Compton
Ghost town · Hempstead County, Arkansas

Compton is a ghost town in Hempstead County, Arkansas. It is one of 13 former communities in Hempstead County on the federal names register. That ranks the county 18th among the 74 Arkansas counties with a vanished settlement on record.
The U.S. Geological Survey lists Compton as a historical populated place on the Nashville topographic quadrangle: the name is no longer in official use for a community, whether the settlement was abandoned, absorbed into a neighbouring town or renamed. The recorded location is 33.9265° N, 93.8018° W.
Key facts
| USGS quadrangle | Nashville |
|---|---|
| Elevation | 444 ft |
| Nearest living town | Nashville, AR |
| Distance to it | 3 miles |
| GNIS feature ID | 61422 |
| Coordinates | 33.92650, -93.80185 |
Then and now
Drag the slider: the old USGS map on the left, the same ground from the air today on the right. Both cover the same 1.9-mile square centred on the recorded location.

Left: Nashville quadrangle, USGS topographic map (1951, 1:24,000), U.S. Geological Survey, Historical Topographic Map Collection. Right: The same ground today: NAIP aerial imagery, USDA Farm Service Agency, National Agriculture Imagery Program (via USGS). Both public domain.
What's there now
Compton is no longer a community in its own right. The nearest living town is Nashville, AR (population 4,114), about 3 miles away in a straight line, and the site sits at roughly 444 feet above sea level. The aerial view above shows what covers the ground today. Much of the land around former townsites is private; check access before you visit.
Nearby places
- Amityghost town · Howard County · 4.4 mi
- Wakefieldghost town · Howard County · 4.8 mi
- Pump Springsghost town · Howard County · 5.4 mi
- Beltonghost town · Hempstead County · 6.1 mi
- Mount Oliveghost town · Howard County · 6.2 mi
- Ballghost town · Pike County · 7.7 mi
- Forgyghost town · Howard County · 8.3 mi
- Maxwellghost town · Pike County · 8.5 mi
- Westbrookghost town · Hempstead County · 9.3 mi
- Academyghost town · Hempstead County · 9.5 mi
- Kimberlyghost town · Pike County · 10.4 mi
- Dotson Stationghost town · Hempstead County · 10.8 mi
Questions
Where is Compton?
Compton is in Hempstead County, Arkansas, at 33.9265, -93.8018.
How many ghost towns are in Hempstead County?
Hempstead County, Arkansas has 13 ghost towns on record at Wayfarrow.
- USGS Geographic Names Information System (Domestic Names) — GNIS Domestic Names, feature record (public-domain)
- U.S. Census Bureau TIGER/Line and ACS — Census Gazetteer + ACS 5-year population (public-domain)
Facts marked "approximately" carry an uncertain date in the source. Text on this page is generated from the sources above; no encyclopedia prose is copied. Last updated 2026-11-05.