35°N 92°W / 35°N 92°W / 35; -92 ( State of Arkansas )
119-569: The Boone–Murphy House (also known as the Boone–Murphy–Moore House ) is a historic house located in Pine Bluff, Arkansas . It is a single-story, single-pile, wood-framed structure, with a front gable roof and weatherboard siding. Shed-roof additions extend to either side, and there is bargeboard trim on the gables. The house was built c. 1860 by Thomas A. Boone and was originally located at 702 W. Second Avenue. Following
238-624: A humid subtropical climate . While not bordering the Gulf of Mexico , Arkansas, is still close enough to the warm, large body of water for it to influence the weather in the state. Generally, Arkansas, has hot, humid summers and slightly drier, mild to cool winters. In Little Rock , the daily high temperatures average around 93 °F (34 °C) with lows around 73 °F (23 °C) in July. In January highs average around 51 °F (11 °C) and lows around 32 °F (0 °C). In Siloam Springs in
357-483: A poll tax and more complex residency requirements, both of which adversely affected poor people and sharecroppers, forcing most blacks and many poor whites from voter rolls. By 1900 the Democratic Party expanded use of the white primary in county and state elections, further denying blacks a part in the political process. Only in the primary was there any competition among candidates, as Democrats held all
476-743: A southern state, sub-categorized among the West South Central States . The Mississippi River forms most of its eastern border, except in Clay and Greene counties, where the St. Francis River forms the western boundary of the Missouri Bootheel , and in many places where the channel of the Mississippi has meandered (or been straightened by man) from its original 1836 course. Arkansas can generally be split into two halves,
595-625: A 1920s appearance and is owned and operated by the Heckatoo Heritage Foundation. In 2014, the house was used by a Pine Bluff Community Watch program. In 1977, the home was relocated to West 4th Avenue to ensure that it would be located in a historic district. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on February 18, 1979. [REDACTED] Media related to Boone-Murphy House at Wikimedia Commons Pine Bluff, Arkansas Pine Bluff
714-479: A band of Confederate spies raided Clayton's headquarters. They were able to secure intelligence on Union army activities but failed to capture Clayton. During Reconstruction , Clayton mortgaged the house to Robert S. Thompson and William H. Dupuy, and when the loan was not paid the house was sold to John P. Murphy. The Murphy's lived in the house until 1892. Following John Murphy's death, his widow remarried Charles F. Moore. The Boone–Murphy House has been restored to
833-537: A combined force of federal troops and freedmen (former slaves freed by U.S. President Abraham Lincoln 's recent Emancipation Proclamation ) near Jefferson Court-House . In the final year of the Civil War, the 1st Kansas Colored Infantry Regiment (composed primarily of escaped slaves from Arkansas and Missouri ), was the first regiment of U.S. Colored Troops to see combat. It was dispatched to guard Pine Bluff and eventually mustered out there. Because of
952-420: A cost of $ 350 million, it will employ over 1,100 full-time staff. The Pine Bluff Convention Center is one of the state's largest meeting facilities. The Arts and Science Center features theatrical performances and workshops for children and adults. Pine Bluff did also boast the only Band Museum in the country but it has closed. Other areas of interest include downtown murals depicting the history of Pine Bluff,
1071-431: A household in the city was $ 30,415, and the median income for a family was $ 39,993. Males had a median income of $ 38,333 versus $ 28,936 for females. The per capita income for the city was $ 17,334. About 24.3% of families and 30.6% of the population were below the poverty line , including 45.6% of those under age 18 and 13.7% of those age 65 or over. Pine Bluff had 23 homicides in 2021. Pine Bluff had 23 murders in 2020 -
1190-432: A local deputy, tried to break up a meeting of black sharecroppers who were trying to organize a farmers' union. After a white deputy was killed in a confrontation with guards at the meeting, word spread to town and around the area. Hundreds of whites from Phillips and neighboring areas rushed to suppress the blacks, and started attacking blacks at large. Governor Charles Hillman Brough requested federal troops to stop what
1309-586: A mob of hundreds rapidly escalated to thousands of whites vehemently demanding execution, despite Kelly's pleas of innocence and lack of trial. The angry mob eventually forced over his custody from an Officer adamantly attempting to deliver the suspect to the jail house, then the crowd watched enthusiastically as he was hung and riddled with bullets. That same year the state adopted a poll tax amendment that disenfranchised many African-American and poor white voters. The Election Law of 1891 had already made voting more difficult and also caused voter rolls to decrease. With
SECTION 10
#17327916155841428-549: A number of significant construction projects. Benny Scallion Park was created, named for the alderman who brought a Japanese garden to the Pine Bluff Civic Center. The city has not maintained the garden, but a small plaque remains. In the late 1980s, The Pines, the first large, enclosed shopping center, was constructed on the east side of the city. The mall attracted increased shopping traffic from southeast Arkansas. The most important construction project of
1547-568: A powerful polity down the Mississippi River, Quigualtam . His men obeyed and did not stop with the men, but were said to have massacred women and children as well. He died the following day in what is believed to be the vicinity of modern-day McArthur, Arkansas , in May 1542. His body was weighted down with sand and he was consigned to a watery grave in the Mississippi River under cover of darkness by his men. De Soto had attempted to deceive
1666-608: A project to collect and publish oral histories of former slaves. Writers were sent throughout the South to interview former slaves, most of whom had been children before the Civil War. When the project was complete, Arkansas residents had contributed more oral slave histories (approximately 780) than any other state, although Arkansas' slave population was less than those of neighboring Deep South states. African-American residents of Pine Bluff/Jefferson County contributed more oral interviews of Arkansas-born slaves than any other city/county in
1785-519: A rate of 56.5 murders per 100,000 people. The national average was 6.5 murders per 100,000 people in 2020. Jefferson County is located in the heart of a rich agricultural area in the Arkansas River Basin. The leading products include cotton , soybeans , cattle , rice , poultry , timber and catfish . Major area employers include Jefferson Regional Medical Center, Simmons First National Corp., Tyson Foods , Evergreen Packaging,
1904-494: A refugee camp, and 24 black men, women and children were found hanging from trees in one of the worst mass lynchings in U.S. history. The rate of lynchings of black males was high across the South during this period of social tensions and white resistance to Reconstruction. Armistad Johnson was lynched in 1889, and John Kelly and Gulbert Harris in 1892 in front of the Jefferson County Courthouse, after
2023-582: A short time and often spawns smaller tornadoes. Little Rock has been Arkansas's capital city since 1821 when it replaced Arkansas Post as the capital of the Territory of Arkansas . The state capitol was moved to Hot Springs and later Washington during the American Civil War when the Union armies threatened the city in 1862, and state government did not return to Little Rock until after
2142-536: A state banking scandal and worse yet by the Panic of 1837 . In early antebellum Arkansas, the southeast Arkansas slave-based economy developed rapidly. On the eve of the American Civil War in 1860, enslaved African Americans numbered 111,115 people, just over 25% of the state's population. A plantation system based largely on cotton agriculture developed that, after the war, kept the state and region behind
2261-531: A tourist destination and the fourth-largest city of the state. It featured newly constructed, elegant resort hotels and spas planned around its natural springs, considered to have healthful properties. The town's attractions included horse racing and other entertainment. It appealed to a wide variety of classes, becoming almost as popular as Hot Springs . In the late 1880s, the worsening agricultural depression catalyzed Populist and third party movements, leading to interracial coalitions. Struggling to stay in power, in
2380-485: A variety of fashions. The region was organized as the Territory of Arkansaw on July 4, 1819, with the territory admitted to the United States as the state of Arkansas on June 15, 1836. The name was historically / ˈ ɑːr k ən s ɔː / , / ɑːr ˈ k æ n z ə s / , and several other variants. Historically and modernly, the people of Arkansas call themselves either "Arkansans" or "Arkansawyers". In 1881,
2499-706: A very important position for the Rebels, maintaining control of the Mississippi River and surrounding Southern states. The bloody Battle of Wilson's Creek just across the border in Missouri shocked many Arkansans who thought the war would be a quick and decisive Southern victory. Battles early in the war took place in northwest Arkansas, including the Battle of Cane Hill , Battle of Pea Ridge , and Battle of Prairie Grove . Union general Samuel Curtis swept across
SECTION 20
#17327916155842618-501: Is Little Rock , in the central part of the state, a hub for transportation, business, culture, and government. The northwestern corner of the state, including the Fayetteville–Springdale–Rogers Metropolitan Area and Fort Smith metropolitan area , is a population, education, and economic center. The largest city in the state's eastern part is Jonesboro . The largest city in the state's southeastern part
2737-518: Is Mount Magazine in the Ouachita Mountains , which is 2,753 feet (839 m) above sea level. Arkansas is home to many caves , such as Blanchard Springs Caverns . The State Archeologist has catalogued more than 43,000 Native American living, hunting and tool-making sites, many of them Pre-Columbian burial mounds and rock shelters. Crater of Diamonds State Park near Murfreesboro is the world's only diamond-bearing site accessible to
2856-400: Is Pine Bluff . In the 21st century, Arkansas's economy is based on service industries, aircraft, poultry, steel, and tourism, along with important commodity crops of cotton, soybeans and rice . The state supports a network of public universities and colleges, including two major university systems: Arkansas State University System and University of Arkansas System . Arkansas's culture
2975-547: Is active throughout the region. In eastern Arkansas, one can find Taxodium (cypress), Quercus nigra (water oaks), and hickories with their roots submerged in the Mississippi Valley bayous indicative of the Deep South. Saw palmetto and needle palm both range into Arkansas. Nearby Crowley's Ridge is the only home of the tulip tree in the state, and generally hosts more northeastern plant life such as
3094-850: Is divided into three broad ecoregions: the Ozark, Ouachita-Appalachian Forests , the Mississippi Alluvial and Southeast USA Coastal Plains , and the Southeastern USA Plains . The state is further divided into seven subregions: the Arkansas Valley, Boston Mountains , Mississippi Alluvial Plain , Mississippi Valley Loess Plain , Ozark Highlands, Ouachita Mountains, and the South Central Plains. A 2010 United States Forest Service survey determined 18,720,000 acres (7,580,000 ha) of Arkansas's land
3213-470: Is forestland, or 56% of the state's total area. Dominant species in Arkansas's forests include Quercus (oak), Carya (hickory), Pinus echinata (shortleaf pine) and Pinus taeda (loblolly pine). Arkansas's plant life varies with its climate and elevation. The pine belt stretching from the Arkansas delta to Texas consists of dense oak-hickory-pine growth. Lumbering and paper milling activity
3332-520: Is infrequent but most common in the northern half of the state. The half of the state south of Little Rock is more apt to see ice storms. Arkansas's record high is 120 °F (49 °C) at Ozark on August 10, 1936; the record low is −29 °F (−34 °C) at Gravette , on February 13, 1905. Arkansas is known for extreme weather and frequent storms. A typical year brings thunderstorms, tornadoes, and hail. Occasional cold snaps stand to bring varying amounts of snow, as well as ice storms. Between both
3451-476: Is land and 1.2 square miles (3.1 km ) (2.65%) is water. As of the 2020 United States census , there were 41,253 people, and 16,086 households. As of the census of 2010, there were 49,083 people, 18,071 households, and 11,594 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,048.8 inhabitants per square mile (404.9/km ). There were 20,923 housing units at an average density of 447.1 units per square mile (172.6 units/km ). The racial makeup of
3570-575: Is observable in museums, theaters, novels, television shows, restaurants, and athletic venues across the state. The name Arkansas initially applied to the Arkansas River . It derives from a French term, Arcansas , their plural term for their transliteration of akansa , an Algonquian term for the Quapaw people, which is believed to translate to "south wind people." These were a Dhegiha Siouan -speaking people who settled in Arkansas around
3689-744: Is part of the Ozark Plateau including the Ozark Mountains , to the south are the Ouachita Mountains , and these regions are divided by the Arkansas River ; the southern and eastern parts of Arkansas are called the Lowlands. These mountain ranges are part of the U.S. Interior Highlands region, the only major mountainous region between the Rocky Mountains and the Appalachian Mountains . The state's highest point
Boone–Murphy House - Misplaced Pages Continue
3808-746: Is the tenth-most populous city in the US state of Arkansas and the county seat of Jefferson County . It is the principal city of the Pine Bluff Metropolitan Statistical Area and part of the Little Rock - North Little Rock -Pine Bluff Combined Statistical Area . The population of the city was 41,253 in the 2020 census . The city is situated in the Southeast section of the Arkansas Delta and straddles
3927-520: Is the first female African American mayor. She was elected in 2016. Beginning around 2020, Utah based entrepreneur John Fenley, owner of the music streaming service Murfie , began buying properties in Pine Bluff for redevelopment. Pine Bluff is on the Arkansas River ; the community was named for a bluff along that river. Both Lake Pine Bluff and Lake Langhofer are situated within the city limits, as these are bodies of water which are remnants of
4046-762: The American Revolutionary War , a brief siege of the post by British Captain James Colbert with the assistance of the Choctaw and Chickasaw . Napoleon Bonaparte sold French Louisiana to the United States in 1803, including all of Arkansas, in a transaction known today as the Louisiana Purchase . French soldiers remained as a garrison at Arkansas Post . Following the purchase, the balanced give-and-take relationship between settlers and Native Americans began to change all along
4165-658: The Arkansas General Assembly passed Arkansas Code 1-4-105 (official text): Whereas, confusion of practice has arisen in the pronunciation of the name of our state and it is deemed important that the true pronunciation should be determined for use in oral official proceedings. And, whereas, the matter has been thoroughly investigated by the State Historical Society and the Eclectic Society of Little Rock, which have agreed upon
4284-579: The Arkansas National Guard to help segregationists prevent nine African-American students from enrolling at Little Rock's Central High School. After attempting three times to contact Faubus, President Dwight D. Eisenhower sent 1,000 troops from the active-duty 101st Airborne Division to escort and protect the African-American students as they entered school on September 25, 1957. In defiance of federal court orders to integrate,
4403-487: The Arkansas River . The area along the Arkansas River had been inhabited for thousands of years by indigenous peoples of various cultures. They used the river for transportation as did European settlers after them, and for fishing. By the time of encounter with Europeans, the historical Quapaw were the chief people in the area, having migrated from the Ohio River valley centuries before. The city of Pine Bluff
4522-559: The Arkansas Timberlands region to its west. Its topography is flat with wide expanses of farmland, similar to other places in the Delta Lowlands. Pine Bluff has numerous creeks, streams, and bayous, including Bayou Bartholomew , the longest bayou in the world and the second most ecologically diverse stream in the United States. Large bodies of water include Lake Pine Bluff, Lake Langhofer (Slack Water Harbor), and
4641-648: The Army Air Corps . At one time 275 aircraft were being used to train 758 pilots. Approximately 9,000 pilots had been trained by the time the school closed in October 1944. The Army broke ground for the Pine Bluff Arsenal on December 2, 1941, on 15,000 acres (61 km ) bought north of the city. The arsenal and Grider Field changed Pine Bluff to a more diversified economy with a mixture of industry and agriculture. The addition of small companies to
4760-499: The Confederate States of America during the American Civil War . On returning to the Union in 1868, Arkansas continued to suffer economically, due to its overreliance on the large-scale plantation economy . Cotton remained the leading commodity crop, and the cotton market declined. Because farmers and businessmen did not diversify and there was little industrial investment, the state fell behind in economic opportunity. In
4879-604: The Great Plains and the Gulf States , Arkansas, receives around 60 days of thunderstorms. Arkansas is located in Dixie alley , and very near tornado alley . As a result, a few of the most destructive tornadoes in U.S. history have struck the state. While sufficiently far from the coast to avoid a direct hit from a hurricane, Arkansas can often get the remnants of a tropical system , which dumps tremendous amounts of rain in
Boone–Murphy House - Misplaced Pages Continue
4998-463: The Mississippi River and the Arkansas Delta . Previously part of French Louisiana and the Louisiana Purchase , the Territory of Arkansas was admitted to the Union as the 25th state on June 15, 1836. Much of the Delta had been developed for cotton plantations, and landowners there largely depended on enslaved African Americans ' labor. In 1861, Arkansas seceded from the United States and joined
5117-543: The Pine Bluff Arsenal and the Union Pacific Railroad . It is the large number of paper mills in the area that give Pine Bluff its, at times, distinctive odor, a feature known prominently among Arkansans. In 2009, Pine Bluff was included on the Forbes list of America's 10 most impoverished cities. Saracen Casino Resort in Pine Bluff was the first purpose-built casino in Arkansas. Completed in 2020 at
5236-579: The Republican Party shook Little Rock and the state governorship. It was settled only when President Ulysses S. Grant ordered Joseph Brooks to disperse his militant supporters. Following the Brooks-Baxter War, a new state constitution was ratified, re-enfranchising former Confederates and effectively bringing an end to Reconstruction. In 1881, the Arkansas state legislature enacted a bill that adopted an official pronunciation of
5355-678: The Saline , Little Missouri , and Caddo Rivers are all tributaries to the Ouachita River in south Arkansas, which empties into the Mississippi in Louisiana. The Red River briefly forms the state's boundary with Texas. Arkansas has few natural lakes and many reservoirs, such as Bull Shoals Lake , Lake Ouachita , Greers Ferry Lake , Millwood Lake , Beaver Lake , Norfork Lake , DeGray Lake , and Lake Conway . Arkansas's mix of warm temperate moist forest and subtropical bottomland
5474-541: The Supreme Court ruled segregation in public schools unconstitutional in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas (1954), some students worked to integrate schools in the state. The Little Rock Nine brought Arkansas to national attention in 1957 when the federal government had to intervene to protect African-American students trying to integrate a high school in the capital. Governor Orval Faubus had ordered
5593-638: The Trail of Tears waterway who were being forcibly removed by the US Army from the American Southeast to Indian Territory west of the Mississippi River. From 1832 to 1858, Pine Bluff was also a station on the passage of Seminole and Black Seminoles , who were forcibly removed from Florida to the Territory. They included the legendary Black Seminole leader John Horse , who arrived in the city via
5712-607: The Works Progress Administration (WPA) and public works funding, Pine Bluff built new schools and a football stadium, and developed Oakland Park as its first major recreation facility. To encourage diversification in agriculture, the county built a stockyard in 1936 to serve as a sales outlet for farmers' livestock. From 1936 to 1938, the WPA through the Federal Writers Project initiated
5831-565: The beech tree. The northwestern highlands are covered in an oak-hickory mixture, with Ozark white cedars , cornus (dogwoods), and Cercis canadensis (redbuds) also present. The higher peaks in the Arkansas River Valley play host to scores of ferns, including the Physematium scopulinum and Adiantum (maidenhair fern) on Mount Magazine. The white-tailed deer is the official state mammal. Arkansas generally has
5950-524: The 13th century. Kansa is likely also the root term for Kansas , which was named after the related Kaw people . The name has been pronounced and spelled in a variety of ways. In 1881, the state legislature defined the official pronunciation of Arkansas as having the final "s" be silent (as it would be in French). A dispute had arisen between the state's two senators over the pronunciation issue. One favored / ˈ ɑːr k ən s ɔː / ( AR -kən-saw ),
6069-411: The 1830s the United States government forced the removal of many Native American tribes to Arkansas and Indian Territory west of the Mississippi River . Additional Native American removals began in earnest during the territorial period, with final Quapaw removal complete by 1833 as they were pushed into Indian Territory. The capital was relocated from Arkansas Post to Little Rock in 1821, during
SECTION 50
#17327916155846188-734: The 1870s onward, community leaders constructed large Victorian -style homes west of Main Street. Meanwhile, the Reconstruction era of the 1870s brought a stark mix of progress and challenge for African Americans. Most blacks joined the Republican Party, and several were elected in Pine Bluff to county offices and the state legislature for the first time in history. Several black-owned businesses were also opened, including banks, bars, barbershops, and other establishments. But in postwar violence in 1866, an altercation with whites ensued at
6307-471: The 1890s the Democrats in Arkansas followed other Southern states in passing legislation and constitutional amendments that disfranchised blacks and poor whites. In 1891 state legislators passed a requirement for a literacy test , knowing it would exclude many blacks and whites. At the time, more than 25% of the population could neither read nor write. In 1892, they amended the state constitution to require
6426-514: The 1940s, Arkansas began to diversify its economy and see prosperity. During the 1960s, the state became the base of the Walmart corporation, the world's largest company by revenue , headquartered in Bentonville . Arkansas is the 29th largest by area and the 34th most populous state, with a population of just over three million at the 2020 census . The capital and most populous city
6545-743: The 1960s and 1970s, major construction projects in the region included private and public sponsors: Jefferson Hospital (now Jefferson Regional Medical Center), the dams of the McClellan-Kerr Navigation System on the Arkansas River (which was diverted from the city to create Lake Langhofer), a Federal building, the Pine Bluff Convention Center complex including The Royal Arkansas Hotel & Suites, Pine Bluff Regional Park, two industrial parks and several large churches. The 1980s and 1990s brought
6664-448: The 1990s was completion of a southern bypass, designated part of Interstate 530 . In addition, a highway and bridge across Lock and Dam #4 were completed, providing another link between farm areas in northeastern Jefferson County and the transportation system radiating from Pine Bluff. Through a private matching grant, a multimillion-dollar Arts and Science Center for Southeast Arkansas was completed downtown in 1994. In 2000, construction
6783-497: The Branch Normal School of the Arkansas Industrial University, a historically black college . Founded as Arkansas's first black public college, today it is the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff . Pine Bluff and the region suffered lasting effects from defeat, the aftermath of war, and the trauma of slavery and exploitation. Recovery was slow at first. Construction of railroads improved access to markets, and with increased production of cotton as more plantations were reactivated,
6902-483: The Delta. Many Chinese became such successful merchants in small towns that they were able to educate their children at college. Construction of railroads enabled more farmers to get their products to market. It also brought new development into different parts of the state, including the Ozarks, where some areas were developed as resorts. In a few years at the end of the 19th century, for instance, Eureka Springs in Carroll County grew to 10,000 people, rapidly becoming
7021-443: The Democratic Party consolidating its power in what became a one-party state, the atmosphere was grim toward the end of the 19th century for many African Americans. Democrats imposed legal segregation and other Jim Crow laws. Bishop Henry McNeal Turner 's "Back to Africa" movement attracted numbers of local African-American residents who purchased tickets and/or sought information on emigration. Arkansas had 650 emigrants depart to
7140-494: The French Jacques Marquette and Louis Jolliet in 1673, and Frenchmen Robert La Salle and Henri de Tonti in 1681. Tonti established Arkansas Post at a Quapaw village in 1686, making it the first European settlement in the territory. The early Spanish or French explorers of the state gave it its name, which is probably a phonetic spelling of the Illinois tribe's name for the Quapaw people, who lived downriver from them. The name Arkansas has been pronounced and spelled in
7259-438: The Irish founded small communities in the southeast part of the state. The Germans were mostly Lutheran and the Slovaks were primarily Catholic. The Irish were mostly Protestant from Ulster , of Scots and Northern Borders descent. Some early 20th-century immigration included people from eastern Europe. Together, these immigrants made the Delta more diverse than the rest of the state. In the same years, some black migrants moved into
SECTION 60
#17327916155847378-400: The Mississippi River include the Arkansas River , the White River , and the St. Francis River . The Arkansas is fed by the Mulberry and Fourche LaFave Rivers in the Arkansas River Valley, which is also home to Lake Dardanelle . The Buffalo , Little Red , Black and Cache Rivers are all tributaries to the White River , which also empties into the Mississippi. Bayou Bartholomew and
7497-407: The Ozark Mountains, Ouachita Mountains, Arkansas River Valley , Gulf Coastal Plain, Crowley's Ridge , and the Arkansas Delta, with Central Arkansas sometimes included as a blend of multiple regions. The southeastern part of Arkansas along the Mississippi Alluvial Plain is sometimes called the Arkansas Delta. This region is a flat landscape of rich alluvial soils formed by repeated flooding of
7616-403: The Pine Bluff/Jefferson County Historical Museum, Arkansas Entertainers Hall of Fame and the Arkansas Railroad Museum. Arkansas Arkansas ( / ˈ ɑːr k ən s ɔː / AR -kən-saw ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States . It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to
7735-549: The Union forces, Pine Bluff attracted many refugees and freedmen after the Emancipation Proclamation was issued in early 1863. The Union forces set up a contraband camp there to house the runaway slaves and refugees behind Confederate lines. After the war, freed slaves worked with the American Missionary Association to start schools for the education of blacks, who had been prohibited from learning to read and write by southern laws. Both adults and children eagerly started learning. By September 1872, Professor Joseph C. Corbin opened
7854-461: The adjacent Mississippi. Farther from the river, in the southeastern part of the state, the Grand Prairie has a more undulating landscape. Both are fertile agricultural areas. The Delta region is bisected by a geological formation known as Crowley's Ridge . A narrow band of rolling hills, Crowley's Ridge rises 250 to 500 feet (76 to 152 m) above the surrounding alluvial plain and underlies many of eastern Arkansas's major towns. Northwest Arkansas
7973-413: The area because of opportunities to develop the bottomlands and own their own property. Black sharecroppers began to try to organize a farmers' union after World War I. They were seeking better conditions of payment and accounting from white landowners of the area cotton plantations. Whites resisted any change and often tried to break up their meetings. On September 30, 1919, two white men, including
8092-454: The area to provide for flood control and protect from channel shift. One of the world's longest individual levees at 380 miles runs from Pine Bluff to Venice , Louisiana . Pine Bluff is the largest city in a three-county MSA as defined by the U.S. Census Bureau including Jefferson , Cleveland , and Lincoln counties. The Pine Bluff MSA population in 2000 was 107,341 people. The Pine Bluff MSA population in 2007 dropped to 101,484. Pine Bluff
8211-433: The area, making it by 1890 the state's third-largest city. The first telephone system was placed in service March 31, 1883. Wiley Jones , a freedman who achieved wealth by his own business, built the first mule-drawn, street-car line in October 1886. The first light, power and water plant was completed in 1887; a more dependable light and water system was put in place in 1912. Throughout the 1880s and 1890s, economic expansion
8330-427: The bluff. In 1829 Thomas Phillips claimed a half section of land where Pine Bluff is located. Jefferson County was established by the Territorial Legislature on November 2, 1829, and began functioning as a county April 19, 1830. At the August 13, 1832, county election, the pine bluff settlement was chosen as the county seat. The Quorum Court voted to name the village "Pine Bluff Town" on October 16, 1832. Pine Bluff
8449-563: The city was 75.6% Black or African American , 21.8% White , 0.2% Native American , 0.63% Asian , 0.01% Pacific Islander , 0.68% from other races , and 1.1% from two or more races. 1.5% of the population were Latino of any race. There were 18,071 households, out of which 28.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 31.3% were married couples living together, 27.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.8% were non-families. 31.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.6% had someone living alone who
8568-423: The city's business district grew rapidly. The Masonic Lodge, built by and for the African-American chapter in the city, was the tallest building in Pine Bluff when completed in 1904. The Hotel Pines, constructed in 1912, had an intricate marble interior and classical design, and was considered one of Arkansas' showcase hotels. The 1,500-seat Saenger Theater , built in 1924, was one of the largest such facilities in
8687-501: The city, leaving a small oxbow lake (later expanded into Lake Pine Bluff). River traffic diminished, even as the river was a barrier separating one part of the county from the other. After many years of regional haggling, because the bond issue involved raised taxes, the county built the Free Bridge, which opened in 1914. For the first time, it united the county on a permanent basis. African Americans in Pine Bluff were damaged by
8806-472: The colony of Liberia in West Africa, more than from any other state in the United States. The majority of these emigrants came from the black-majority Jefferson, St. Francis, Pulaski, Pope, and Conway counties. According to historian James Leslie, Pine Bluff entered its "Golden Era" in the 1880s. Cotton production and river commerce helped the city draw industries, public institutions and residents to
8925-570: The commencement program for Arkansas AM&N College (now the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff ). The decade of the 1960s brought heightened activism in the civil rights movement: through boycotts and demonstrations, African Americans demanded an end to segregated public facilities and jobs. Some whites responded with violence, attacking demonstrators, and bombing a black church in Pine Bluff in 1963. Some civil rights demonstrators were shot. Local leaders worked tirelessly, at times enlisting
9044-492: The common pronunciation of the name of their state. Settlers, such as fur trappers, moved to Arkansas in the early 18th century. These people used Arkansas Post as a home base and entrepôt . During the colonial period, Arkansas changed hands between France and Spain following the Seven Years' War , although neither showed interest in the remote settlement of Arkansas Post. In April 1783, Arkansas saw its only battle of
9163-604: The correct pronunciation as derived from history, and the early usage of the American immigrants. Be it therefore resolved by both houses of the General Assembly, that the only true pronunciation of the name of the state, in the opinion of this body, is that received by the French from the native Indians and committed to writing in the French word representing the sound. It should be pronounced in three (3) syllables, with
9282-523: The cotton plantation economy in southeast Arkansas firmly supported slavery, as they perceived slave labor as the best or "only" economically viable method of harvesting their commodity crops. The "hill country" of northwest Arkansas was unable to grow cotton and relied on a cash-scarce, subsistence farming economy. As European Americans settled throughout the East Coast and into the Midwest, in
9401-656: The draft, high taxes, and martial law. Under the Military Reconstruction Act , Congress declared Arkansas restored to the Union in June 1868, after the Legislature accepted the 14th Amendment. The Republican-controlled reconstruction legislature established universal male suffrage (though temporarily disfranchising former Confederate Army officers, who were all Democrats), a public education system for blacks and whites, and passed general issues to improve
9520-461: The economy began to recover. The first railroad reached Pine Bluff in December 1873. This same year Pine Bluff's first utility was formed when Pine Bluff Gas Company began furnishing manufactured gas from coke fuel for lighting purposes. The state's economy remained highly dependent on cotton and agriculture, which suffered a decline through the 19th century. As personal fortunes increased from
9639-491: The evacuation of Little Rock by Confederate forces on September 10, 1863, the citizens of Pine Bluff asked that a Union garrison be stationed there for their protection. Union Army Major-General Frederick Steele sent the 5th Kansas Cavalry and 1st Indiana Cavalry to Pine Bluff to establish a garrison . Colonel Powell Clayton established his headquarters and home in the Boone-Murphy house. in 1863. In October 1863
9758-468: The final "s" silent, the "a" in each syllable with the Italian sound, and the accent on the first and last syllables. The pronunciation with the accent on the second syllable with the sound of "a" in "man" and the sounding of the terminal "s" is an innovation to be discouraged. Citizens of the state of Kansas often pronounce the Arkansas River as / ɑːr ˈ k æ n z ə s / , in a manner similar to
9877-565: The frontier, including in Arkansas. Following a controversy over allowing slavery in the territory , the Territory of Arkansas was organized on July 4, 1819. Gradual emancipation in Arkansas was struck down by one vote, the Speaker of the House Henry Clay , allowing Arkansas to organize as a slave territory. Slavery became a wedge issue in Arkansas, forming a geographic divide that remained for decades. Owners and operators of
9996-471: The governor and city of Little Rock decided to close the high schools for the remainder of the school year. By the fall of 1959, the Little Rock high schools were completely integrated. Arkansas borders Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, Oklahoma to the west, Missouri to the north, and Tennessee and Mississippi to the east. The United States Census Bureau classifies Arkansas as
10115-629: The highlands in the northwest and the lowlands of the southeast. The highlands are part of the Southern Interior Highlands, including The Ozarks and the Ouachita Mountains . The southern lowlands include the Gulf Coastal Plain and the Arkansas Delta . This split can yield to a regional division into northwest, southwest, northeast, southeast, and central Arkansas. These regions are broad and not defined along county lines. Arkansas has seven distinct natural regions:
10234-530: The historical Arkansas River channel. (The former is a man-made expansion of a natural oxbow; the latter was created by diking the old channel after a man-made diversion.) Consequently, the Mississippi Alluvial Plain (or the Arkansas Delta ) runs well into the city with Bayou Bartholomew picking up the western border as a line of demarcation between the Arkansas Delta and the Arkansas Timberlands . A series of levees and dams surrounds
10353-467: The hogs and later, commanded by former aide-de-camp Moscoso, attempted an overland return to Mexico. They made it as far as Texas before running into territory too dry for maize farming and too thinly populated to sustain themselves by stealing food from the locals. The expedition promptly backtracked to Arkansas. After building a small fleet of boats they then headed down the Mississippi River and eventually on to Mexico by water. Later explorers included
10472-610: The industrial base helped the economy remain steady in the late 1940s. Defense spending in association with the Korean War was a stabilizing factor after 1950. In 1957, Richard Anderson announced the construction of a kraft paper mill north of the city. International Paper Co. shortly afterward bought a plant site five miles east of Pine Bluff. Residential developments followed for expected workers. The next year young minister Martin Luther King Jr. addressed students at
10591-538: The late 19th century, the state instituted various Jim Crow laws to disenfranchise and segregate the African-American population. White interests dominated Arkansas's politics, with disenfranchisement of African Americans and refusal to reapportion the legislature; only after the federal legislation passed were more African Americans able to vote. During the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s, Arkansas and particularly Little Rock were major battlegrounds for efforts to integrate schools. Following World War II in
10710-604: The nation for decades. The wealth developed among planters of southeast Arkansas caused a political rift between the northwest and southeast. Many politicians were elected to office from the Family , the Southern rights political force in antebellum Arkansas. Residents generally wanted to avoid a civil war. When the Gulf states seceded in early 1861, delegates to a convention called to determine whether Arkansas should secede referred
10829-493: The native population into thinking he was an immortal deity, sun of the sun, in order to forestall attack by outraged Native Americans on his by then weakened and bedraggled army. In order to keep the ruse up, his men informed the locals that de Soto had ascended into the sky. His will at the time of his death listed "four Indian slaves, three horses and 700 hogs" which were auctioned off. The starving men, who had been living off maize stolen from natives, immediately started butchering
10948-456: The northwest part of the state, the average high and low temperatures in July are 89 and 67 °F (32 and 19 °C) and in January the average high and low are 44 and 23 °F (7 and −5 °C). Annual precipitation throughout the state averages between about 40 and 60 inches (1,000 and 1,500 mm); it is somewhat wetter in the south and drier in the northern part of the state. Snowfall
11067-703: The order of President Franklin D. Roosevelt given shortly after Imperial Japan 's attack on Pearl Harbor , nearly 16,000 Japanese Americans were forcibly removed from the West Coast of the United States and incarcerated in two internment camps in the Arkansas Delta . The Rohwer Camp in Desha County operated from September 1942 to November 1945 and at its peak interned 8,475 prisoners. The Jerome War Relocation Center in Drew County operated from October 1942 to June 1944 and held about 8,000. After
11186-481: The other / ɑːr ˈ k æ n z ə s / ( ar- KAN -zəs ). In 2007, the state legislature passed a non-binding resolution declaring that the possessive form of the state's name is Arkansas's , which the state government has increasingly followed. Before European settlement of North America, Arkansas, was inhabited by indigenous peoples for thousands of years. The Caddo , Osage , and Quapaw peoples encountered European explorers. The first of these Europeans
11305-471: The power. The state was a Democratic one-party state for decades, until after passage of the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965 to enforce constitutional rights. Between 1905 and 1911, Arkansas began to receive a small immigration of German , Slovak , and Scots-Irish from Europe. The German and Slovak peoples settled in the eastern part of the state known as the Prairie , and
11424-569: The problems of economic conditions during the Great Depression . Pine Bluff residents scrambled to survive. In 1930, two of the larger banks failed. The state's highway construction program in the later 1920s and early 1930s, facilitating trade between Pine Bluff and other communities throughout southeast Arkansas, was critical to Jefferson County, too. After the inauguration of President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933, he launched many government programs to benefit local communities. Through
11543-405: The public for digging. Arkansas is home to a dozen Wilderness Areas totaling 158,444 acres (641.20 km ). These areas are set aside for outdoor recreation and are open to hunting, fishing, hiking, and primitive camping. No mechanized vehicles nor developed campgrounds are allowed in these areas. Arkansas has many rivers, lakes, and reservoirs within or along its borders. Major tributaries to
11662-468: The question back to the voters for a referendum to be held in August. Arkansas did not secede until Abraham Lincoln demanded Arkansas troops be sent to Fort Sumter to quell the rebellion there . On May 6, the members of the state convention, having been recalled by the convention president, voted to terminate Arkansas's membership in the Union and join the Confederate States of America . Arkansas held
11781-473: The south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma to the west. Its name derives from the Osage language , and refers to their relatives, the Quapaw people. The state's diverse geography ranges from the mountainous regions of the Ozark and Ouachita Mountains , which make up the U.S. Interior Highlands , to the densely forested land in the south known as the Arkansas Timberlands , to the eastern lowlands along
11900-606: The state and help more of the population. The State soon came under control of the Radical Republicans and Unionists, and led by Governor Powell Clayton , they presided over a time of great upheaval as Confederate sympathizers and the Ku Klux Klan fought the new developments, particularly voting rights for African Americans. In 1874, the Brooks-Baxter War , a political struggle between factions of
12019-469: The state to Helena in the Delta in 1862. Little Rock was captured the following year. The government shifted the state Confederate capital to Hot Springs , and then again to Washington from 1863 to 1865, for the remainder of the war. Throughout the state, guerrilla warfare ravaged the countryside and destroyed cities. Passion for the Confederate cause waned after implementation of programs such as
12138-488: The state's disfranchisement in 1891–1892 and exclusion from the political system. But they continued to work for their rights; they joined activists in Little Rock and Hot Springs in a sustained boycott of streetcars, protesting passage in 1903 of the Segregated Streetcar Act, part of a series of Jim Crow laws passed by the white-dominated legislature. They did not achieve change then. Development in
12257-462: The state's name, to combat a controversy then simmering. (See Law and Government below.) After Reconstruction, the state began to receive more immigrants and migrants . Chinese, Italian , and Syrian men were recruited for farm labor in the developing Delta region. None of these nationalities stayed long at farm labor; the Chinese especially, as they quickly became small merchants in towns around
12376-510: The state. The city served to compile a valuable storehouse of oral slave narrative material. During the 1933 Mississippi River flood, country singer Johnny Cash evacuated to Pine Bluff. World War II brought profound changes to Pine Bluff and its agriculture, timber and railroad-oriented economy. The Army built Grider Field Airport which housed the Pine Bluff School of Aviation and furnished flight training for air cadets for
12495-623: The state; it operated the state's largest pipe organ. When Dollarway Road was completed in 1914, it was the longest continuous stretch of concrete road in the United States. The first radio station (WOK) broadcast in Arkansas occurred in Pine Bluff on February 18, 1922. Two natural disasters had devastating effects on the area's economy. The first was the Great Flood of 1927 , a 100-year flood . Due to levee breaks, most of northern and southeastern Jefferson County were flooded. The severe drought of 1930 caused another failure of crops, adding to
12614-459: The steamboat Swan in 1842. Pine Bluff was prospering by the outbreak of the Civil War ; most of its wealth was based on the commodity crop of cotton. This was cultivated on large plantations by hundreds of thousands of enslaved Africans throughout the state, but especially in the Delta. The city had one of the largest slave populations in the state by 1860, and Jefferson County, Arkansas
12733-416: The support of national figures such as Dick Gregory and Stokely Carmichael , to help bring about change over the period. Voter registration drives that enabled increased black political participation, selective buying campaigns, student protests, and a desire among white local business leaders to avoid damaging negative media portrayals in the national media led to reforms in public accommodations. During
12852-547: The territorial period. When Arkansas applied for statehood, the slavery issue was again raised in Washington, D.C. Congress eventually approved the Arkansas Constitution after a 25-hour session, admitting Arkansas on June 15, 1836, as the 25th state and the 13th slave state , having a population of about 60,000. Arkansas struggled with taxation to support its new state government, a problem made worse by
12971-475: The two largest metropolitan areas. Other cities in Arkansas include Pine Bluff , Crossett , Bryant , Lake Village , Hot Springs , Bentonville , Texarkana , Sherwood , Jacksonville , Russellville , Bella Vista , West Memphis , Paragould , Cabot , Searcy , Van Buren , El Dorado , Blytheville , Harrison , Dumas , Rison , Warren , and Mountain Home . The United States Census Bureau estimated that
13090-751: The war ended. Today, the Little Rock–North Little Rock–Conway metropolitan area is the largest in the state, with a population of 724,385 in 2013. The Fayetteville–Springdale–Rogers Metropolitan Area is the second-largest metropolitan area in Arkansas, growing at the fastest rate due to the influx of businesses and the growth of the University of Arkansas and Walmart . The state has eight cities with populations above 50,000 (based on 2010 census). In descending order of size, they are Little Rock , Fort Smith , Fayetteville , Springdale , Jonesboro , North Little Rock , Conway , and Rogers . Of these, only Fort Smith and Jonesboro are outside
13209-452: Was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.49 and the average family size was 3.14. In the city, the population was spread out, with 25.5% under the age of 18, 13.4% from 18 to 24, 24.3% from 25 to 44, 24.4% from 45 to 64, and 12.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33.4 years. For every 100 females, there were 90.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 85.6 males. The median income for
13328-502: Was Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto in 1541, who crossed the Mississippi and marched across central Arkansas and the Ozark Mountains. After finding nothing he considered of value and encountering native resistance the entire way, he and his men returned to the Mississippi River where de Soto fell ill. From his deathbed he ordered his men to massacre all the men of the nearby village of Anilco, who he feared had been plotting with
13447-419: Was also fueled by the growing lumber industry in the region. Situated on the Arkansas River, Pine Bluff depended on river traffic and trade. Community leaders were concerned that the main channel would leave the city. The United States Army Corps of Engineers built a levee opposite Pine Bluff to try to keep the river flowing by the city. During a later flood, the main channel of the river moved away from
13566-549: Was called the Elaine massacre . White mobs spread throughout the county, killing an estimated 237 blacks before most of the violence was suppressed after October 1. Five whites also died in the incident. The governor accompanied the troops to the scene; President Woodrow Wilson had approved their use. The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 flooded the areas along the Ouachita Rivers along with many other rivers. Based on
13685-447: Was completed on the 43,000-square-foot (4,000 m ) Donald W. Reynolds Community Services Center. Carl Redus became the first African American mayor in the city's history in 2005. The University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff recently opened a $ 3 million business incubator in downtown Pine Bluff. Also, a new $ 2 million farmers market pavilion was opened in 2010 on Lake Pine Bluff in downtown Pine Bluff. Shirley Washington
13804-647: Was founded on a high bank of the Arkansas River heavily forested with tall pine trees. The high ground furnished settlers a safe haven from annual flooding. Joseph Bonne, a Métis fur trader and trapper of mixed Quapaw and colonial French ancestry, settled on this bluff in 1819. After the Quapaw signed a treaty with the United States in 1824 relinquishing their title to all the lands which they claimed in Arkansas , many other American settlers began to join Bonne on
13923-491: Was incorporated January 8, 1839, by the order of County Judge Taylor. At the time, the village had about 50 residents. Improved transportation aided in the growth of Pine Bluff during the 1840s and 1850s. With its proximity to the Arkansas River, the small town served as a port for travel and shipping. Steamships provided the primary mode of transport, arriving from downriver ports such as New Orleans . From 1832 to 1838, Pine Bluff residents would see Native American migrants on
14042-584: Was second in cotton production in the state. When Union forces occupied Little Rock , a group of Pine Bluff residents asked commanding Major General Frederick Steele to send Union forces to occupy their town to protect them from bands of Confederate bushwhackers . Union troops under Colonel Powell Clayton arrived September 17, 1863, and stayed until the war was over. On October 25, 1863, Confederate cavalry , led by Brigadier-General John S. Marmaduke , attempted to expel Union occupation forces commanded by Colonel Powell Clayton ; but were defeated by
14161-614: Was the fastest-declining Arkansas MSA from 2000 to 2007. The Pine Bluff area is also a component of the Little Rock-North Little Rock-Pine Bluff Combined Statistical Area which had a population of 902,443 people in the 2014 U.S. census estimate. According to the United States Census Bureau , the city has a total area of 46.8 square miles (121 km ), of which 45.6 square miles (118 km )
#583416