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Rankin

Ghost town · Little River County, Arkansas

Ashdown West quadrangle, USGS topographic map (1950, 1:24,000)
Ashdown West quadrangle, USGS topographic map (1950, 1:24,000) · U.S. Geological Survey, Historical Topographic Map Collection · Public domain

Rankin is a ghost town in Little River County, Arkansas. It is one of 5 former communities in Little River County on the federal names register. That ranks the county 65th among the 74 Arkansas counties with a vanished settlement on record.

The U.S. Geological Survey lists Rankin as a historical populated place on the Ashdown West 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 33.7126° N, 94.1474° W.

Key facts

USGS quadrangleAshdown West
Elevation309 ft
Nearest living townWilton, AR
Distance to it1.8 miles
GNIS feature ID60161
Coordinates33.71262, -94.14742

Open the location on a map

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.

Rankin today, aerial view
Ashdown West quadrangle, USGS topographic map (1950, 1:24,000)

Left: Ashdown West quadrangle, USGS topographic map (1950, 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

Rankin is no longer a community in its own right. The nearest living town is Wilton, AR (population 273), about 1.8 miles away in a straight line, and the site sits at roughly 309 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

Questions

Where is Rankin?

Rankin is in Little River County, Arkansas, at 33.7126, -94.1474.

How many ghost towns are in Little River County?

Little River County, Arkansas has 5 ghost towns on record at Wayfarrow.

Sources and licences

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.