The story
Read it all →How Little River came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Little River.
Little River was founded in 1880. The town was named from its situation upon the Little Arkansas River.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
–Not graded
History · Little River
Little River’s post office opened in 1880, and 44% of its homes were built before 1940
1880first post office
0on the National Register
44%homes built before 1940
3famous people
Quick answers
How Little River began
When was Little River founded?
1880
The Little River post office opened in 1880, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Fair Point (1874), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
2020 census: 472146 years
Founding year: the first Little River post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
What stands out about Little River’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Little River’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Little River’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.Timeline
Little River, 1874 to 2000
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1874Post officeThe Fair Point post office opens
- 1880Post officeThe Fair Point post office closes
- 1880Post officeThe Little River post office opens
- 1886Born hereCarl Manda is born here
- 20th century
- 1961Born hereSandra Myers is born here
- 21st century
- 2000
Born hereC. Dean Andersson is born here
By decade
Little River, decade by decade
Today2 recent
2014
2010Famous people
See all →3 famous people were born in Little River
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Places that used to be
Lost post offices
Little River’s post office has been open since 1880. Another post office, Fair Point, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Fair Point
Little River
18701950today
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Little River’s history
What year was Little River founded?
The Little River post office opened in 1880, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.