheatley first appears in the census in 1880. Another post office, Wheetley (1872), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Wheatley’s history is told.
Peaked at 523 in 1980; 279 people lived here in 2020.
13 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Wheatley’s Wikipedia page.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Wheatley yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Wheatley is a town in southwest St. Francis County, Arkansas, United States. The population was 279 at the 2020 census, down from 355 in 2010.
Its first post office opened in 1880. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 355 to 279 (-21%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
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2005ARMap-doton-WheatleyEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Wheatley. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Wheatley.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Nobody well known was born in Wheatley itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Wheatley’s post office has been open since 1931. Another post office, Wheetley, opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The Wheatley post office opened in 1880, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
One place: the Smith House (listed 1982).
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (22), 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.
