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History · Hornbeck

Hornbeck’s post office opened in 1897

Most of Hornbeck was built recently: 0.8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1990. Below: maps from 1921 on and the census since 1910.

1897first post office
0on the National Register
0.8%homes built before 1940
1famous people
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Quick answers

How Hornbeck began

When was Hornbeck founded?

1897

The Hornbeck post office opened in 1897, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Barham (1902), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 459 in 19102020 census: 430129 years
Founding year: the first Hornbeck post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

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

Start Hornbeck’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Hornbeck’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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The story

How Hornbeck came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Hornbeck.

Read it all →

As early as the 1830s people settled in the area now known as Hornbeck, but a town didn't begin to form until 1897, when an agent for the Arkansas Town Site Company named F.A. Hornbeck purchased land along the Kansas City Southern Railroad (KCS) for $8,640. Structures necessary for servicing locomotives were constructed as well as a brick kiln to supply bricks for construction.

In 1897, the first Post Office opened in the area with Walter Carey as the first postmaster and later that same year he was succeeded by D.B. Pate.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Hornbeck, 1897 to 1942

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1897Post officeThe Hornbeck post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1902Post officeThe Barham post office opens
  5. 1931Post officeThe Barham post office closes
  6. 1938Born hereFrank A. Howard is born here
  7. 1942On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Hornbeck, decade by decade

Today3 recent
Hornbeck Town Hall2010Hornbeck Town HallFBC Hornbeck 0012010FBC Hornbeck 001LAMap-doton-Hornbeck2004LAMap-doton-Hornbeck
On the map

Hornbeck on the map, 1942 to 1994

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

Hornbeck on the 1942 USGS mapHornbeck on the 1954 USGS mapHornbeck on the 1994 USGS map1942Florien 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 Hornbeck.

Every building

Hornbeck, building by building, 1921

Fire 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.

Hornbeck fire insurance map, 1921, sheet 11921Sheet 1 of 1
Sheets
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

People over time

Hornbeck, census by census

0100200300400500192019401960198020002020Peak: 525

Between 350 and 525 people in every census since 1910.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices and old corners

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

Hornbeck
1897–today
Barham
1902–1931
18901960today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Barham

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

Questions about Hornbeck’s history

What year was Hornbeck founded?

The Hornbeck post office opened in 1897, 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 (3), 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.