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History · Willisville

Willisville’s post office opened in 1883, and 11% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1973 on and the census since 1980.

1883first post office
0on the National Register
11%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Willisville began

When was Willisville founded?

1883

The Willisville post office opened in 1883, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 209 in 19802020 census: 148143 years
Founding year: the first Willisville post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

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

Start Willisville’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Willisville’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

Willisville, in brief

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

Willisville is a town in Nevada County, Arkansas, United States. The population was 148 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Hope Micropolitan Statistical Area.

Its first post office opened in 1883. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 152 to 148 (-3%).

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

Timeline

Willisville, 1883 to 1973

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1883Post officeThe Willisville post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1951Born hereJoyce Elliott is born here
  5. 1973On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Willisville, decade by decade

Today1 recent
ARMap-doton-Willisville2005ARMap-doton-Willisville
On the map

Willisville on the map, 1973 to 1986

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

Willisville on the 1973 USGS mapWillisville on the 1986 USGS map1973Willisville 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 Willisville.

People over time

Willisville, census by census

0100200198020002020Peak: 209

Between 148 and 209 people in every census since 1980.

5 censuses, 1980–2020.

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

Questions about Willisville’s history

What year was Willisville founded?

The Willisville post office opened in 1883, 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 Wikimedia Commons (1), 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.