Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 78% of U.S. towns. What drives it
7 places in town are on the National Register. Below: maps from 1893 on and the census since 1860.
The Yellville post office opened in 1836, the earliest record of the town by name.
More historic than 78% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Yellville is more historic than 78% of U.S. towns. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its age ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 lowest.
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 Yellville’s 57.2 sits above most of its state (72% of Arkansas towns have fewer) while its 7 listings outnumber those of 73% of U.S. towns.
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 →
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 Yellville’s history is told.
Lost a third of its people between 1860 and 1870, then grew more than tenfold.
17 censuses, 1860–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Yellville’s Wikipedia page.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Yellville. 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 Yellville.
From Wikipedia’s history of Yellville.
Well before Arkansas became a state, the community was known as "Shawneetown". Yellville is named after Archibald Yell, who was the first member of the United States House of Representatives from Arkansas and the second governor of Arkansas. He was killed at the Battle of Buena Vista during the Mexican–American War.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Born hereDavis Tutt is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyFire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a sheet.
1913Sheet 1 of 1Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
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.
Yellville’s post office has been open since 1836.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Yellville post office opened in 1836, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Yellville is more historic than 78% of U.S. towns. 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.
7 listings: 6 buildings, among them the Layton Building (listed 1978, the first), and 1 structure.
12% of Yellville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.2 points), against a typical 3.1% for an Arkansas town; the median home was built in 1976.
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).
From Wikimedia Commons (12), the National Register of Historic Places (7), 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), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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