Love's Truck Stop
October 17, 2022
I started my day in Flippin. Main Street of the town has the all too familiar look of so many small town Main Streets -- lovely old buildings that are empty. When Walmart comes to town. Flippin is the home of Ranger Boats which, while I have never heard of them, looks like they make
Old train station fixed up and is now a drug store.
Cotter, Arkansas -- self proclaimed trout capital of the USA.
Henderson -- the only town on Lake Newport and home of some big billboards!
Little town of Viola -- impressive that a town of under 400 people could win high school state championships! I thought the photo of the senior class was telling.
I have seen this story a hundred times by now but each time it still hits me. These two photos are from the square in Salem, the county seat of Fulton County. You can tell that at one time there was a vibrant community here, with stores and restaurants o the four sides of the town square with the courthouse in the middle. Now there is no life -- and likely never will be again. These buildings will be standing in 100 years -- they were built with such craftsmanship and hope -- no one ever thought at that time that they would just be remains of what was.
Salem is the county seat of Fulton County, Arkansas, United States. Salem was first incorporated in 1900. As of the 2010 census the population stood at 1,635.
Smallmouth bass fishing and canoeing exist in the nearby South Fork of the Spring River. It is also not far to White River, nationally known for its big rainbow and brown trout, or to Spring River and the Strawberry River. Both the Spring and Strawberry are excellent float streams, with the added bonus of rainbow trout and walleye in Spring River, and the smallmouth bass, crappie and bream in the Strawberry River. The Spring river boasts some popular canoe rental and tourist companies which facilitate impromptu weekend canoe or camping trips.
The landscape is especially beautiful during the fall, and the focal overlooking hill, the Salem Knob (historically a public park, now privately owned) and surrounding area offers many photographic opportunities.
The area has a culture rich in originating the bluegrass music tradition, and each year boasts the Fulton County Homecoming event that allows local and visiting artists to gather and perform on the town square.
Mammoth Spring State Park hosts an annual Old Soldiers Reunion, which originated as a way to celebrate the reunification of the Confederacy with the Union following the Civil War. Now, the Reunion is a fair-like event that offers entertaining Civil War Re-enactments, rides, games, traditional bluegrass and other varieties of music entertainment for a three- or four-day period annually.
During the annual Fulton County Fair, there is a public area behind the Salem City Park which hosts rodeos, tractor pulls, livestock shows, concerts, rides and games.
Hardy is a 2nd Oldest city in Sharp and Fulton counties in Arkansas. The population was down to 765 in 2020
n the early 1950s, the Horrell and Clay families both had grocery stores there. Conway Horn ran a general mercantile store. Charles Cone ran the Western Auto Store. Two places to eat were Bonnie's Cafe and Mrs. Rogers' sundries store. Arthur Snow was a pharmacist and owned a drugstore. The agent for the Frisco Railroad was Virgil L. Walker, Jr. Dink Booth was the barber. The Thomsons ran the movie theater, and Ben Dalton published a newspaper. Ottie Cate ran a poultry and ice house, and Bill Shaver had the Standard Oil service station. Tom Walker was in charge of the local bank, and Woodrow Wilson ran a Mobil service station. "Peavine" Clouse was the city marshal. "Guinea" Gray was a local painter, and Clifford Brummet had the contract to carry the mail between the post office and the arriving trains. He also had a farm near Hardy. Arthur Garner sold real estate. Dewey Dark ran the Rose Hill Resort. Doctor Miller was a local medical doctor. Leonard Johns worked at the Post Office. Two famous residents were the Wilburn Brothers Doyle and Teddy born here in 1930 and 1931.
The Discovery Channel reality television series Clash of the Ozarks is set in Hardy. The program focuses on the lives of the people in the community.
Outside of Hardy I came across this .... I am not sure what to call it. Art? I took too many photos as I was trying to figure out what its purpose is.
Pocahontas was named after the Native American from Jamestown, Virginia. A statue of her is located in Overlook Park along the Black River.
The family of Dr. Ransom S. Bettis is given the credit for being the first settlers on the land now called Pocahontas. Dr. Bettis' daughter, Cinderella, married Thomas S. Drew, and lived on 800 acres where the town of Biggers now exists. Bettis and Drew led the founding of Pocahontas as the county seat of Randolph County.
Randolph County is famous for many "firsts"; Arkansas' oldest town, Davidsonville, was established in 1815. The first Arkansas post office was built in Davidsonville in 1817, and the first state courthouse was established in 1818. The earliest land claim was in 1809 near what is now Ravenden Springs. The first actual term of court convened in Arkansas was in 1815 in a part of Lawrence County that was given over to Randolph County. And the country's first overland route, the Natchitoches Trail, went through parts of Randolph County.
In 1835, the Territorial Legislature granted the formation of Randolph County from part of the area then called Lawrence County. The county was named after John Randolph, who was one of the first settlers in the area.
Randolph County encompasses the rolling hills of the Ozarks to the west and rich, flat farmland of the Mississippi Delta to the east. Five rivers flow through the county, providing access to fishing and canoeing. Soybeans, rice, and other grains are the principal crops in the Delta region, while cattle ranching dominates the hill country. The poultry industry is also a vital part of the area economy.
During the early part of the Civil War, Camp Shaver, located in Pocahontas, was the headquarters for Confederate forces west of the Mississippi River.
The industrial base is diversified, with products such as shoes, large truck trailers, technical components for communications, picture frames, golf bags and luggage, tool boxes, wood products and more.
Pocahontas is the county seat with a population of 6,616. The other 10,407 residents of Randolph County live in rural areas and five incorporated communities - Maynard, Biggers, Reyno, Ravenden Springs and O'Kean.
Local legend holds that Pocahontas was named the county seat through an act of trickery. Supposedly, at the county meeting to determine which city would receive the title, the delegation from Pocahontas brought in large quantities of alcohol and distributed them to the other delegations. When the time came to vote, the only delegation not passed out or otherwise influenced was that from Pocahontas.
Biggers. Another one. I took the photo of the antiques store to remind me that I saw many of these yesterday. Antique stores are almost as numerous as BBQ restaurants and restaurants that serve catfish.
Finally, I came to Success. I should not have been surprised by what I found but I was.
Success is a town in Clay County, Arkansas, United States. The population was 149 at the 2010 census.
The origin of the name "Success" is obscure.
Success was established during the railroad and timber boom that came to northeastern Arkansas during the late 19th century. The community received a post office with the name “Success” in 1895, and incorporated in 1903.
Success is located in northwestern Clay County just east of the Little Black River, a tributary of the Current River. The town lies at the intersection of Arkansas Highway 211 and Arkansas Highway 328, northwest of Corning, and 2.7 miles south of the Arkansas-Missouri state line.
As of the census[8] of 2000, there were 180 people, 71 households, and 49 families residing in the town. The population density was 315.9/km2 (824.1/mi2). There were 85 housing units at an average density of 149.2/km2 (389.2/mi2). The racial makeup of the town was 98.33% White, 1.11% Native American, and 0.56% from two or more races. 1.11% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There were 71 households, out of which 33.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.1% were married couples living together, 14.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.6% were non-families. 28.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 23.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.54 and the average family size was 3.06.
In the town, the population was spread out, with 29.4% under the age of 18, 6.1% from 18 to 24, 26.1% from 25 to 44, 19.4% from 45 to 64, and 18.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females, there were 89.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 76.4 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $25,625, and the median income for a family was $30,469. Males had a median income of $19,250 versus $15,938 for females. The per capita income for the town was $30,955. About 19.3% of families and 19.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 20.0% of those under the age of 18 and 22.5% of those 65 or over.
Success with a population of 98 has three churches and a post office. I left some cards at the post office, asking the postmaster if she would postmark them and send them to me using the envelope I left along with $10 to cover postage. Fingers crossed!
I remaining hour of my trip yesterday, which would end in Jonesboro, Arkansas (birthplace of John Grisham) took me through the Mississippi Delta (actually, I probably came into the Delta before I got to Biggers). I went through the communities of Knob, Hooker, Paragould, Goobertown and finally Jonesboro. Paragould is a city of about 25,000 and Jonesboro is abiout 80,000 and is the home of Arkansas State.
Paragould is the county seat of Greene County, and the 19th-largest city in Arkansas, in the United States. The city is located in northeastern Arkansas on the eastern edge of Crowley's Ridge, a geologic anomaly contained within the Arkansas delta.
Paragould is the principal city of the Paragould, Arkansas Micropolitan Statistical Area and is also a part of the Jonesboro-Paragould Combined Statistical Area. The Paragould micropolitan area's population was 42,090 at the 2010 census, and the Jonesboro-Paragould Combined Statistical Area's population was 163,116.
The city had a population of 26,113 at the 2010 census and an estimated population of 28,986 in 2019.
History
The city's name is a blend combining the last names of competing railroad magnates J. W. Paramore and Jay Gould. Paramore's Texas & St. Louis Railway (later the Cotton Belt) and Gould's St. Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern Railway (later the Missouri Pacific) intersected here in 1882. A group of citizens chose the name, and it is believed to be the only city in the world with this name. Gould objected to his name's being second and refused to list the new town on his schedules.
Sundown town
From 1888 to 1908, Paragould experienced a series of incidents in which White residents threatened and attacked Black residents. Some Black residents flogged, and some of their homes and churches were burned. Arkansas Governor Jeff Davis ordered the state militia not to intervene on behalf of Black citizens. On numerous occasions White residents ordered Black citizens to leave and never return. In 1908, they threatened them to leave or die, which resulted in an almost complete depopulation of African-Americans in the county, and earned Paragould the designation of a sundown town.[8] Black children were not allowed to participate in any form of public education until 1948, and then by busing them out of the county to Booker T. Washington High School in Jonesboro. In 1957, facing mandated integration, Jonesboro terminated this practice. Prior to 1982, no hotel in Paragould would allow Black people to spend the night. In 1983, when two Black Union Pacific workers attempted to eat at a restaurant, they were locked out. When police reached the scene, they accused the workers of attempting to break into the restaurant. An informal ban on hiring African-Americans was alleged to exist in Paragould until at least 2002.
Jonesboro is a city located on Crowley's Ridge in the northeastern corner of the U.S. State of Arkansas. Jonesboro is one of two county seats of Craighead County. According to the 2020 Census, the city had a population of 78,576 and is the fifth-largest city in Arkansas. In 2020, the Jonesboro metropolitan area had a population of 133,860 and a population of 179,932 in the Jonesboro-Paragould Combined Statistical Area.
Jonesboro is the home of Arkansas State University and is the cultural and economic center of Northeast Arkansas.
History
The Jonesboro area was first inhabited for thousands of years by indigenous peoples. At the time of European encounter, historic tribes included the Osage, the Caddo, and the Quapaw. The name of the state of Arkansas comes from the Quapaw language. French and Spanish traders and trappers had relations with these groups.
After the United States acquired this territory in the Louisiana Purchase of 1803, American settlers eventually made their way to the area where Jonesboro is located. They began exploring, hunting, trapping, and trading with the local Indian tribes. A permanent settlement of Jonesboro was set up shortly after 1859. When Craighead County was established.
In 1859, land was taken from nearby Greene, Mississippi, and Poinsett counties and was used to form Craighead County. Jonesboro was designated as the original county seat. As the population increased in the west of the county, Lake City was named as the second seat. Jonesboro had 150 residents in 1859. It was named after State Senator William A. Jones in recognition of his support for the formation of Craighead County. Originally spelled Jonesborough, the city name was later shortened to its present-day spelling.
The Jonesboro Lynching of 1881 took place at midnight on March 12. The Decatur Daily Republican reported that four black men—Green Harris (sometimes referred to as Hawes), Giles Peck, John Woods (sometimes referred to as Jud Woods), and Burt Hoskins (sometimes referred to as Haskins)—had been arrested and tried before magistrates Jackson and Akers at New Haven Church, eight miles north of Jonesboro. The hearing, which found that the men were guilty, was attended by several hundred people. According to this and several other reports, the accused made a complete confession. The magistrates bound them over to the grand jury, and they were ordered taken to the jail in Jonesboro. The hour being late, however, it was decided to hold them overnight in the church under a strong guard. The large crowd gradually dispersed, "muttering threats of vengeance." Around midnight, between 200 and 300 masked men surrounded the church, overpowered the guards, and broke in the doors and windows. They seized the accused, dragged them to a tree about 200 yards away, and hanged them. Once again, the crowd dispersed, "leaving the bodies of their victims dangling in the air and presenting a horrible spectacle in the moonlight." According to the Republican, "The crime and punishment form one of the blackest pages in the annals of the state."
During the late 19th century, the city tried to develop its court system and downtown infrastructure. Shortly after the city was named county seat, the highest point in Jonesboro was identified and a courthouse was planned for construction. This was delayed for several years, for the locals did not want to ruin their deer hunting. The first courthouse was finally completed but was destroyed by a fire in 1869. A store across from this site was rented and used as a courthouse. It was destroyed in an 1876 fire. Another building was constructed on the same site, but it fell to a fire in 1878, a major one that destroyed most of downtown Jonesboro. Soon afterward, another courthouse was constructed; it was replaced by the present courthouse in 1934.
The St. Louis Southwestern Railway, known as the Cotton Belt Railroad was constructed through Jonesboro, with its tracks passing just north of the center of the city. During the first train's journey, it became stuck and supplies had to be carried into town. It connected St. Louis to points in Arkansas and Texas. Other major railways began to construct tracks to and from Jonesboro, including the St. Louis–San Francisco Railway and Missouri Pacific Railroad. Some of the rail companies still own and use the tracks that run through Jonesboro.
The city set up the Jonesboro School District in 1899. In 1900, St. Bernard's Regional Medical Center was established by the Olivetan Benedictine Sisters. The Grand Leader Department Store, the first department store in the city, was opened in 1900. Woodland College and two schools within the Jonesboro School District were opened in 1904. Arkansas State College (now Arkansas State University) was established in 1909, a year in which the first horseless carriages were driven in the city. There is a recording on a Sanborn Fire Insurance Map dating back to March 1897 of a Presbyterian Church existing at the corner of Church St. and Monroe, and a Christian church located at the corner of Union and Huntington Ave. Other early churches of the city were started in the 1910s. First Baptist Church was founded in 1911, and First Methodist Church in 1916.
Wade Thomas was lynched on December 26, 1920, in downtown Jonesboro. A large white mob seized Thomas after he allegedly shot local Patrolman Elmer Ragland during a Christmas Day raid on a local dice game. He was paraded through the town and then hanged and his body riddled with bullets.
On September 10, 1931, Governor Harvey Parnell authorized the Arkansas National Guard to be deployed in Jonesboro to quell the Church War, a clash between the followers of Joe Jeffers and Dow H. Heard, the pastor of the First Baptist Church of Jonesboro. Jeffers' supporters also attacked the mayor and police chief, resulting in front-page coverage of the incident in The New York Times.
On May 15, 1968 an F4 tornado struck Jonesboro, destroying 164 homes. At least 34 people died and more than 350 people were injured as a result of the tornado which struck the town without warning at 10:00 pm that night.
The Westside School shooting occurred on March 24, 1998. Two young boys (aged 11 and 13 years) fired upon students at Westside Middle School while hidden in woodlands near the school. They killed four students and one teacher, and injured 10 persons.
In the 2007–2008 school year the Jonesboro Public School District elementary schools were reclassified as magnet schools.
A "large, destructive" EF3 tornado struck Jonesboro on March 28, 2020, causing severe damage to a shopping mall and at least twenty minor injuries, and two severe injuries.
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