When Vilonia was originally settled in the 1860s, it was listed as Cypress Township, but settlers quickly named it Vilsonia, or "land of two valleys". When the local Masons applied for national affiliation, a transcription error removed the 's', leaving the town, officially, Vilonia. It was incorporated on August 23, 1938, under the leadership of Mayor Thomas Henry Hill.
Disasters
2011 Tornado
A small portion of the town was destroyed by a tornado on the evening of April 25, 2011. The devastated area was a mobile home park. The tornado was confirmed and rated high end EF2 by National Weather Service survey crews. Four people were killed in the Vilonia area as a result of the twister.
2014 Tornado
On April 27, 2014 in the late evening hours, a violent EF4 tornado slammed through Mayflower and continued on into Vilonia just before 8 PM. Sixteen people were killed, several homes in one subdivision were swept clean off their foundations, a 15-ton fertilizer tank was thrown 3/4 of a mile, and several businesses were damaged or destroyed, including the new Vilonia Intermediate School, which had been set to open in the fall. The rating is disputed due to the fact that houses were completely obliterated. The NWS office in Little Rock said that if it occurred before the EF-Scale was implemented in 2007, it more than likely would have been rated F5. There was consideration for upgrading the tornado to EF5 status, but due to the low quality of construction, the EF4 rating stands. On May 7, 2014, President Barack Obama visited the city to view the damage and reconstruction efforts. With him were Governor Mike Beebe, Senator Mark Pryor, and Representative Tim Griffin.
For current census demographics: As of the census of 2000, there were 2,106 people, 726 households, and 612 families residing in the town. The population density was 327.6 inhabitants per square mile. There were 785 housing units at an average density of 122.1 per square mile. The racial makeup of the town was 98.39% White, 0.14% Black or African American, 0.52% Native American, 0.19% Asian, 0.19% from other races, and 0.57% from two or more races. 1.28% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. There were 726 households out of which 51.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 69.7% were married couples living together, 10.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 15.7% were non-families. 13.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 4.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.90 and the average family size was 3.16. In the town the population was spread out with 33.0% under the age of 18, 7.2% from 18 to 24, 35.4% from 25 to 44, 16.6% from 45 to 64, and 7.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females, there were 97.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.4 males. The median income for a household in the town was $45,147, and the median income for a family was $50,184. Males had a median income of $33,684 versus $26,563 for females. The per capita income for the town was $17,495. About 6.1% of families and 7.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 9.0% of those under age 18 and 11.9% of those age 65 or over.
