Walnut Ridge Commercial Historic District

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2010.

From the record

“The Walnut Ridge Commercial Historic District encompasses the historic town center of Walnut Ridge, Arkansas, the county seat of Lawrence County. The district includes a four-block stretch of Main Street on the northwest side of the railroad tracks, and extends for one and sometimes two blocks on either side.”
Wikipedia article Walnut Ridge Commercial Historic District, CC BY-SA 4.0.

One of 31 National Register listings published here for Lawrence County · listed in 2010 · category: District.

Sources: the Wikipedia article · the National Register database, National Park Service

The listing

Address. Roughly bounded by E and W Main, N and S Front Sts, W Vine, and SW Third Sts, Walnut Ridge, 72476
When was it listed? May 2010
Category. district
Township. Campbell township
National Register reference number. 10000286 - assigned by the National Park Service when the property was listed.

Fires near this property

12 since 1999

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 12 fires within 5 miles of Walnut Ridge Commercial Historic District between 1999 and 2015, burning about 435 acres in total. None started naturally. 1 was recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause	Fires
Debris and open burning	10
Arson/incendiarism	1
Missing data/not specified/undetermined	1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

Date	Cause	Size	Reported by	Name on the report
22 September 1999	Debris and open burning	2.0 acres	Arkansas Forestry Commission	not named
8 August 2006	Debris and open burning	2.0 acres	Arkansas Forestry Commission	not named
27 August 2007	Debris and open burning	1.0 acres	Arkansas Forestry Commission	not named
30 July 2008	Debris and open burning	1.0 acres	Arkansas Forestry Commission	not named
21 June 2009	Debris and open burning	80 acres	Arkansas Forestry Commission	not named
11 April 2003	Debris and open burning	5.0 acres	Arkansas Forestry Commission	not named
21 March 2007	Debris and open burning	7.0 acres	Arkansas Forestry Commission	not named
2 March 2006	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	56 acres	Arkansas Forestry Commission	not named

Every fire recorded in Lawrence County

Mines and quarries near this property

2 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 2 workings within 5 miles of Walnut Ridge Commercial Historic District: 2 past producers. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Where	Site	Commodity	Status	Recorded
	Unk	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Past Producer
	Unk	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Past Producer

Every working recorded in Lawrence County

Storms near this property

43 since 1994

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Walnut Ridge, the town this property stands in, in 43 storm reports between 1994 and 2025: 23 thunderstorm wind, 9 flash flood, 8 hail, 3 tornado. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

When	Event	Place named	Harm	What the report says
June 1994	Thunderstorm Wind	Walnut Ridge	$500,000	Thunderstorm winds, estimated up to 100 mph, blew down numerous large trees. A roof was blown off a college dormitory and several airplanes were damaged.
May 2000	Thunderstorm Wind	Walnut Ridge	$250,000	Five airplanes were damaged at the Walnut Ridge airport along with a hangar door and several skylights. A wind gust of over 60 mph was reported at the airport.
May 2021	Thunderstorm Wind	Walnut Ridge	$100,000	Windows were blown out of the Walmart and power poles were down in the parking lot. Trees were reported down and there was damage to buildings in the city.
March 2006	Thunderstorm Wind	Walnut Ridge	$75,000	A roof was blown off at a women's residence hall and a softball dugout was destroyed at Williams Baptist College. The roof of the Walnut Ridge Army Flying School Museum was torn off. Debris from the roof was carried across the street and hit the Parachute Inn Restaurant at the Walnut Ridge Airport. Roofs were also blown off of several other businesses in Walnut Ridge. Several trees and power lines were knocked down.
May 2021	Thunderstorm Wind	Walnut Ridge	$50,000	Multiple trees and power lines were down across the city. Multiple structures had damage. A tree fell onto a home with people trapped inside.
March 2004	Thunderstorm Wind	Walnut Ridge	$50,000	Several homes and farm buildings were damaged.
June 2018	Thunderstorm Wind	Walnut Ridge	$30,000	Trees and power lines down around Walnut Ridge.
January 1999	Thunderstorm Wind	Walnut Ridge	$30,000	A building lost part of its roof. A truck was overturned. Several trees were blown down.
May 1998	Tornado (F0)	Walnut Ridge	$25,000	A tornado touched down near Walnut Ridge and moved northeast. One mobile home was destroyed and several others were damaged. Several houses had roof damage.
July 2006	Thunderstorm Wind	Walnut Ridge	$15,000	Straight line winds broke eleven power poles in Walnut Ridge. Minor roof damage to homes was reported as well.
July 2004	Thunderstorm Wind	Walnut Ridge	$10,000	Several trees and power lines were blown down.
July 2004	Thunderstorm Wind	Walnut Ridge	$5,000	Some trees were knocked down.
May 2003	Flash Flood	Walnut Ridge	$5,000	Parts of some gravel roads were washed out. Several other roads were flooded. Some fields were also flooded.
April 2002	Thunderstorm Wind	Walnut Ridge	$5,000	Several trees were blown down.
January 1996	Thunderstorm Wind	Walnut Ridge	$5,000	no account filed
June 2017	Thunderstorm Wind	Walnut Ridge	$2,000	Large tree down near the Lawrence County Seed Company.
May 2008	Thunderstorm Wind	Walnut Ridge	$1,000	Straight line winds knocked down power lines in Walnut Ridge.
May 2002	Flash Flood	Walnut Ridge	$1,000	Numerous roads and low lying areas were flooded.
May 2000	Tornado (F0)	Walnut Ridge	$1,000	A tornado briefly touched down knocking over a few trees.
July 1995	Thunderstorm Wind	Walnut Ridge	$1,000	A large tree was knocked down across a road.
June 2018	Thunderstorm Wind	Walnut Ridge	$500	Tree down on 3rd Street in Walnut Ridge. Road sign blown over on Highway 63.
August 2003	Hail	Walnut Ridge	$300	no account filed
May 1997	Hail	Walnut Ridge	$110	no account filed
January 1999	Tornado (F0)	Walnut Ridge	$50	A tornado briefly touched down just northwest of Walnut Ridge producing minimal damage.
August 2004	Hail	Walnut Ridge	$50	no account filed
October 2001	Hail	Walnut Ridge	$50	no account filed
January 1999	Hail	Walnut Ridge	$10	no account filed
May 1998	Hail	Walnut Ridge	$10	no account filed
April 1998	Hail	Walnut Ridge	$10	no account filed
April 2025	Flash Flood	Walnut Ridge	-	Multiple cars were stalled in the flooded roadway at the intersection of West Mian Street and Highway 67B in the town of Hoxie.
October 2025	Flash Flood	Walnut Ridge	-	Flash flooding occurred near the intersection of Northwest 4th Street and Main Street in the town of Walnut Ridge.
January 2023	Flash Flood	Walnut Ridge	-	The emergency manager reported flooding at the intersection of NW 4th street and West Main Street in Walnut Ridge.
January 2023	Flash Flood	Walnut Ridge	-	Multiple roads in and around Walnut Ridge and Hoxie were under water and closed.
April 2023	Thunderstorm Wind	Walnut Ridge	-	Trees were down in Walnut Ridge.
August 2023	Thunderstorm Wind	Walnut Ridge	-	Multiple trees blocking roadways across the town of Walnut Ridge.
April 2022	Hail	Walnut Ridge	-	A report of ping pong ball sized hail was received near Walnut Ridge.
July 2022	Thunderstorm Wind	Walnut Ridge	-	The ASOS site at Walnut Ridge measured a 62 mph wind gust. This is a corrected storm report to the previous report that had the incorrect magnitude.
August 2020	Flash Flood	Walnut Ridge	-	Northwest 4th and Main Street were closed due to high water in Walnut Ridge.
September 2020	Flash Flood	Walnut Ridge	-	Some streets in and near Walnut Ridge were reported underwater.
August 2019	Thunderstorm Wind	Walnut Ridge	-	A storm chaser measured a 59 mph wind gust in Walnut Ridge.
June 2015	Thunderstorm Wind	Walnut Ridge	-	Several trees and power lines were knocked down by straight line winds in Walnut Ridge.
May 2011	Thunderstorm Wind	Walnut Ridge	-	Straight line winds knocked down power lines in Walnut Ridge.
June 2010	Flash Flood	Walnut Ridge	-	Heavy rain produced flash flooding in Walnut Ridge. Main Street was flooded as a result.

Every storm recorded in Lawrence County

Map coverage status

No historic map-sheet match is published for this property yet. That does not mean no map exists. This record needs a coordinate-quality review before it can be joined to a sheet boundary. Browse the county's mapped places while that work is pending.

Listed places nearby

6 within 8 miles

Other National Register properties close enough to walk or drive between, ordered by distance from this one. Both positions come from the same geocoding pass that matched these properties to their map sheets.

Property	Distance	Listed
Walnut Ridge Post Office, Old	under 500 feet	1994
Lawrence County Courthouse	under 500 feet	2015
Missouri-Pacific Depot-Walnut Ridge	0.2 miles	1992
Scott Cemetery	1.1 miles	2017
Walnut Ridge Army Airfield Access Road	3.8 miles	2016
Walnut Ridge Army Airfield Access Road	3.8 miles	2016

Sources for this property

National Archives record	The nomination case file for reference 10000286 in Record Group 79.
Wikipedia article	Community-written account of this property, licensed CC BY-SA.
Lawrence County	All 31 listed properties in this county.

Provenance

Listing record. National Park Service National Register of Historic Places, listed-properties dataset, current to 2026-05-22.
Map join. Address geocoded through the United States Census geocoder, then tested against the published boundary of every sheet in the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection.
How this page is made. Listing fields come from federal records; map-sheet coverage is a labelled coordinate-to-boundary calculation, not a source-field claim.
Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.