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History · Wickes

Wickes’ post office opened in 1897, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

Most of Wickes was built recently: 6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1977. Its Register listing is the Wickes School. Below: maps from 1959 on and the census since 1930.

1897first post office
1on the National Register
6%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Wickes began

When was Wickes founded?

1897

The Wickes post office opened in 1897, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Sherwood (1897), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 182 in 19302020 census: 637129 years
Founding year: the first Wickes post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Wickes’ 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 Wickes are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Shrank, then grewLost a third of its people between 1930 and 1940, then grew 5-fold.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Wickes’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Wickes’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

Wickes, census by census

020040060080019401960198020002020182 in 1930Low: 121

Lost a third of its people between 1930 and 1940, then grew 5-fold.

10 censuses, 1930–2020.

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

The story so far

Wickes, in brief

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

Wickes is a city in Polk County, Arkansas, United States. The population was 637 at the 2020 census. Near Wickes is the Boggs Springs Youth Encampment of the American Baptist Association, a retreat of Missionary Baptist churches. Wickes has historic places such as the 100-year-old City Hall, and the Lighthouse Drive-in. Wickes is home to the Lawrence M. Magdovitz Memorial Library, a former U.S. Post Office that was donated to the Town of Wickes by the owner of the building in return for naming it after him.

Its first post office opened in 1897. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 754 to 637 (-16%).

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

Timeline

Wickes, 1897 to 2010

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1897Post officeThe Sherwood post office opens
  3. 1897Post officeThe Sherwood post office closes
  4. 1897Post officeThe Wickes post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1959On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 21st century
  8. 2010CensusPopulation peaks at 754
By decade

Wickes, decade by decade

Today2 recent
US 59 and US 71 in2012US 59 and US 71 inARMap-doton-Wickes2005ARMap-doton-Wickes
On the map

Wickes on the map, 1959 to 1985

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

Wickes on the 1959 USGS mapWickes on the 1985 USGS map1959Cove 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 Wickes.

On the National Register

1 historic place in Wickes

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
2024
Wickes School
Wickes School
Buildings
All 1 listings
Wickes SchoolBuilding · listed 2024

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Wickes

Nobody well known was born in Wickes itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Eurith D. RiversAmerican politician: Governor of Georgia · b. 1895
Wes WatkinsAmerican politician · b. 1938
Gail DaviesAmerican singer-songwriter · b. 1948
Collin RayeAmerican country music singer · b. 1959
Effiegene Locke WingoAmerican politician · b. 1883
Norris GoffRadio and film comedian · b. 1906
Places that used to be

Lost post offices and burying grounds

Wickes’s post office has been open since 1897. Another post office, Sherwood, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Sherwood
1897–1897
Wickes
1897–today
18901960today
1cemetery inside Wickes
Daniel

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

Questions about Wickes’ history

What year was Wickes founded?

The Wickes post office opened in 1897, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Wickes?

One place: the Wickes School (listed 2024).

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 (2), 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.