24/7 Trauma & Biohazard Cleanup Near Downtown Vandervoort Vandervoort, AR

Vandervoort is a small town in southern Polk County covering only 0.29 square miles, and it was a key stop on the Kansas City, Pittsburg and Gulf Railroad, later the Kansas City Southern.

Vandervoort stands on land farmed by Francis Marion Cecil and his family; when the townsite was first laid out it was called Janssen, after the maiden name of railroad financier Jan DeGeoijen's wife.

In 1907 the town's name was changed to Vandervoort in honor of Jan DeGeoijen's mother, whose maiden name was Van der Voort.

Vandervoort was incorporated in 1896, according to the Encyclopedia of Arkansas.

In the early 1900s Vandervoort boomed to more than 550 people, with eight general stores, four hotels, a bank, doctors, drug stores, saloons, livery stables, planing mills, a cotton gin, and blacksmith shops.

Vandervoort declined after U.S. Highway 71 was built in 1941 on a route bypassing the town, running directly from Cove to Hatton instead.

The 2020 census counted 115 people in Vandervoort, up from 87 in 2010, and the 2000 census recorded 120 residents in 42 households.