As the poultry industry took off, others saw business opportunities in trucking, feed mills, equipment supply, and hatcheries (where eggs are hatched under artificial conditions). Centrally located railroads and highways allowed shipment to distant markets. Area banks were willing to make loans in order to fuel growth. Chief among them was the First State Bank of Springdale and its president Shelby Ford, the “Chicken Banker.” The building of Beaver Lake in the early 1960s provided a large-scale, sustainable source of water for the area’s ever-expanding chicken houses and processing plants. Low-cost labor from a largely non-union workforce helped keep overall costs down, then and now.

The early poultrymen knew the value of hard work and were willing to take chances. By investing in automation and making science-based improvements in such areas as genetic stock, disease control, and feed formulation, they were able to grow better birds while growing their businesses.  Beginning in the 1950s vertical integration—the strategy of owning or controlling all aspects of a business in-house, from breeding stock to production and processing to transport and marketing—allowed large companies to grow even larger by trimming costs and managing the supply chain. Over time, Tyson Foods of Springdale transformed itself into a giant agribusinesses, in part by purchasing its competitors, expanding into the beef and pork industries, creating value-added products like pre-cooked meals, and establishing global markets.

For a time Springdale was known as “Chickendale,” because it was home to so many poultry businesses. Indeed, Washington and Benton Counties have always been the main engine of the area’s poultry industry and economy.  A few of the big companies branched out in the mid-1980s, establishing grower, feed mill, and processing operations in neighboring Madison, Carroll, and Boone Counties.

As the poultry industry took off, others saw business opportunities in trucking, feed mills, equipment supply, and hatcheries (where eggs are hatched under artificial conditions). Centrally located railroads and highways allowed shipment to distant markets. Area banks were willing to make loans in order to fuel growth. Chief among them was the First State Bank of Springdale and its president Shelby Ford, the “Chicken Banker.” The building of Beaver Lake in the early 1960s provided a large-scale, sustainable source of water for the area’s ever-expanding chicken houses and processing plants. Low-cost labor from a largely non-union workforce helped keep overall costs down, then and now.

The early poultrymen knew the value of hard work and were willing to take chances. By investing in automation and making science-based improvements in such areas as genetic stock, disease control, and feed formulation, they were able to grow better birds while growing their businesses.  Beginning in the 1950s vertical integration—the strategy of owning or controlling all aspects of a business in-house, from breeding stock to production and processing to transport and marketing—allowed large companies to grow even larger by trimming costs and managing the supply chain. Over time, Tyson Foods of Springdale transformed itself into a giant agribusinesses, in part by purchasing its competitors, expanding into the beef and pork industries, creating value-added products like pre-cooked meals, and establishing global markets.

For a time Springdale was known as “Chickendale,” because it was home to so many poultry businesses. Indeed, Washington and Benton Counties have always been the main engine of the area’s poultry industry and economy.  A few of the big companies branched out in the mid-1980s, establishing grower, feed mill, and processing operations in neighboring Madison, Carroll, and Boone Counties.

As poultry grew to prominence in Arkansas’ economy, the poultrymen looked to promote and professionalize their industry. In 1937 Bob Sharp held the first Northwest Arkansas Broiler Roundup at his farm near Lowell, offering over 2,000 farmers a chance to examine the newest production equipment. A year later, the first Northwest Arkansas Live Broiler Show was held in Rogers. An audience of roughly 15,000 viewed 900 birds from Arkansas and nearby states. Prizes were awarded to the top birds.

The Arkansas Poultry Federation was organized in 1954 with the initial goals of improving “the quality of poultry and eggs through research” and increasing the state’s consumption of broilers, turkeys, and eggs. The group tackled several issues, including exempting feed from state taxes and passing an egg-labeling law to maintain quality standards. Other poultry-related organizations like the Arkansas Turkey Federation, Arkansas Egg Council, Arkansas Poultry Producers Association, and Arkansas Allied Industries promoted and protected their interests. Not only were area poultrymen members of these organizations, they were their leaders, serving as board members and presidents.

There’s no doubt that Northwest Arkansas’ healthy economy and sizable population growth derives, in part, from the poultry industry, whether from the producers or the allied businesses which offer products and supplies. Thousands of jobs, both on the farm and in town, are tied directly to its success.

The industry’s need for a large workforce has fueled an influx of first- and second-generation migrants from other parts of the U.S. and the world, such as Latin America and the Marshall Islands. Indeed, this region is home to the world’s largest population of Marshallese outside of the islands thanks to John Moody, who joined Tyson Foods in the mid-1980s and spread the word back home about the need for workers. While some Northwest Arkansans are unhappy with the changes stemming from an increasingly diverse population, others embrace the traditions and cultural richness they bring.

There’s no doubt that Northwest Arkansas’ healthy economy and sizable population growth derives, in part, from the poultry industry, whether from the producers or the allied businesses which offer products and supplies. Thousands of jobs, both on the farm and in town, are tied directly to its success.

The industry’s need for a large workforce has fueled an influx of first- and second-generation migrants from other parts of the U.S. and the world, such as Latin America and the Marshall Islands. Indeed, this region is home to the world’s largest population of Marshallese outside of the islands thanks to John Moody, who joined Tyson Foods in the mid-1980s and spread the word back home about the need for workers. While some Northwest Arkansans are unhappy with the changes stemming from an increasingly diverse population, others embrace the traditions and cultural richness they bring.

Seeking new business opportunities, independent truckers and produce suppliers bought live birds to ship to distant markets. As the poultry industry grew, so did allied businesses—feed mills and feed stores, processing plants, equipment suppliers, and construction companies. Envisioning growth and progress, some businessmen diversified. In the 1930s John Tyson of Springdale used his truck to haul fruit in the summer and broilers in the winter, eventually saving up enough to buy a few hatcheries in 1942. From there he built a feed mill and then a processing plant. His son Don joined the business in the 1950s and helped take Tyson Foods to new heights.

As Northwest Arkansas’ reputation as a chicken capital grew, national companies like Campbell Soup, Ralston-Purina, Ocoma, and Armour established branch plants in Fayetteville, Springdale, Berryville, and Bentonville, respectively. But there were plenty of homegrown companies like George’s Inc. and Roy Ritter’s AQ Farm in Springdale, Simmons Industries in Siloam Springs, and Peterson Industries in Decatur. By 1950 Arkansas was the nation’s fourth-largest producer of commercial broilers. It was the third by 1955, the second in 1960, and the first-largest in 1970.

“Due to the economic value, the poultry industry has contributed an improvement to the level of Arkansas’ standard of living and it has been enjoyable to see a lot of people pull themselves up by the bootstraps to a good life. It has furnished many, many opportunities to people who would not have been otherwise so fortunate.”

Roy Ritter
Arkansas Poultry Times, October 29, 1976

Seeking new business opportunities, independent truckers and produce suppliers bought live birds to ship to distant markets. As the poultry industry grew, so did allied businesses—feed mills and feed stores, processing plants, equipment suppliers, and construction companies. Envisioning growth and progress, some businessmen diversified. In the 1930s John Tyson of Springdale used his truck to haul fruit in the summer and broilers in the winter, eventually saving up enough to buy a few hatcheries in 1942. From there he built a feed mill and then a processing plant. His son Don joined the business in the 1950s and helped take Tyson Foods to new heights.

As Northwest Arkansas’ reputation as a chicken capital grew, national companies like Campbell Soup, Ralston-Purina, Ocoma, and Armour established branch plants in Fayetteville, Springdale, Berryville, and Bentonville, respectively. But there were plenty of homegrown companies like George’s Inc. and Roy Ritter’s AQ Farm in Springdale, Simmons Industries in Siloam Springs, and Peterson Industries in Decatur. By 1950 Arkansas was the nation’s fourth-largest producer of commercial broilers. It was the third by 1955, the second in 1960, and the first-largest in 1970.

“Due to the economic value, the poultry industry has contributed an improvement to the level of Arkansas’ standard of living and it has been enjoyable to see a lot of people pull themselves up by the bootstraps to a good life. It has furnished many, many opportunities to people who would not have been otherwise so fortunate.”

Roy Ritter
Arkansas Poultry Times, October 29, 1976

In the early 1950s independent dealers bought broilers directly from farmers. But rising taxes and supply costs, coupled with market-price swings and too many poultry producers, led to uncertain profits for all. One way to boost profits was through mechanization. Instead of hand-feeding birds, machines like an auger feeder delivered feed automatically, allowing growers to switch from hauling heavy feed sacks to receiving bulk-feed shipments trucked in by the mills. Over the decades much of the work in processing plants was mechanized, including machines that kill the bird before opening and eviscerating it (removing its organs and intestines).

By the 1960s most broilers were produced under contract as part of a move towards vertical integration, a system which reduced a company’s costs by owning or controlling all aspects of production—research, breeding stock, hatcheries, feed mills, grower operations, processing plants, marketing programs, and distribution. Big producers like Tyson Foods grew larger, buying out its competitors. It also diversified by buying food-manufacturing companies and beef and pork producers, and developing value-added products like spicy “Buffalo Wings” for restaurants and home consumers. Tyson opened sales offices throughout the world, creating market-specific products such as bilingual packaging, custom seasoning blends, and specialty items prepared according to religious and government standards. Today Tyson is one of the largest protein producers on the planet.

“In the 1940s the success of the chicken broiler industry in Northwest Arkansas had attracted so much notice, that county agents and community representatives from all over the country came to this Ozarks Arkansas section to learn about the successful methods that had produced such substantial income to the local farmers.”

Ozarks Mountaineer, December 1953

 

In the early 1950s independent dealers bought broilers directly from farmers. But rising taxes and supply costs, coupled with market-price swings and too many poultry producers, led to uncertain profits for all. One way to boost profits was through mechanization. Instead of hand-feeding birds, machines like an auger feeder delivered feed automatically, allowing growers to switch from hauling heavy feed sacks to receiving bulk-feed shipments trucked in by the mills. Over the decades much of the work in processing plants was mechanized, including machines that kill the bird before opening and eviscerating it (removing its organs and intestines).

By the 1960s most broilers were produced under contract as part of a move towards vertical integration, a system which reduced a company’s costs by owning or controlling all aspects of production—research, breeding stock, hatcheries, feed mills, grower operations, processing plants, marketing programs, and distribution. Big producers like Tyson Foods grew larger, buying out its competitors. It also diversified by buying food-manufacturing companies and beef and pork producers, and developing value-added products like spicy “Buffalo Wings” for restaurants and home consumers. Tyson opened sales offices throughout the world, creating market-specific products such as bilingual packaging, custom seasoning blends, and specialty items prepared according to religious and government standards. Today Tyson is one of the largest protein producers on the planet.

“In the 1940s the success of the chicken broiler industry in Northwest Arkansas had attracted so much notice, that county agents and community representatives from all over the country came to this Ozarks Arkansas section to learn about the successful methods that had produced such substantial income to the local farmers.”

Ozarks Mountaineer, December 1953

 

Great strides have been made in the quest for better, faster-growing, healthier birds. Today they are increasingly raised in state-of-the-art grow-out houses (where a chick grows into a mature bird). Sensors and computers control temperature, feed, humidity, and light levels, which the grower can track and adjust by smartphone. As the poultry industry has grown, so too have concerns about the use of steroids (growth hormones) and antibiotics, the danger of food-borne illnesses like salmonella, the well-being of animals packed into massive grow-out houses, the effect of poultry waste on the environment, and the health, safety, and wages of workers. In 2011 the Cargill plant in Springdale recalled 36 million pounds of ground turkey, when it was linked to over seventy illnesses and one death from salmonella. While activists and industry leaders are working towards solutions to many of these issues, a new movement is on the rise, led by consumers and a few farmers and commercial producers.

Growing consumer interest in organic food, sustainability, and local agriculture has led to a rise in small-scale producers and farmers’ markets. In 2007 Little Portion Hermitage, a Catholic monastery near Eureka Springs, began raising chickens. Costing several-dollars-a-pound more than commercial birds, buyers appreciate that the free-range, steroid- and antibiotic-free chickens aren’t fed animal byproducts like ground-up feathers and bone meal. At Beyond Organics Farm near West Fork, James and Jane Maginot raise unconfined, open-pasture birds for meat and eggs, relying on their Pyrenees guard dogs to watch over their flocks of Rhode Island Reds, Freedom Rangers, and Ameraucana chickens. Because they approach agriculture holistically—as a set of interconnected systems—they pay attention to such things as soil health, seasonality, and the suitability of different livestock breeds for their area and farming style.

Mid-States Specialty Eggs, which opened a plant in Berryville in 2016, is a certified organic/humane company which contracts with independent growers to buy eggs from antibiotic-free hens that are either cage-free (birds roam around the layer house) or free-range (birds have outside access). Today Tyson Foods has reduced the amount of antibiotics it uses in its flocks. It also offers organic, antibiotic-free chicken through its NatureRaised Farms® brand.

“When you choose these birds over confinement birds [raised] by large growers, you are choosing to enhance your health. You also contribute to encouraging biodiversity, improving soil fertility and eliminating waste-management problems associated with confinement-feeding operations.”

From the Little Portion Hermitage website

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, January 13, 2008

Great strides have been made in the quest for better, faster-growing, healthier birds. Today they are increasingly raised in state-of-the-art grow-out houses (where a chick grows into a mature bird). Sensors and computers control temperature, feed, humidity, and light levels, which the grower can track and adjust by smartphone. As the poultry industry has grown, so too have concerns about the use of steroids (growth hormones) and antibiotics, the danger of food-borne illnesses like salmonella, the well-being of animals packed into massive grow-out houses, the effect of poultry waste on the environment, and the health, safety, and wages of workers. In 2011 the Cargill plant in Springdale recalled 36 million pounds of ground turkey, when it was linked to over seventy illnesses and one death from salmonella. While activists and industry leaders are working towards solutions to many of these issues, a new movement is on the rise, led by consumers and a few farmers and commercial producers.

Growing consumer interest in organic food, sustainability, and local agriculture has led to a rise in small-scale producers and farmers’ markets. In 2007 Little Portion Hermitage, a Catholic monastery near Eureka Springs, began raising chickens. Costing several-dollars-a-pound more than commercial birds, buyers appreciate that the free-range, steroid- and antibiotic-free chickens aren’t fed animal byproducts like ground-up feathers and bone meal. At Beyond Organics Farm near West Fork, James and Jane Maginot raise unconfined, open-pasture birds for meat and eggs, relying on their Pyrenees guard dogs to watch over their flocks of Rhode Island Reds, Freedom Rangers, and Ameraucana chickens. Because they approach agriculture holistically—as a set of interconnected systems—they pay attention to such things as soil health, seasonality, and the suitability of different livestock breeds for their area and farming style.

Mid-States Specialty Eggs, which opened a plant in Berryville in 2016, is a certified organic/humane company which contracts with independent growers to buy eggs from antibiotic-free hens that are either cage-free (birds roam around the layer house) or free-range (birds have outside access). Today Tyson Foods has reduced the amount of antibiotics it uses in its flocks. It also offers organic, antibiotic-free chicken through its NatureRaised Farms® brand.

“When you choose these birds over confinement birds [raised] by large growers, you are choosing to enhance your health. You also contribute to encouraging biodiversity, improving soil fertility and eliminating waste-management problems associated with confinement-feeding operations.”

From the Little Portion Hermitage website

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, January 13, 2008

As the early poultrymen worked to breed a better bird and improve the health of their flock, some experimented with feed formulations, growing conditions, and hatching techniques, making detailed records of their results. In the early 1900s poultry diseases weren’t well understood. Young chickens died if they caught pullorum, which caused diarrhea. A program developed in cooperation with the Poultry Department of the University of Arkansas led to large-scale testing in the early 1930s, prompting Jeff Brown of Springdale to market his birds as pullorum-free, to reassure his customers. Later, as birds were crowded into giant broiler houses, they became more prone to disease. Researchers began experimenting with antibiotics as a way to treat them.

Competition from poultry producers in Maryland and Georgia caused researchers at the University of Arkansas to look for ways to produce a low-cost broiler which grew at a faster rate yet offered high nutritional value, as a way to revitalize the state’s rural areas. To that end the Agricultural Experiment Station studied poultry genetics, disease, feed formulation, and energy-efficient housing. In 1992 the College of Agriculture opened the Center of Excellence for Poultry Science, featuring classrooms, laboratories, a feed mill, and poultry-production facilities. As part of her work with the USDA-ARS Poultry Production and Product Safety Research Unit, in the early 2000s Dr. Annie Donoghue looked into the effect of probiotics (beneficial bacteria) on young turkeys. She tested whether probiotics could protect birds from pathogens (viruses and bacteria) which cause foodborne illness in humans.

“Oh, the poultry industry had several [diseases]. . . . They will have a coccidia problem [an intestinal parasite] and there will be some chemicals and compounds come along that will control it. And then a few years they lose their effectiveness and then a new [treatment] has to be developed. . . .Then we had Marek’s disease which is a skin tumor. . . .One thing that will always be with us—if we get one disease under control . . . there will always be a new one. We will never be without.”

Dr. Edward Stephenson, Department of Animal Industry and Veterinary Science, University of Arkansas
The Poultry Industry in Arkansas: An Oral History, 1989

When a hen sits on her eggs, she stops laying additional eggs until her chicks can fend for themselves. An incubator acts like a mother hen, keeping an egg warm and turned so that the growing chick won’t stick to its shell. It can hold hundreds and even thousands of eggs all at once. In the early years incubators were heated by coal- or kerosene-burning stoves. Jeff Brown installed an electrically heated, 10,000-egg-capacity commercial incubator in his Springdale Electric Hatchery in 1929, the first of its kind in Arkansas. Soon other hatcheries opened, including the Johnson and Steele Hatchery in Springdale in 1935. Within one year they increased their hatching capacity fourfold, from 20,000 eggs to 80,000. Charles Vantress of California, the 1951 winner of the National Chicken-of-Tomorrow Contest, built a hatchery in Springdale in 1958.

In the mid-1980s eggs were incubated for nineteen days at 85% humidity and 99.5 degrees temperature while being turned automatically once an hour at Peterson Industries’ hatchery in Decatur. After two days in the incubator, the emerging chicks had their gender determined, their heath checked, and their beaks debeaked (blunted) and toenails clipped to prevent injuries or death to other birds. While the process is much the same today, new innovations have led to increased automation, greater biosecurity procedures to prevent the introduction of disease, and the need for fewer workers. Tyson Foods opened its $31 million Incubation Technology Center in Springdale in 2017, replacing two older hatcheries built in the 1960s and reducing staff needs from 55 to 35.

“Inside [Tyson’s new Incubation Technology Center], the processing line has updated technology including incubation hoods, injection stations, sanitation zones, sustainable ventilation, and six yellow robotic arms that handle repetitive tasks previously done by hatchery workers. The end result is the same: Eggs hatch into chicks in 21 days.”

Nathan Owens
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, August 24, 2017

In the early 1900s broilers were a seasonal product, largely raised in the winter months for purchase from March to June. As the care and feeding of the birds became better understood, the industry took off. Following World War II many returning veterans began growing chickens, banking on cheap land and low start-up costs funded by loans. They often failed because of poor-quality chicks, lack of record keeping, and inadequate finances. Good growers worked hard to keep their birds healthy and growing. They hand-fed chicks until they learned about automatic feeders, doctored the birds, hosed them down with water to keep them cool in the summer, and dealt with equipment problems. The contract-growing system was developed in the 1950s. Poultry companies supplied growers with chicks and feed, contracting with them to raise the birds. Growers were paid by a “feed-conversion ratio,” meaning that they earned more if their birds gained weight quickly while eating less feed. Although this system helped reduce the grower’s risks, some felt the companies had too much power over them. Today’s companies require growers to continually invest in improved equipment and larger grow-out houses. In 2019, when Ed Milliken couldn’t afford to make the necessary changes to the outdated houses on his farm near Bella Vista, George’s Inc. paid him to drop out of the business. They weren’t obligated to do so, but Milliken appreciated the “gracious gesture.”

“I just can’t recommend [raising chickens] to anybody thinking about going into it. There isn’t a future in it—the cost of everything you put into it far outweighs what you’re paid. . . . They want the growers to change the [equipment] constantly. You can’t get one piece of equipment paid for before they want you to buy something else.”

Jewell Proctor of Lincoln Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, January 17, 1993

In the early 1900s chickens roamed freely outdoors. Their coops were small, designed to protect them from predators. But as the poultry industry grew, so too did the sizes of grow-out houses, which confined the growing birds for much of their lives. In the late 1930s there were about 5,000 chicken houses in Northwest Arkansas, roughly 12-by-14 feet in size, each holding about 500 birds. Many of these structures were insulated with paper and heated by coal-burning stoves. By the early 1950s the houses were up to 40-feet wide and 300 to 400 feet long, capable of housing between 10,000 to 50,000 birds.

New innovations came along to keep chickens healthy and growing, reduce mortality (death) rates, and allow for year-long production—continuous lighting to keep birds eating around the clock, improved ventilation, heating and cooling, and mechanical feeding and watering. Today’s modern technology allows computers to gather data from sensors to adjust temperature automatically, monitor feed levels, and activate sprinklers to keep the birds cool. Kirk Houtchens, a contract grower for George’s Inc., spent nearly $4 million to build four state-of-the-art grow-out houses in Decatur. In 2014 he was able to raise 140,000 broilers a month, 48,000 more than the year before.

“It’s easy to tell when the birds are sick. I usually come in late at night and whistle, which stirs them up. After they quit running around, I listen carefully to see if I hear any wheezing noises. Sometimes, if we suspect there might be trouble, we cut four or five open just to inspect their lungs, and look for any abnormalities.”

Elton Youngblood of Berryville
Carroll County News, June 1987

In the early 1900s birds were processed entirely by hand, often in poorly lit rooms with inadequate sanitation and air circulation. Major national meat packers like Swift, Amour, and Campbell Soup established processing plants in the area in the 1940s and 1950s, joining the many small, independent plants which popped up after World War II. Springdale Farms, the first modern processing plant in Springdale, was built in 1958. Operated by Edgar Loyd and his sons Jack, Landreth, and Guy, the $200,000 plant featured bright fluorescent lights, glazed-tile walls and stainless-steel processing lines for easy sanitation, and a government-inspector’s station at the start of the eviscerating line (where a bird’s organs and intestines are removed). The plant’s design met new federal standards and allowed for mandatory inspections to ensure the safety of chicken sold across state lines. Smaller processors which couldn’t afford expensive renovations to meet these standards went out of business.

When a flock reached its market weight the birds were caught, caged, and trucked to a processing plant. There they were attached by their feet to a moving line to be killed and bled before being scalded, picked (plucked), and singed to remove their feathers. Guts and internal organs were removed and the cavity cleaned. After being inspected for disease, the birds were cut-up, weighed, packaged, and chilled. The process is similar today, but much faster due to advances in automation. Tens of thousands of birds can be processed in a 24-hour shift. The work is fast-moving, physically demanding, loud, unpleasant, and dangerous. Some consumers object to what they call “factory chicken,” choosing instead to buy chickens raised on small-scale farms. Beginning in 2004 some of those birds were processed by Das Butcher Haus, a custom slaughterhouse near Green Forest run by Eldon Shrock.

“Those who worked in the basement of Jerpe’s [Dairy Products Co.], as I did for three years in the [1930s], were the cast offs from Fayetteville society. . . .Its stink could be smelled blocks away. . . .women pulled wet feathers from the fowls as fast as they could for this was piecework [and the women were paid according to how many birds they could process]. . . .Handling wet chickens and standing on piles of feathers and droppings, fingers and toes would soon be covered with red and weeping blisters . . . to us it was the chicken itch. . . .Killing began at seven and we might be there until ten that night.”

Ethel Edwards
History of Washington County Arkansas, 1989

Ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday in 1929 over 1,200 birds from Huntsville, Marble, Kingston, and elsewhere were rounded up and transported by truck to the railroad depot to be shipped to market. Back then turkeys were luxury food. Hugh Williams of Elkins started growing commercial turkeys in 1936, later saying, “There just was no science to turkey growing. . . It was just a haphazard thing and we had a lot to learn.” Labor and feed costs plus adverse weather like heavy rains, cold temperatures, and hail made growing turkeys outdoors difficult. Williams credited his early success to a “strict sanitation program and running turkeys on new ground” to lessen the chance of infection.

When Roy Ritter of Springdale began raising turkeys, he’d make double use of his chicken houses. He’d start his turkeys in them for about six weeks and, after moving the birds outside, began raising broilers in the house. In later years Ritter became president of the Arkansas Turkey Federation and the National Turkey Federation and worked with George’s turkey operation in the 1960s.

In 1955 Berryville had numerous turkey farms and was home to the state’s largest turkey hatchery and the Ocoma Processing Co., which employed over 400 people. Turkey was a $3.5 million business, causing folks to claim Berryville as the “Turkey Capital of Arkansas.” Today Springdale is home to Cargill, Inc., the largest turkey-processing facility in the state. In 1995 the company’s hatchery in Gentry hatched out 250,000 eggs weekly, about $10 million annually. These days the Butterball turkey processing plant in Huntsville stays busy during the 38-day holiday season, processing fresh, whole turkeys for consumers who don’t want a frozen bird. As an incentive, workers receive overtime pay and bonuses. Weekend workers are treated to snacks, prize-drawings, and sometimes food from local vendors.

“The people are not buying. Last year when turkeys were selling for $5 each, we shipped more than 40,000 pounds from this point, and couldn’t supply the demand. This year turkeys are selling for $8 and there is no market. . . .Financial conditions in the East have had something to do with the slump in turkey shipments. People haven’t made any money and they are not going to have expensive Thanksgiving dinners.”

Melvin L. Price, Ozark Poultry and Egg Co.
Fayetteville Daily Democrat, November 22, 1922

At first live poultry and eggs were shipped by rail in huge carloads to distant markets. Some processed birds—chickens which had been killed, cleaned, and made ready for consumers—were shipped too, transported in railroad cars packed with ice and salt. From the 1920s to the 1930s farmers often sold live birds to independent long-haul truckers or local produce dealers. Their mobility allowed them to transport chickens to markets in big cities like Chicago, St. Louis, Milwaukee, and Kansas City on their own schedule, not that of the railroad.

Some haulers used customized trailers nicknamed “poultry Pullmans” to make it easier to feed and water the birds along the way and provide a small sleeping compartment for the driver. Back then it took thirty hours to reach Chicago. Produce dealer Joe Robinson of Springdale used his fleet of fifty trucks to haul birds to both coasts, bragging that he could “haul as far as Europe if a bridge was built.” In the 1950s the industry shifted from shipping live birds to packaged, fresh meat in ice-filled refrigerated trucks. Frozen meat became more popular in the 1960s with both consumers and producers—the latter because, without the need for ice, a truck could carry more meat for the same cost.

Baby chicks needing to travel long distances were flown in airplanes. At first Ray Ellis of Fayetteville brought in chicks from distant hatcheries through his company, South Central Air Transport, Inc. (SCAT). But an increase in local chick production meant that by the early 1950s he was flying them out of the area. SCAT planes also were used to transport poultry personnel, bring in veterinarians and medicine, and take sick birds to laboratories for testing. In 1985 Peterson Industries of Decatur had its own fleet of planes to deliver chicks across the country.

“[In 1933 C. L.] George set out for the Windy City [Chicago] with 8,000 [of my] chickens in coops on a truck, followed by a flatbed truck holding 100-pound bags of feed and feeders. George would stop every 50 to 100 miles or so, find a field and ask the owner for permission to feed the chickens. Then he would set up the coops out in rows on a field, set up the feeders . . .and give them some water. I didn’t hear from him for about a week and then one day he drove up, jumped out and said, ‘Hot dog! Let’s do it again.’ I asked ‘Did you make some money, Charlie?’ and he said $300!'”

Elza Hultz
Northwest Arkansas Times, March 22, 1990

Early growers wanted a faster-growing bird, but what did consumers want? In the 1950s most fresh chickens were sold “New York dressed,” meaning that the birds still had their heads, feet, and internal organs. The rise of supermarkets and the middle-class led to the desire for a ready-to-cook bird. By the 1960s processors began cutting chickens into pieces and packaging them under their own names rather than that of the grocery store, as a way to build up their brands. The American housewife also had a say in the look of the bird, which she wanted to be meatier and uniform in size, with clean-looking skin. Chickens with white feathers have white skin, while the skin of red-feathered chickens is colored and spotty. Convenience foods such as pre-cooked, frozen TV dinners appealed to women who were entering the workforce but still had families to feed. TV dinners with chicken were produced by the Campbell Soup plant in Fayetteville beginning in the mid-1950s, under its Swanson brand.

Consumers’ changing diets and eating habits in the 1970s encouraged companies to offer new consumer-ready food products. Chicken was marketed as an inexpensive, low-fat source of protein. An increasing demand for convenience foods for home and fast-food franchises led to such products as microwaveable meals, pre-cooked chicken nuggets, and refrigerated fresh entrées. Today chicken parts are often further processed by having bones and skin removed. Value-added products like these offer the companies a greater monetary return for their investment.

“We take the meat off the bone and make various forms and shapes. . . .Some breading is heavy . . . some’s crispy, some picks up grease. . . .in the South, as an example, people will eat a lot more greasy chicken than they will in the North. So in the Southern part of the U.S. we have a breading that picks up probably 10 pounds of grease per 100 pounds of chicken and in the North we make a real crispy one and it picks up 6½ pounds of grease . . . So you make a product for that region.”

Don Tyson
The Poultry Industry in Arkansas: An Oral History, 1989

According to a 2016 report by the Northwest Arkansas Workers’ Justice Center, while Arkansas poultry workers are typically paid more than the minimum hourly wage, they still fall well below a living wage for this area. Non-white and foreign-born workers reported “some form of illegal wage theft,” including not receiving overtime pay or not being paid for all of the hours they worked. Processors have offered some benefits like childcare and health insurance, but the workers said the latter was unaffordable. Many worked while sick, saying, “they did not have earned-sick leave and needed the money.” Some reported that their employer used a point system to monitor a worker’s absence due to illness, injury, or care of family members. Even the length of bathroom breaks was monitored. Too many points and a worker could be disciplined or let go.

Poultry processing is fast-paced, repetitive work under difficult working conditions, leading to injuries from knives and nerve damage. Employee turnover is high. Companies have tried to reduce repetitive motions by redesigning tools, introducing strengthening exercises, and cross-training employees to work at several different jobs. In 2020 poultry-processing workers faced a new threat—COVID-19. Declared “essential workers” by the U.S. government, companies implemented protective measures such as providing face masks, conducting wellness screenings, designating social-distance monitors, and installing plastic barriers between workers who stand close together on the processing line. But many workers said they didn’t feel safe. By August 2020 more than 20% of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Benton and Washington counties involved poultry workers—over 1,000 people in each county.

“The supervisors get mad at us because [women] take longer [in the bathroom] . . . our needs are greater than those of men. They don’t consider that we have more gear to remove or the fact that the bathrooms are too far away; just walking towards them our time is up. When we have our menstrual cycle, we need to go more often . . . but they don’t let us, they don’t like it.”

Woman Poultry Worker #2
Wages and Working Conditions in Arkansas Poultry Plants, February 1, 2016

According to a 2016 report by the Northwest Arkansas Workers’ Justice Center, while Arkansas poultry workers are typically paid more than the minimum hourly wage, they still fall well below a living wage for this area. Non-white and foreign-born workers reported “some form of illegal wage theft,” including not receiving overtime pay or not being paid for all of the hours they worked. Processors have offered some benefits like childcare and health insurance, but the workers said the latter was unaffordable. Many worked while sick, saying, “they did not have earned-sick leave and needed the money.” Some reported that their employer used a point system to monitor a worker’s absence due to illness, injury, or care of family members. Even the length of bathroom breaks was monitored. Too many points and a worker could be disciplined or let go.

Poultry processing is fast-paced, repetitive work under difficult working conditions, leading to injuries from knives and nerve damage. Employee turnover is high. Companies have tried to reduce repetitive motions by redesigning tools, introducing strengthening exercises, and cross-training employees to work at several different jobs. In 2020 poultry-processing workers faced a new threat—COVID-19. Declared “essential workers” by the U.S. government, companies implemented protective measures such as providing face masks, conducting wellness screenings, designating social-distance monitors, and installing plastic barriers between workers who stand close together on the processing line. But many workers said they didn’t feel safe. By August 2020 more than 20% of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Benton and Washington counties involved poultry workers—over 1,000 people in each county.

“The supervisors get mad at us because [women] take longer [in the bathroom] . . . our needs are greater than those of men. They don’t consider that we have more gear to remove or the fact that the bathrooms are too far away; just walking towards them our time is up. When we have our menstrual cycle, we need to go more often . . . but they don’t let us, they don’t like it.”

Woman Poultry Worker #2
Wages and Working Conditions in Arkansas Poultry Plants, February 1, 2016

As the poultry industry has scaled up, so too has its strain on the environment. One grow-out house can produce about 100 tons of chicken litter—a mixture of feathers, chicken manure, and bedding material like rice hulls or wood shavings. The nitrogen and phosphorus in litter can be a useful fertilizer when properly applied to fields. But too much litter on hilly pasture lands can lead to runoff, polluting streams and aquifers (underground pools of water). That’s what Oklahoma claimed was happening to the Illinois River and other streams along its border with Arkansas. A multi-year dispute between state and local governments, poultry companies, and farmers ensued, followed by a lawsuit in 2005 which, as of November 2020, has yet to be settled. In the 1990s Dr. Philip A. Moore Jr. of the USDA-ARS Poultry Production and Product Safety Research Unit at the University of Arkansas’ Center of Excellence for Poultry Science treated poultry litter with alum to reduce phosphorus runoff from pastures.

Processing poultry is water-intensive. In the late 1970s plants discharged nearly thirty million gallons of greasy water each month, at times overwhelming municipal water-treatment facilities which were unable to process it adequately. Environmentalists squared off against poultry leaders, who threatened to move their operations to areas with less stringent water quality standards. As a result some standards were lowered. Fayetteville provided monetary assistance to upgrade Campbell Soup’s water pretreatment, as one solution to pollution in the White River. In Huntsville, Butterball treated about one million gallons of wastewater with chemicals daily in two open lagoons (ponds) before sending it to the town’s water-treatment plant. But the fat and meat remnants in the water caused a stink, forcing Butterball to build a 1.7-million-gallon storage tank in 2018 to pretreat its wastewater.

“You can’t often see the pollution itself, but you can see the result. When the water becomes overloaded with nutrients algae begins to grow wildly as do some other aquatic plants. This wild growth deprives the water of necessary oxygen. If the situation persists the result is scummy green water, dead fish and plants, evil smells, and so forth.”

Joe Neal
Grapevine, September 6, 1978

 

As the poultry industry has scaled up, so too has its strain on the environment. One grow-out house can produce about 100 tons of chicken litter—a mixture of feathers, chicken manure, and bedding material like rice hulls or wood shavings. The nitrogen and phosphorus in litter can be a useful fertilizer when properly applied to fields. But too much litter on hilly pasture lands can lead to runoff, polluting streams and aquifers (underground pools of water). That’s what Oklahoma claimed was happening to the Illinois River and other streams along its border with Arkansas. A multi-year dispute between state and local governments, poultry companies, and farmers ensued, followed by a lawsuit in 2005 which, as of November 2020, has yet to be settled. In the 1990s Dr. Philip A. Moore Jr. of the USDA-ARS Poultry Production and Product Safety Research Unit at the University of Arkansas’ Center of Excellence for Poultry Science treated poultry litter with alum to reduce phosphorus runoff from pastures.

Processing poultry is water-intensive. In the late 1970s plants discharged nearly thirty million gallons of greasy water each month, at times overwhelming municipal water-treatment facilities which were unable to process it adequately. Environmentalists squared off against poultry leaders, who threatened to move their operations to areas with less stringent water quality standards. As a result some standards were lowered. Fayetteville provided monetary assistance to upgrade Campbell Soup’s water pretreatment, as one solution to pollution in the White River. In Huntsville, Butterball treated about one million gallons of wastewater with chemicals daily in two open lagoons (ponds) before sending it to the town’s water-treatment plant. But the fat and meat remnants in the water caused a stink, forcing Butterball to build a 1.7-million-gallon storage tank in 2018 to pretreat its wastewater.

“You can’t often see the pollution itself, but you can see the result. When the water becomes overloaded with nutrients algae begins to grow wildly as do some other aquatic plants. This wild growth deprives the water of necessary oxygen. If the situation persists the result is scummy green water, dead fish and plants, evil smells, and so forth.”

Joe Neal
Grapevine, September 6, 1978

 

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The St. Louis & San Francisco Railroad (the “Frisco”) came to Northwest Arkansas in 1881. The Delaware Bridge Company built three trestles for the railroad near Winslow, including the longest one, #1, in 1882. That trestle is 780-feet long and, at its highest, rises 115 feet over the valley floor. The original iron trestle was replaced with a steel trestle in 1907. Deck plate girders were added to allow heavier steam engines and longer freight trains. The trestle is still in use by the Arkansas & Missouri Railroad. Passengers on the railroad’s excursion train to Van Buren have a bird’s-eye view of the rugged, spectacular valley.

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The cut timber and peeled-log trestle at Elm Springs was built in 1911 over a wide floodplain bordered by hills. At 1,116 feet in length, it was probably the longest trestle in Northwest Arkansas. The railroad faced financial difficulties because its main line paralleled that of its rival, the Frisco. There wasn’t enough business. In 1918 the railroad ceased operation. During World War I the steel track was removed for the war effort. The trestles were likely left in place.

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This deck truss bridge with trestle approaches was built in 1900–1901 by the Wisconsin Bridge & Iron Company, builders of many steel bridges in Northwest Arkansas. In February 1901 it was reported that about two miles of track were being laid every day. This railroad line changed hands several times, eventually becoming the Arkansas & Ozarks Railway before being abandoned in 1961.

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The Wisconsin Bridge & Iron Company built this deck truss bridge with trestle approaches in 1900–1901. The steel members for the bridge were brought from Eureka Springs by wagon. A Swede by the name of Ole Loken was the supervisor for both the Long Creek and Kings River bridges. He was especially proud of their handsome deck truss spans. The bridge was situated in the middle of an S-curve making for a picturesque scene for travelers. A large portion of the trestle was burned in 1920 by striking railroad workers. Financial difficulties caused by a bridge collapse and the switch to transporting goods by truck led to the abandonment of the railroad in 1961.

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When the bridge was first built in 1882–1883 for the Eureka Springs Railway, it was able to support the standard axle loading of the day (the weight supported by each axle). Later locomotives and cars were heavier. As it was impractical to strengthen the existing bridge, the Wisconsin Bridge & Iron Company built a new, heavier bridge and moved the spans into place in 1907. The bridge and the deep cut through a limestone bluff just beyond it, known as “The Narrows,” was a popular excursion trip for tourists staying in Eureka Springs. On the Fourth of July fireworks were shot off the bluff. Planks placed between the rails of the bridge allowed visitors to walk across it to a rocky beach or to the little town of Beaver. Today the bridge is abandoned. The steel spans are still in place, but the decking and approaches are gone.

The bridge over the Little Buffalo River was built in 1924-1925. The two-span, Parker through-truss bridge was replaced in 1974.

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Several small fords used to cross the War Eagle Creek in the 1800s, but floods washed them out, preventing area residents from traveling to town. In 1907 about 100 residents signed a petition asking for a permanent bridge. Construction began later that year on the $4,790, Parker through-truss bridge built by the Illinois Steel Bridge Company.

As the 304-feet long bridge aged, structural problems developed and maintenance costs grew. At one time there was talk of replacing it, but concerned citizens argued for its preservation. After several months of work, in October 2017 the bridge reopened, ahead of schedule and under its $1.4 million budget.  The bridge was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985.

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In 1904 a steel Parker through-truss bridge was built east of Rogers over the White River. It became obsolete during the construction of Beaver Lake.

The old bridge was torn down in 1963 as its replacement was on the rise nearby. When area residents were told the new concrete girder bridge would span from one hill to the next, they couldn’t believe it. It was hard to imagine a huge lake in their valley. Folks traveled to the construction site to take photos and home movies.

In 2008 travelers saw water lapping just below the deck of the bridge as record rains flooded the lake.

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The wire suspension bridge at Beaver is one of a handful of such bridges left in Arkansas. It was built in 1949 by the Pioneer Construction Company of Malvern for $107,785. It replaced a concrete bridge that washed out in the early 1940s.

Although it has a weight limit, this single-lane, 554-feet long bridge is still in use. Because of the bridge’s arch, drivers can’t see if a car is coming from the opposite side. When two cars meet the one furthest along has the right-of-way; the other car must back up. The rippling motion of the bridge can be unnerving.

This picturesque bridge is a favorite of automotive and motorcycle clubs and was seen in the 2005 film Elizabethtown. At one time scheduled for demolition, the bridge is now on the National Register of Historic Places.

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A bridge was first built in this location just north of the Frisco depot in 1884. It was later replaced by another wood bridge before a $30,000 Art Deco-style concrete bridge was built in 1938.

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This 280-feet long steel Pratt through-truss bridge was the first big bridge in Madison County. It was built 1914–1915 by the Leavenworth Bridge Company of Kansas for $6,462. P. B. Reed of Huntsville, builder of the swinging bridge at Marble, served as construction foreman.

The bridge was paid for in part by a one mill tax levied on county residents. Citizens near the new structure also contributed $700, a portion of which was used to build the approaches. The bridge is still in use as part of Highway 23, but in need of costly repairs.

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Some of the equipment used to build this two-span, Pratt through-truss bridge can be seen, including a winch and the rigging used to raise the metal supports. The piers which hold up the deck are poured concrete. The pier on the farther edge of the creek bed appears broken and unused.

The bridge collapsed in March 1999, causing a man in a pickup truck to plunge into the creek. Prior to his crossing, a concrete truck that was too heavy for the posted weight limit on the bridge had traveled across it, likely weakening the bridge.

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Although used as a bridge, the structure was built in 1928 as the fourth dam in Fayetteville’s Water Improvement District #1. Over a period of about 20 years a series of dams were built along the White River to impound water for the growing city of Fayetteville, during a time when the area was facing drought. In 1930 a fifth and final dam was built, creating Lake Wilson.

Tilly Willy may owe its interesting name to Matilda Wilson who lived in the area and likely had a ford named after her. The 160-feet long concrete and rock bridge was replaced in 2012.

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The rock and mortar bridge was built around 1937 by members of the Civilian Conservation Corps under the direction of C.B. Wiggans of Fayetteville, project manager. While some mechanized equipment was used to build park structures, most of the work was accomplished with the use of mule teams, pickaxes, and shovels. The construction materials came from the land itself.

Lake Wedington was built by the Works Progress Administration to show farmers how their worn-out or eroded fields could be developed for beneficial use. The project also offered much-needed jobs to an area suffering the financial woes of the Great Depression. Salaries ranged from twenty-five to fifty cents an hour for a ten-hour day.

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The 617-feet long steel and concrete girder bridge was built in 1961 by the E. E. Barber Construction Company of Fort Smith. It replaced an old through-truss bridge that was considered inadequate by 1945. Nearby Springdale was a growing town and there was too much traffic for a one-lane bridge built for horse-drawn wagons.

In the late 1940s the roads on either side of the White River were finally paved, but the Korean War and other difficulties kept the bridge from being built. When construction finally began, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers helped with building costs since the waters of Beaver Lake, then under development, would back up in the White River and cover nearby property.

Sometime around the turn of the 21st century the bridge was blown up, following the construction of two double-lane replacement bridges further north.

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In 1922 the Luten Bridge Company of Tennessee built this concrete arch bridge located on Washington County Road #3412. The company’s founder, Daniel B. Luten, was a civil engineer who specialized in reinforced concrete bridges, patenting a number of innovations and designs. For many years his company held a monopoly on such bridges.

Twin Bridge #2 is smaller and located a few hundred feet away. Both bridges are on the National Register of Historic Places.

The 3-feet wide, 200-feet long cable footbridge was built by P. B. Reed of Huntsville. The contract stated that the bridge would be no more than 15 feet above the low-water level of the river. The builder provided all materials except the rock needed for the foundation and anchors. The cables used for the bridge were three-quarter inch in diameter. Turnbuckles allowed the cables to be tightened so that the sag was no more than five-and-one-half feet overall. A sign on the bridge states, “Five dollar fine for any one to add any extra strain on bridge.”

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Before the footbridge was built, folks had to cross the creek by foot. G. W. Bond remembered a time in his youth when he spied Brother Hanks removing his shoes and socks and rolling up his pant legs to ford the cold waters of the creek. Definitely not a dignified look for a preacher!

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Rogers Historical Museum. White River: A Valley and its People exhibit publication. 2000.

Shiloh Museum of Ozark History. Land, Labor, Legacy: The History of Lake Wedington exhibit outline. 1996.

Sissom, Tom.  “War Eagle Bridge opens ahead of schedule.” Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, 9-21-2017.

Trent, Sandra. “Wyman Residents Vote to Destroy Historic Bridge.” White River Valley News, 10-18-2001.

Wilson, Jaunita. History of Cincinnati, Arkansas. 1986.

Winn, Robert G. “Tilly Willy Bridge.” Washington County Observer, 3-17-1983.

———. Railroads of Northwest Arkansas. Washington County (Arkansas) Historical Society, 1986.

1927. Great Flood devastates six southern states, including Arkansas

1929. Corps begins flood-control study of White River Basin

1937. More flooding causes Congress to approve national flood-control plan

1938. Passage of Flood Control Act authorizing Corps to build six flood-control lakes in White River Basin

1941. Passage of Flood Control Act authorizing Norfolk and Bull Shoals Dams

1944. Passage of Flood Control Act allows Southwest Power Administration to market power generated by lakes

1949. Beaver Dam Association incorporates

1954. Passage of Flood Control Act authorizing addition of Beaver Lake for flood control and power generation to White River plan

1957. Beaver Water District incorporates

1958. Passage of Water Supply Act approving municipal and industrial water storage in federally constructed reservoirs

1959. Corps completes first land purchase

1960. Construction begins on dam; Beaver Water District contracts for water rights

1963. Construction begins on powerhouse and switchyard

1964. Dam complete and water impoundment begins

1965. Passage of Recreational Act allows for federally constructed reservoirs to include recreation as a project purpose; power generation begins

1966. Beaver Lake complete; Beaver Water District goes on line; Northwest Arkansas Regional Planning Committee incorporates to strategize for growth in Beaver Lake area

Amount of Arkansas underwater during 1927 flood: 6,600 square miles

Number of counties affected: 36 of 75

Percentage of Arkansans who get their drinking water from the lake: 14% (over 420,000 people)

Number of cemeteries relocated: 39

Number of graves moved: 1,584

Amount of water Beaver Water District can produce daily (as of 2014): 140 million gallons

Length of White River affected by project: 70 miles

Number of visits in 2016 to Corps of Engineer-run parks at Beaver Lake: over 2.6 million

Amount of cement used: 600,000 barrels

Height of mixing plant: 120 feet

Height of crane operator above trestle: 80 feet

Length of trestle: 1,150 feet

Size of aggregate: 6 inch, 3 inch, 1½ inch, ¾ inch

Distance apart of gantry rails: 32 feet

Weight of four-cubic-yard bucket of concrete: 11 tons

Amount of concrete produced per hour: 150 cubic yards

Estimated cost of project: $51 million

Actual cost of project: $43 million

Dimension of lift: 48-feet wide by 7½-feet high

Amount of concrete used in dam: 133,000 truck loads

Number of monoliths: 28

Height of dam: 228 feet

Amount of concrete in dam: 780,000 cubic yards

Length of concrete dam: 1,333 feet

Width of dam at base: 180 feet

Width of dam at top: 32 feet

Capacity of water storage tanks: 16,000 gallons

Length of cooling conveyor: 350 feet

Length of embankment: 1,242 feet

Amount of rock and soil in embankment: 1.7 million cubic yards

Amount of water in one acre-foot: 325,850 gallons

Dimensions of each gate: 40 feet wide by 37 feet high

Length of spillway: 328 feet

Bid for construction of powerhouse: $3.7 million

Diameter of penstock: 20½ feet

Capacity of each turbine: 77,400 horsepower (about 553 average-sized cars)

Dimensions of sluice gate: 6 feet by 10 feet

Amount of time to go from zero-power generation to full load: 3 minutes

Length of shoreline: 450 miles

Number of people projected to be living in area by 2055: 1.2 million

The White River starts near Fayetteville and flows north into Missouri before returning to Arkansas. In 1926 and 1927 heavy rains throughout the Midwest and South dumped an enormous amount of water into the White and other rivers that flow into the Mississippi River. The Great Flood of 1927 began on April 16 when a levee broke in Illinois. As the water flowed downstream, more levees broke.

The floodwaters devastated the South. Over 27,000 square miles of land were flooded in Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Arkansas. Nearly 1,000 people lost their lives, one million people were displaced, and 130,000 homes were destroyed.

It was because of this flood that the Federal government began looking into ways to manage the nation’s rivers. In 1929 the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began a $61,000 flood-control study of the White River Basin, concluding that a series of dams was needed.

Northwest Arkansas lobbied for the construction of Beaver Lake. In 1949 area leaders formed the Beaver Dam Association to study such things as erosion and flooding on the upper White River and to look into irrigation, municipal water, and hydroelectric power, all in order to promote the lake’s construction.

The Beaver Water District was formed in 1957 by the cities of Bentonville, Fayetteville, Rogers, and Springdale to secure a long-term supply of water for Benton and Washington Counties. The District paid for five additional feet of dam height for water storage.

The Corps of Engineers had to purchase over 40,000 acres of land to make way for the reservoir.  It was a difficult task because land titles back in the hills were informal or non-existent and owners or their heirs were scattered.

Because the White was a meandering river, the lake took on an irregular shape as the impounded waters backed up into the hills and valleys of the river basin.

Not only did the lake change the geographical landscape of the area, it changed the historical and cultural landscapes.  Families whose ancestors homesteaded along the White were forced to move their homes and cemeteries as the lake rose to cover farms, small towns and communities, Native American archeological sites, and historical sites such as the resort at Monte Ne.

It was fitting that U.S. Representative James W. Trimble of Berryville was the first to break earth at the dam site, because he was a leading advocate for Beaver Lake. Although there was opposition to the reservoir in Congress, by adding water supply to the reservoir’s purpose he was able to secure the necessary funds in 1954. At the ceremony Trimble envisioned a day when “…family groups with children will enjoy outings on the shores of the emerald lake to be created here, when young lovers will make plans for a brighter future, and older folks will look in increasing numbers to our beautiful Ozarks as an ideal place for retirement in their golden years.”

Governor Faubus declared, “Nature has given to the Ozarks their unmatched beauty. Now Beaver Dam will help this hill country grow into one of the most prosperous areas of our nation.”

The best site for the dam was found about six miles northwest of Eureka Springs, where the White River flowed past a 350-feet-tall bluff on one side and a more gradual rise of 250 feet on the other.

To bring machinery and supplies to the dam site, the Frisco Railroad built a 20-car spur near Gateway on the Arkansas-Missouri border. Materials traveled down Highway 62 and then onto a newly built three-mile-long access road.

The contract to build the dam was awarded on November 16, 1960. For the next four years tremors, noise, dust, and diesel fumes filled the sleepy little valley.

Two electric whirley cranes were used to build the dam. Each crane revolved 360 degrees on its base, allowing the operator to move heavy construction materials and concrete in all directions. The cranes were mounted on 75-feet-tall gantries, movable steel towers perched atop a steel trestle (bridge) spanning the length of the dam.

Care had to be taken to keep the crane from overextending and toppling over. The heavier the load hanging from the end of the long boom, the closer it needed to stay to the center of the crane.

A used mixing plant was purchased from the Niagara Falls Power Project in New York in 1960. It was taken apart and shipped by rail to Gateway.

Cement and aggregate (crushed stone) were stored in the plant above a structure which sorted the aggregate into various sizes. From there the materials went into batching hoppers to be measured and weighed and then into one of four mixers, each capable of holding four cubic yards of concrete.

Along with the tracks for the whirley crane gantries, two sets of railroad tracks were installed on the trestle, allowing for the coming and going of the flatcars hauling giant buckets of concrete.

 

Concrete is made of aggregate, sand, water, Portland cement, and sometimes flyash, a filler material that is a by-product of coal-burning plants. To keep costs down, the aggregate quarry was located at the top of the bluff.

Rock was blasted to a depth of 90 feet and hauled to the rock-crushing plant near the bluff’s edge. After it was crushed and screened into various sizes, the rock was stored in recovery tunnels and moved by conveyor belt to the mixing plant.

The project was a joint venture between the T. L. James and J. A. Jones construction companies. As contractor they oversaw all phases of the work including scheduling and delivery of supplies and equipment, securing electrical power to the site, and letting out subcontracts for preparing the foundation and operating the quarry. The contractor also hired the work crew. Some were seasoned professionals who traveled from project to project, but most were local workers.

The contractor built warehouses, fueling depots, equipment maintenance sheds, project offices, temporary roads and a bridge across the river, a carpentry shop, an inspection building, parking areas, lay-down areas for materials and equipment, and an electrical substation. In the end, the dam and powerhouse were completed ahead of schedule and under budget

A gravity dam is made up of monoliths, giant concrete blocks built on top of and next to each other. To create the monoliths, cantilevered steel lifts (forms) are used to hold and shape the concrete until it is hardened. Chilled concrete, shallow lifts, and a precisely calculated cure time prevent the concrete from cracking.

After steel reinforcing rods were put into position, concrete was poured onto the sandblasted surface of the hardened monolith below the lift. The concrete mix was so stiff when it was poured that workers were able to walk on it and use a six-inch vibrator to consolidate the concrete and remove air pockets.

Three cofferdams made of earth or steel sheet piling were erected at different stages of the project. They served as temporary barriers to keep the White River from flooding the worksite.

Beaver Dam is not made of solid concrete. Tunnel-like access galleries run along the length of the dam. To make an opening in the concrete, a wood-and-plywood form was built and positioned inside the monolith. The concrete was poured around the form and once hardened, the form was removed.

Equipment is housed in the operator’s gallery.  Below it is the lower gallery which follows the bottom of the dam. To prevent water seepage, the foundation rock is pressure-grouted through holes in the gallery floor. Any seepage that does occur flows down drain holes to a sump pump. To monitor tilt in the dam caused by the water pressure of the reservoir, a tilt meter (a large plumb bob) hangs in a vertical gallery and measurements are taken quarterly.

A number of problems had to be overcome at the dam site. To transport heavy Portland cement to the mixing plant, a temporary bridge across the White River and a road to the high bluff were built.

To make best use of the quarry atop the bluff, the concrete mixing plant was placed on a ledge halfway down the bluff face. The height of the plant determined the height of the trestle and the whirley cranes. But the cranes couldn’t reach the part of the dam next to the bluff, so a stationary stiff-leg derrick was mounted on the dam.

Because the first monoliths were constructed opposite the bluff, the entire trestle had to be completed to move the concrete from the mixing plant to the worksite. This meant that some of the trestle footings had to stand in the flowing river. Holes were drilled into the bedrock and reinforced concrete footings installed.

Beaver Dam is a concrete gravity dam. It uses its massive weight to hold back the water in the reservoir. Roughly triangular in shape, the dam has a wide base which counteracts the enormous horizontal water pressure found at the bottom of the lake. At the top of the triangle, where there is little water pressure, the dam is narrow.

In order to anchor the dam to the limestone bluff, deep notches or keyways were blasted into the rock face. The leftover rock was used to build the earthen embankment anchoring the other side of the dam, opposite the bluff.

When water is added to the dry ingredients that make up concrete, it causes it to harden, releasing heat which can make the concrete crack. To prevent this at Beaver Dam, concrete was poured at a temperature of 50 degrees Fahrenheit or less.

On the bluff above the mixing plant were several operations designed to keep the concrete and its ingredients cool. A 1,200-ton refrigeration plant made chilled water to mix into the concrete. Chilled water was also sprayed onto the crushed rock as it moved along the conveyor, and then the water was vibrated out before it went into the mixing plant. To cool the coarse aggregate in the storage bins, cold air was forced through it.

Ammonia refrigeration plants made flaked ice, which was stored in an insulated storage house. The ice was moved along a screw conveyor into the ice batcher in the mixing plant. During hot weather more ice than water was added to the concrete mixture to keep it cool.

An earthen embankment spans the gap between the concrete dam and the sloping countryside around it. To build the embankment a keyway was blasted into the bedrock. Then a cutoff wall made of impervious (non-porous) clay was built to resist water seepage from the lake. Pervious (porous) rock from White River gravel bars was piled against the clay core to equalize water pressure.

Rock-and-earth fill material forms the massive sloping sides of the embankment. Fill came from the dam excavation itself and from several nearby pits, some of which contained human graves that first had to be relocated by the Corps of Engineers before the fill could be removed. Riprap (large rocks) was placed on top of the embankment’s slopes to control erosion.

The lake is divided into two parts. The conservation pool, at 1,200 feet above sea level, holds water for power generation and municipal and industrial use. At its normal water level, about 28,000 acres of land are covered by the lake. The ten feet above the conservation pool is reserved for the flood pool. Often empty, it can hold up to 300,000 acre-feet of floodwater.

When the flood pool fills and the Corps of Engineers determines that floodwater needs to be released from the reservoir, seven steel, curved, tainter gates at the top of the dam’s spillway are raised electrically. Water flows down the arched spillway away from the base of the dam and into the concrete stilling basin where large baffles (blocks) disperse the energy of the water being released downstream.

The spillway gates have been opened several times over the years to regulate floodwaters. The sight of millions of gallons of water rushing down the spillway is a spectacular event and always draws a crowd.

Not only were the T. L. James and J. A. Jones construction companies awarded the contract for the construction of the dam, they were asked to take on the powerhouse and switchyard project as well, after the company that originally won the bid was disqualified.

Although the James and Jones companies came to the project late, the milestone dates—dates by which certain portions of the project had to be completed—weren’t adjusted to reflect the delay. The contractor scrambled to begin the project in April 1963, finishing it one year later.

It helped that the contractor was using the critical path method (CPM), a newly developed system for scheduling a variety of activities in the least amount of time. Today such work is done by computer; in the early 1960s the monthly CPM chart was created manually.

To generate electricity, an intake gate on the lake side of the dam is opened. Water flows into the penstock, a long tube that travels downward and ends in a spiral scroll case. The mass of the water and the acceleration it achieves by falling and circling pushes against the turbine buckets, forcing the turbine to spin. A generator connected to the turbine shaft creates electricity which is sent to transformers in the switchyard and converted to a usable voltage. The power is delivered over high-voltage lines to an electric substation.

Beaver Dam’s powerhouse contains a small, in-house generator for its own use and two large generators, each of which can produce 56,000 kilowatts of electricity, enough for 25,000 homes. The decision to generate power is made by remote radio control from Table Rock Dam. Hydroelectric power from Beaver Dam is sold through the Southwest Power Administration, an agency of the U.S. Department of Energy, to electric companies in Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Texas.

Under full-load conditions, the dam’s generators can produce 128 megawatts of electricity per hour (enough to supply power to a town of 100,000), although this rarely happens. Beaver Dam is a peaking plant, generating much of its power during the summer when demand is heaviest.

Once the water has spent its energy by rotating the turbines that turn the generators, it passes through the draft tube and out of the powerhouse. The concrete training walls of the tailrace guide the water into the White River. The water flows downstream to Table Rock reservoir in Missouri, where once again it is stored and used to generate electricity.

Federal law requires that a steady flow of water moves through the dam each day to make up the flow of the White. Water may flow through the draft tube or through the hydraulic sluice gate at the base of the spillway. The released water is very cold, making it a perfect temperature for the trout stocked by the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission.

With the completion of the dam in March 1964 the waters of the White River began to fill the reservoir. Commercial power generation began in May 1965 and Beaver Lake was pronounced complete in June 1966. Since then millions of people have enjoyed fishing, swimming, and boating in the lake and camping along its shores.

What does the future hold? Growing, water-thirsty and power-hungry cities and industries are impacting the lake as do prolonged droughts. Will the lake meet our needs in the coming decades?

The Railroad Comes Through

Transportation played a major role in the growth of the apple industry. At first few apples were grown for market because Northwest Arkansas didn’t have a railroad line or major navigable river. Apples had to be hauled by wagon great distances before they could be shipped. With the coming of the railroad in the 1880s, growers began planting apple trees by the thousands.

Not only did the railroad ship apples, it bought huge tracts of land, promoting the acreage in brochures with such titles as “Fruit Farming Along the Frisco.” While every county in Northwest Arkansas grew and shipped apples, Benton and Washington Counties were the major players. Arkansas apples won top prizes at expositions from the 1870s to the 1910s.

Scientific Orcharding

With orcharding becoming a big business, growers sought ways to increase their crop yield. As a 1908 Springdale News article saw it, the “era of scientific orcharding” had begun. National and state agricultural agencies set up research and experimental stations to test new practices, teach, and spread practical information to farmers. At the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, researchers began studying and improving techniques for grafting, pruning, and spraying.

Apples were so important in Northwest Arkansas that in 1906, with the help of Senator James Berry of Bentonville and the state horticultural society, a first-class U.S. Weather Bureau opened on the Bentonville square. Not only did it offer daily forecasts, it sent notices to fruit farmers regarding when to spray their trees for insects and disease.

This intensive planting of orchards and attention to scientific growing methods paid off. Bumper crops of apples were reported year after year. Accounts vary but in 1919 the total apple crop in Benton County was valued at almost $5.5 million. There were over 3,100 railroad cars of fresh apples, 250 cars of dried apples, and 618 cars of apples for vinegar. About 90,000 bushels of apples went to the canning factories.

New Businesses Develop

With the growth of the apple industry came a number of specialty businesses. Apple trees were propagated and grown at area nurseries. Barrels made from locally grown timber were used to ship high-grade fruit when it was green (not fully ripened) and better able to resist bruising. Ice from ice plants helped cool down refrigerated railroad cars. Cold storage plants overwintered apples before shipping them out in the spring.

Medium-grade apples were sent to the canneries for canning or to the evaporators to be sliced and dried. Low-grade fruit was sold in bulk and turned into vinegar or alcohol at the distillery. The Kimmons, Walker and Company evaporator in Springdale was said to have been the biggest plant in the area. In 1907 over 1,500 bushels of apples were processed daily. The women working at one of the company’s 18 peelers were paid from 75¢ to $1 a day, depending on their skill.

Wholesalers and fruit brokers bought fresh fruit from the growers or processed apple products, selling these items to distant markets. During the busy season thousands of men, women, and children were employed in the orchards picking apples and in the packing sheds, distilleries, vinegar plants, and evaporators. So many people benefitted from “King Apple” that in 1901 the apple blossom became the state flower.

To celebrate the crop that put Northwest Arkansas on the map, in the mid 1920s Rogers held spectacular Apple Blossom Festivals complete with pageants, orchard tours, and the crowning of the Apple Blossom queen. Many communities and organizations sent crepe paper blossom-covered parade floats filled with pretty girls. One year over 50,000 attendees enjoyed the show. The last festival was held in 1927. Several years of unexpected rainy, cold weather had put a damper on the proceedings. The shifting weather patterns didn’t help the apple trees, either.

“. . . acres of [apple trees] in such long rows one can not see the end of them, just long streaks of vivid red and green. . . . They will surely bring to the farmers a mint of money. You remember our mother used to say to us girls . . . “dollars don’t grow on every bush, my dear.” But dollars do grow on every apple tree in this country.”
Martha A. Warren, September 1, 1907
(quoted by Erwin Funk, Rogers Daily News, July 1, 1950)

The Railroad Comes Through

Transportation played a major role in the growth of the apple industry. At first few apples were grown for market because Northwest Arkansas didn’t have a railroad line or major navigable river. Apples had to be hauled by wagon great distances before they could be shipped. With the coming of the railroad in the 1880s, growers began planting apple trees by the thousands.

Not only did the railroad ship apples, it bought huge tracts of land, promoting the acreage in brochures with such titles as “Fruit Farming Along the Frisco.” While every county in Northwest Arkansas grew and shipped apples, Benton and Washington Counties were the major players. Arkansas apples won top prizes at expositions from the 1870s to the 1910s.

Scientific Orcharding

With orcharding becoming a big business, growers sought ways to increase their crop yield. As a 1908 Springdale News article saw it, the “era of scientific orcharding” had begun. National and state agricultural agencies set up research and experimental stations to test new practices, teach, and spread practical information to farmers. At the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, researchers began studying and improving techniques for grafting, pruning, and spraying.

Apples were so important in Northwest Arkansas that in 1906, with the help of Senator James Berry of Bentonville and the state horticultural society, a first-class U.S. Weather Bureau opened on the Bentonville square. Not only did it offer daily forecasts, it sent notices to fruit farmers regarding when to spray their trees for insects and disease.

This intensive planting of orchards and attention to scientific growing methods paid off. Bumper crops of apples were reported year after year. Accounts vary but in 1919 the total apple crop in Benton County was valued at almost $5.5 million. There were over 3,100 railroad cars of fresh apples, 250 cars of dried apples, and 618 cars of apples for vinegar. About 90,000 bushels of apples went to the canning factories.

New Businesses Develop

With the growth of the apple industry came a number of specialty businesses. Apple trees were propagated and grown at area nurseries. Barrels made from locally grown timber were used to ship high-grade fruit when it was green (not fully ripened) and better able to resist bruising. Ice from ice plants helped cool down refrigerated railroad cars. Cold storage plants overwintered apples before shipping them out in the spring.

Medium-grade apples were sent to the canneries for canning or to the evaporators to be sliced and dried. Low-grade fruit was sold in bulk and turned into vinegar or alcohol at the distillery. The Kimmons, Walker and Company evaporator in Springdale was said to have been the biggest plant in the area. In 1907 over 1,500 bushels of apples were processed daily. The women working at one of the company’s 18 peelers were paid from 75¢ to $1 a day, depending on their skill.

Wholesalers and fruit brokers bought fresh fruit from the growers or processed apple products, selling these items to distant markets. During the busy season thousands of men, women, and children were employed in the orchards picking apples and in the packing sheds, distilleries, vinegar plants, and evaporators. So many people benefitted from “King Apple” that in 1901 the apple blossom became the state flower.

To celebrate the crop that put Northwest Arkansas on the map, in the mid 1920s Rogers held spectacular Apple Blossom Festivals complete with pageants, orchard tours, and the crowning of the Apple Blossom queen. Many communities and organizations sent crepe paper blossom-covered parade floats filled with pretty girls. One year over 50,000 attendees enjoyed the show. The last festival was held in 1927. Several years of unexpected rainy, cold weather had put a damper on the proceedings. The shifting weather patterns didn’t help the apple trees, either.

“. . . acres of [apple trees] in such long rows one can not see the end of them, just long streaks of vivid red and green. . . . They will surely bring to the farmers a mint of money. You remember our mother used to say to us girls . . . “dollars don’t grow on every bush, my dear.” But dollars do grow on every apple tree in this country.”
Martha A. Warren, September 1, 1907
(quoted by Erwin Funk, Rogers Daily News, July 1, 1950)

End of an Era

Although folks didn’t see it at the time, by the early 1920s the apple industry was in decline in Northwest Arkansas. Many factors were responsible. Lots of people got into the apple business thinking they’d get rich, but most didn’t know much about controlling pests and disease or replenishing soil nutrients. Some growers and packing houses also shipped poor quality fruit, giving area orchards a bad name. With the advent of the automobile, independent sellers could drive a truckload of fruit to a distant town to make a sale. Not only did they cut into the fruit shipper’s business, but the product quality was often poor.

Too many apple varieties meant that commercial buyers couldn’t buy enough volume of one variety. And many of the varieties weren’t the best, including the Ben Davis, one of the area’s most planted apples. As apple-growing regions out west grew in prominence, the public began to favor the new varieties. Northwest Arkansas’ growers didn’t keep up with the changing tastes. The area’s orchards were also aging.

The weather brought late freezes, droughts, or too much rain. The narrow genetic base of local apples meant that trees were more susceptible to insects and disease. San Jose scale, the coddling moth, and the oriental fruit moth wreaked havoc, as did diseases like fire blight and bitter rot. Apples were sprayed with such things as lead arsenate and “Bordeaux mixture” (lime and copper sulphate), but these treatments left a residue.

Dried apples began losing popularity in the early 1900s. Part of their decline was due to the increasing ability to preserve and transport fresh apples. Also, newly enacted federal laws like the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906 placed stiff regulations on a largely unregulated business. Should inspectors find bits of peel or seed in a dried apple shipment, the load was confiscated, the shipper arrested and fined, and the fruit reprocessed in order to conform to the law. Other regulations required growers to wash apples in a weak hydrochloric acid solution before shipping to remove pesticide residue. Treated apples didn’t keep as long as untreated fruit. All of these extra steps cut into profits.

With help from the economic toll of the Great Depression, the number of apple-growing acres declined in the 1930s and 1940s. Rather than relying on apples, the area’s agricultural economy began to focus on an up-and-coming industry—poultry.

The Apple’s Revival

A few orchardists held out. In the 1950s and 1960s growers like Forrest Rodgers of Lincoln and Fred Vanzant of Lowell believed in the future of Arkansas apples. They had new products for insect and disease control and newly developed tree stock that came to maturity more quickly. In 1984 Vanzant had 60 acres of Red Delicious and Jonathan apples. Today the family still runs the farm stand.

Apple research continues at the University of Arkansas. Along with many others, Dr. Roy Rom and his son, Dr. Curt Rom, have spent decades researching and improving apple varieties. Today modern growers reduce pesticide use by using integrated pest management programs to prevent and control insect damage. Computer programs can measure temperature, humidity, and rainfall and alert a farmer to when the trees need irrigation. Smaller trees have been developed to allow more trees to be planted per acre. They’re also easier to pick.

Today’s consumers are faced with limited apple choices. Grocery stores across the nation generally offer the same varieties—Granny Smith, Jonathan, Fuji, Golden Delicious, Braeburn, Macintosh. Gone are the choices of yesteryear. Northwest Arkansas was once the biggest apple growing region of the country, but today we can’t compete with major apple-growing regions such as Washington or Oregon. Instead, small orchards are seen as the future. Consumers are increasingly interested in organic foods, heirloom plants, farmers’ markets, and the “Eat Local” movement. As these trends grow, so too does the interest for homegrown apples.

“The big, red apple will never be King in Northwest Arkansas again. That era is gone forever but its reign, in retrospect, was benign. The countryside was beautiful with trees that blossomed in the spring and were crimson with fruit in the fall. The air was clean; the water was clear.”
Thomas Rothrock
Benton County Pioneer, Summer 1974

End of an Era

Although folks didn’t see it at the time, by the early 1920s the apple industry was in decline in Northwest Arkansas. Many factors were responsible. Lots of people got into the apple business thinking they’d get rich, but most didn’t know much about controlling pests and disease or replenishing soil nutrients. Some growers and packing houses also shipped poor quality fruit, giving area orchards a bad name. With the advent of the automobile, independent sellers could drive a truckload of fruit to a distant town to make a sale. Not only did they cut into the fruit shipper’s business, but the product quality was often poor.

Too many apple varieties meant that commercial buyers couldn’t buy enough volume of one variety. And many of the varieties weren’t the best, including the Ben Davis, one of the area’s most planted apples. As apple-growing regions out west grew in prominence, the public began to favor the new varieties. Northwest Arkansas’ growers didn’t keep up with the changing tastes. The area’s orchards were also aging.

The weather brought late freezes, droughts, or too much rain. The narrow genetic base of local apples meant that trees were more susceptible to insects and disease. San Jose scale, the coddling moth, and the oriental fruit moth wreaked havoc, as did diseases like fire blight and bitter rot. Apples were sprayed with such things as lead arsenate and “Bordeaux mixture” (lime and copper sulphate), but these treatments left a residue.

Dried apples began losing popularity in the early 1900s. Part of their decline was due to the increasing ability to preserve and transport fresh apples. Also, newly enacted federal laws like the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906 placed stiff regulations on a largely unregulated business. Should inspectors find bits of peel or seed in a dried apple shipment, the load was confiscated, the shipper arrested and fined, and the fruit reprocessed in order to conform to the law. Other regulations required growers to wash apples in a weak hydrochloric acid solution before shipping to remove pesticide residue. Treated apples didn’t keep as long as untreated fruit. All of these extra steps cut into profits.

With help from the economic toll of the Great Depression, the number of apple-growing acres declined in the 1930s and 1940s. Rather than relying on apples, the area’s agricultural economy began to focus on an up-and-coming industry—poultry.

The Apple’s Revival

A few orchardists held out. In the 1950s and 1960s growers like Forrest Rodgers of Lincoln and Fred Vanzant of Lowell believed in the future of Arkansas apples. They had new products for insect and disease control and newly developed tree stock that came to maturity more quickly. In 1984 Vanzant had 60 acres of Red Delicious and Jonathan apples. Today the family still runs the farm stand.

Apple research continues at the University of Arkansas. Along with many others, Dr. Roy Rom and his son, Dr. Curt Rom, have spent decades researching and improving apple varieties. Today modern growers reduce pesticide use by using integrated pest management programs to prevent and control insect damage. Computer programs can measure temperature, humidity, and rainfall and alert a farmer to when the trees need irrigation. Smaller trees have been developed to allow more trees to be planted per acre. They’re also easier to pick.

Today’s consumers are faced with limited apple choices. Grocery stores across the nation generally offer the same varieties—Granny Smith, Jonathan, Fuji, Golden Delicious, Braeburn, Macintosh. Gone are the choices of yesteryear. Northwest Arkansas was once the biggest apple growing region of the country, but today we can’t compete with major apple-growing regions such as Washington or Oregon. Instead, small orchards are seen as the future. Consumers are increasingly interested in organic foods, heirloom plants, farmers’ markets, and the “Eat Local” movement. As these trends grow, so too does the interest for homegrown apples.

“The big, red apple will never be King in Northwest Arkansas again. That era is gone forever but its reign, in retrospect, was benign. The countryside was beautiful with trees that blossomed in the spring and were crimson with fruit in the fall. The air was clean; the water was clear.”
Thomas Rothrock
Benton County Pioneer, Summer 1974

Arkansas (aka Mammoth Black Twig)—propagated in 1869; the scion was cut from a tree grown from the seed of either the Black Twig or Limber Twig in the 1840s by John Crawford of Rhea’s Mill near Prairie Grove; exhibited at the New Orleans Exposition in 1884

Arkansas Black—conflicting origin; some say first fruited in 1879 on Mr. Braithwait’s farm near Bentonville; others say DeKalb Holt produced it near Lincoln; firm flesh harvested in late fall; excellent for overwintering; won first place at the 1900 International Exposition in Paris

Black Ben Davis (aka Reagan’s Red)— originated from a seedling found in 1883 by John Reagan on a waste pile near an apple evaporator on Alexander Black’s farm; gained acclaim at the International Exposition in Paris

Collins’ Red (aka Collins, Champion Red, Champion, Reagan’s Red)—found by chance in a field near Lincoln; commercially propagated around 1886; a good-colored fruit which keeps well, if kept properly

Etris—discovered by Jack Etris near Gentry in the late 1800s; a tart, red-striped fruit which keeps well; reaches its full flavor in late November

Highfill Seedling (aka Highfill Blue)—discovered by Hezikiah Highfill at his nursery in Highfill; a dark red fruit with a “blue frost” and a tart “whang;” won a medal at the 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis

Howard Sweet—the seedling is thought to have come from Earls Holt’s Cane Hill nursery after the Civil War; grown near Cincinnati by Mr. Howard; a sweet, highly colored dessert apple; the tree has a heavy bloom

King David—originated on Ben Frost’s Durham-area farm about 1890; a yellow-skinned fruit washed with red

Oliver Red (aka Oliver, Senator)—originated in Washington County; a yellow-skinned fruit washed with bright red; harvested in early September; a good dessert apple

Shannon Pippin—brought from Indiana in 1833; a yellow-skinned fruit with a faint blush, it had a sweet aroma and made for a good dessert apple; it wasn’t suitable for commercial growing because not many apples grew on the tree

Springdale—predicted to go far in 1890, it never gained prominence; a yellow-skinned fruit washed with mixed red and bright crimson splashes

Summer Champion—from W.T. Waller’s farm near Lincoln; originally from Abraham Tull’s farm in Grant County, Arkansas; a yellow-skinned fruit washed with red; sold to Stark Brothers Nursery for $45

Wilson June—one of 1,000 trees found at the Earles Holt nursery after the Civil War and transplanted to the Lincoln area by Albert and  A. J. Wilson; a sweet, yellow-skinned fruit with dark crimson stripes

Arkansas (aka Mammoth Black Twig)—propagated in 1869; the scion was cut from a tree grown from the seed of either the Black Twig or Limber Twig in the 1840s by John Crawford of Rhea’s Mill near Prairie Grove; exhibited at the New Orleans Exposition in 1884

Arkansas Black—conflicting origin; some say first fruited in 1879 on Mr. Braithwait’s farm near Bentonville; others say DeKalb Holt produced it near Lincoln; firm flesh harvested in late fall; excellent for overwintering; won first place at the 1900 International Exposition in Paris

Black Ben Davis (aka Reagan’s Red)— originated from a seedling found in 1883 by John Reagan on a waste pile near an apple evaporator on Alexander Black’s farm; gained acclaim at the International Exposition in Paris

Collins’ Red (aka Collins, Champion Red, Champion, Reagan’s Red)—found by chance in a field near Lincoln; commercially propagated around 1886; a good-colored fruit which keeps well, if kept properly

Etris—discovered by Jack Etris near Gentry in the late 1800s; a tart, red-striped fruit which keeps well; reaches its full flavor in late November

Highfill Seedling (aka Highfill Blue)—discovered by Hezikiah Highfill at his nursery in Highfill; a dark red fruit with a “blue frost” and a tart “whang;” won a medal at the 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis

Howard Sweet—the seedling is thought to have come from Earls Holt’s Cane Hill nursery after the Civil War; grown near Cincinnati by Mr. Howard; a sweet, highly colored dessert apple; the tree has a heavy bloom

King David—originated on Ben Frost’s Durham-area farm about 1890; a yellow-skinned fruit washed with red

Oliver Red (aka Oliver, Senator)—originated in Washington County; a yellow-skinned fruit washed with bright red; harvested in early September; a good dessert apple

Shannon Pippin—brought from Indiana in 1833; a yellow-skinned fruit with a faint blush, it had a sweet aroma and made for a good dessert apple; it wasn’t suitable for commercial growing because not many apples grew on the tree

Springdale—predicted to go far in 1890, it never gained prominence; a yellow-skinned fruit washed with mixed red and bright crimson splashes

Summer Champion—from W.T. Waller’s farm near Lincoln; originally from Abraham Tull’s farm in Grant County, Arkansas; a yellow-skinned fruit washed with red; sold to Stark Brothers Nursery for $45

Wilson June—one of 1,000 trees found at the Earles Holt nursery after the Civil War and transplanted to the Lincoln area by Albert and  A. J. Wilson; a sweet, yellow-skinned fruit with dark crimson stripes

Part of the strength of the apple industry in Northwest Arkansas was due to the many nurseries that sprung up, beginning in the early 19th century. A few of the larger nurseries included Crider Brothers Nursery (Greenland), Benton County Nursery Company (Rogers), Stark Brothers Nursery (Farmington), and Parker Brothers Nursery Company and its offshoot, John Parker and Son Nursery Company.

Lewis Parker began a home nursery business in Aurora (Madison County) in 1887. As the business grew his elder sons James and John helped with the nursery and began selling stock further afield. A flowery 1922 account in the Fayetteville Democrat recounts the nursery’s early years:

“As a result of these labors, hundreds of home and commercial orchards have been established. . . . Who will say that these patient, plodding men labored only for the price brought by their trees? No, these men had a vision and as they worked and helped to lay the foundation of our great fruit industry this vision lured them on. They could see in the future vast orchards, vineyards and berry farms. They sensed afar the day that is now dawning when well developed fruit lands is bringing a flow of golden wealth to good old Northwest Arkansas.”

Eventually younger sons George and Elmer joined the business. After Lewis’ retirement in the early 1900s, his sons established their own nurseries. Elmer stayed in Aurora while James went to Oklahoma. George started the Parker Brothers Nursery Company in Fayetteville, with acreage for growing stock in Greenland. John worked for the company for 20 years as salesman and “Orchard Adviser.”

Early in 1922 John established John Parker and Son Nursery Company, “a clean little nursery” in Fayetteville. His split with brother George might have been acrimonious, as John’s early letterhead included the phrase, “Not connected in any way with ‘so-called’ Parker Bros. Nursery Co.” In 1922 John recounted his business philosophy:

“Father tried to grow the best trees possible. He was a firm believer in the ‘Golden Rule’ and applied it in his business dealings. I shall never forget the few sound principles which he tried to impress on us as we were getting our first years of experience with him in the Nursery work. . . . First, learn your business so that you will know a good tree and how to produce it. Be sure that you never put a tree in a man’s order that you would not plant yourself. Be absolutely honest with everybody you deal with.”

The following excerpts come from letters written to Emmett Lee Morris of Lincoln, who served first as an agent for the Parker Brothers Nursery Company before working for John M. Parker and Son Nursery Co. in 1922. Morris and his fellow agents worked on commission and were constantly being told to sell more stock, to write up orders correctly, to not promise something that couldn’t be delivered, and to follow through and get the payment due the company. The first few letters were written by George Parker; the remainder by John.

April 16, 1921
“We wish to offer here a little bit of advice to our salesmen and to stress the importance of starting early on Monday morning and to keep busy with hammer and tongs for the full six days of the week. We are lead to believe that Monday is the most important day of the week. . . . Week end vacations are all very well for retired business men, but you can’t indulge in this extravagance and stay in the business race. . . . Benjamin Franklin could not afford to waste a minute. Edison works eighteen hours a day. The men who win are the men who make every day stand on its own feet. They are Six Day Men. Are You?”

April 26, 1921
“Our letter of the 16th . . . evidently brought results as 26 men reported last week against the 14 the week before. Now men, this makes us feel optimistic. We are only two reports behind a year ago. This is fine, considering the cold, rainy, backward spring we have had, but summer is now here. . . . Remember, the more you work the more you get. Here are the ten high ones of this week. Are you a top notcher? . . . Morris $935.80, Gingles $513.75, Chamblin $340.50, Gilbert $237.94 . . . Each one of our salesmen should consider it his duty right now to suggest to his prospective customer that he plant and raise what he consumes . . . He will be apt to bring up the subject of canned fruit. Here is your opportunity. Make the best of it, and be an optimist all the time. Always read the optimistic parts of the news papers. Never read the pessimistic side.”

February 1, 1922
“Upon looking over our Sales Ledger this morning, I notice that you are not reporting, and wonder what our firm has done, or has not done, that this should be. Good opportunities and valuable time is fast passing away. I trust that the fact that you are not representing us now is not due to any discourteous or unsatisfactory treatment from this end. …It is now a desirable time to take up the work, there never was more money in circulation and more business activity in our history than at the present time, and I would like to have you represent us in your locality. Your name will be held on my desk, awaiting your prompt answer.”

October 30, 1923
“Sorry to hear you have not been able to work. . . . We can furnish the Summer Champion in the 3-4 ft. grade, but have no Shannon in stock. . . . One thing we want to avoid: Do not make a fellow believe that they will be 3-4 ft. and if the order is written is written up 2-3 ft. that is the grade we will send him. We guarantee the roots to be absolutely No. 1. . . .”

March 11, 1924
“We wish to thank you for the $108.10 and will say that we think you are handling that business very nicely, at least we are perfectly satisfied with your work.”

August 27, 1924
“You do not need a permit to sell trees in Oklahoma. However, we will guarantee to get you out of jail, and if you get in trouble we will pay the expenses. . . . We are very glad to hear that you have a car and that you are going to work at once. I believe the month of September and October will be the best two months in this year.”

December 4, 1924
“Please find enclosed our check for $3.12, the 10% advance commission due on your last report which amounted to $31.28.”

February 10, 1925
“I do not know just how the packing crew happened to leave C.E. Phillips order out. It was shipped out by C.O.D. express direct to him Feb. 7th. Roll in the orders as fast as possible. We will deliver the goods.”

February 10, 1925
“I wish that you were in the office so I could take my hat off to you. I would willingly expose my marble top to the man that gets one hundred cents on the dollar. . . . We are glad to know that you have prospects for more good business. Hit while the iron is hot. We all know we are giving the farmer the best deal he has ever had from any nursery company.”

February 18, 1925
“We sold over $700.00 cash business from the office that day, and got the money. About $300.00 yesterday. Get in the ring and tell the boys they had better close the deal now.”

December 4, 1925
“We note what you say in regard to Mr. Glidewell’s order. In regard to replacing, we will stand one-half the loss, but we really believe the dry weather was responsible for most of this loss.”

February 18, 1926
“We received a notice from the P.M. [postmaster] at Summers, that G.E. Hall had refused to accept his bill of nursery stock which we shipped out a few days ago. We would like for you to see what is the matter with him, and try to deliver it if possible. We cannot understand why he does not want it now, as this is fine weather for planting. We have written him telling him to call and get his stock at once, but we believe you had better see about it too, as he may be a pretty hard one to convince.”

March 12, 1926
“Just received your letter, and are glad to know you had 100% collections, and we always know that you will get the money when we ship to your customers. Will be glad to see you whenever you can come up with the money.”

January 21, 1928
“Don’t let anybody get by if they want to buy apples, peach, plum, pear or cherries.”

March 15, 1928
“We are wondering why it is you have not sent in some orders. You surely are not working very hard, as I am sure there is a number of people not far from where you live who want to buy some of our good trees. . . . Please put in at least 1 or 2 days and get some orders and rush them to us.”

March 19, 1929
“I was very much disappointed that I failed to meet you in the office this afternoon. I gave your boy samples of Stayman Winesap and we have a big surplus in Stayman, Red Delicious and Black Ben Davis in this extra fine 2 year old tree. Sell them at $20.00 per hundred if you can. If they take 50 or more sell them at 20¢. We will give you ¼ of all the money we collect. . . . We would like for you to go out and work a few days and see how much you can make. Rush the orders to us and if you have to give a fellow a Golden Delicious to buy, tell him we are making him a present of the same kind of tree that Stark Brothers sell for $1.50. Anything to get the business and we always appreciate your business because we have never failed to get the money on your orders.” Yours for More and Better Fruit, John Parker

Part of the strength of the apple industry in Northwest Arkansas was due to the many nurseries that sprung up, beginning in the early 19th century. A few of the larger nurseries included Crider Brothers Nursery (Greenland), Benton County Nursery Company (Rogers), Stark Brothers Nursery (Farmington), and Parker Brothers Nursery Company and its offshoot, John Parker and Son Nursery Company.

Lewis Parker began a home nursery business in Aurora (Madison County) in 1887. As the business grew his elder sons James and John helped with the nursery and began selling stock further afield. A flowery 1922 account in the Fayetteville Democrat recounts the nursery’s early years:

“As a result of these labors, hundreds of home and commercial orchards have been established. . . . Who will say that these patient, plodding men labored only for the price brought by their trees? No, these men had a vision and as they worked and helped to lay the foundation of our great fruit industry this vision lured them on. They could see in the future vast orchards, vineyards and berry farms. They sensed afar the day that is now dawning when well developed fruit lands is bringing a flow of golden wealth to good old Northwest Arkansas.”

Eventually younger sons George and Elmer joined the business. After Lewis’ retirement in the early 1900s, his sons established their own nurseries. Elmer stayed in Aurora while James went to Oklahoma. George started the Parker Brothers Nursery Company in Fayetteville, with acreage for growing stock in Greenland. John worked for the company for 20 years as salesman and “Orchard Adviser.”

Early in 1922 John established John Parker and Son Nursery Company, “a clean little nursery” in Fayetteville. His split with brother George might have been acrimonious, as John’s early letterhead included the phrase, “Not connected in any way with ‘so-called’ Parker Bros. Nursery Co.” In 1922 John recounted his business philosophy:

“Father tried to grow the best trees possible. He was a firm believer in the ‘Golden Rule’ and applied it in his business dealings. I shall never forget the few sound principles which he tried to impress on us as we were getting our first years of experience with him in the Nursery work. . . . First, learn your business so that you will know a good tree and how to produce it. Be sure that you never put a tree in a man’s order that you would not plant yourself. Be absolutely honest with everybody you deal with.”

The following excerpts come from letters written to Emmett Lee Morris of Lincoln, who served first as an agent for the Parker Brothers Nursery Company before working for John M. Parker and Son Nursery Co. in 1922. Morris and his fellow agents worked on commission and were constantly being told to sell more stock, to write up orders correctly, to not promise something that couldn’t be delivered, and to follow through and get the payment due the company. The first few letters were written by George Parker; the remainder by John.

April 16, 1921
“We wish to offer here a little bit of advice to our salesmen and to stress the importance of starting early on Monday morning and to keep busy with hammer and tongs for the full six days of the week. We are lead to believe that Monday is the most important day of the week. . . . Week end vacations are all very well for retired business men, but you can’t indulge in this extravagance and stay in the business race. . . . Benjamin Franklin could not afford to waste a minute. Edison works eighteen hours a day. The men who win are the men who make every day stand on its own feet. They are Six Day Men. Are You?”

April 26, 1921
“Our letter of the 16th . . . evidently brought results as 26 men reported last week against the 14 the week before. Now men, this makes us feel optimistic. We are only two reports behind a year ago. This is fine, considering the cold, rainy, backward spring we have had, but summer is now here. . . . Remember, the more you work the more you get. Here are the ten high ones of this week. Are you a top notcher? . . . Morris $935.80, Gingles $513.75, Chamblin $340.50, Gilbert $237.94 . . . Each one of our salesmen should consider it his duty right now to suggest to his prospective customer that he plant and raise what he consumes . . . He will be apt to bring up the subject of canned fruit. Here is your opportunity. Make the best of it, and be an optimist all the time. Always read the optimistic parts of the news papers. Never read the pessimistic side.”

February 1, 1922
“Upon looking over our Sales Ledger this morning, I notice that you are not reporting, and wonder what our firm has done, or has not done, that this should be. Good opportunities and valuable time is fast passing away. I trust that the fact that you are not representing us now is not due to any discourteous or unsatisfactory treatment from this end. …It is now a desirable time to take up the work, there never was more money in circulation and more business activity in our history than at the present time, and I would like to have you represent us in your locality. Your name will be held on my desk, awaiting your prompt answer.”

October 30, 1923
“Sorry to hear you have not been able to work. . . . We can furnish the Summer Champion in the 3-4 ft. grade, but have no Shannon in stock. . . . One thing we want to avoid: Do not make a fellow believe that they will be 3-4 ft. and if the order is written is written up 2-3 ft. that is the grade we will send him. We guarantee the roots to be absolutely No. 1. . . .”

March 11, 1924
“We wish to thank you for the $108.10 and will say that we think you are handling that business very nicely, at least we are perfectly satisfied with your work.”

August 27, 1924
“You do not need a permit to sell trees in Oklahoma. However, we will guarantee to get you out of jail, and if you get in trouble we will pay the expenses. . . . We are very glad to hear that you have a car and that you are going to work at once. I believe the month of September and October will be the best two months in this year.”

December 4, 1924
“Please find enclosed our check for $3.12, the 10% advance commission due on your last report which amounted to $31.28.”

February 10, 1925
“I do not know just how the packing crew happened to leave C.E. Phillips order out. It was shipped out by C.O.D. express direct to him Feb. 7th. Roll in the orders as fast as possible. We will deliver the goods.”

February 10, 1925
“I wish that you were in the office so I could take my hat off to you. I would willingly expose my marble top to the man that gets one hundred cents on the dollar. . . . We are glad to know that you have prospects for more good business. Hit while the iron is hot. We all know we are giving the farmer the best deal he has ever had from any nursery company.”

February 18, 1925
“We sold over $700.00 cash business from the office that day, and got the money. About $300.00 yesterday. Get in the ring and tell the boys they had better close the deal now.”

December 4, 1925
“We note what you say in regard to Mr. Glidewell’s order. In regard to replacing, we will stand one-half the loss, but we really believe the dry weather was responsible for most of this loss.”

February 18, 1926
“We received a notice from the P.M. [postmaster] at Summers, that G.E. Hall had refused to accept his bill of nursery stock which we shipped out a few days ago. We would like for you to see what is the matter with him, and try to deliver it if possible. We cannot understand why he does not want it now, as this is fine weather for planting. We have written him telling him to call and get his stock at once, but we believe you had better see about it too, as he may be a pretty hard one to convince.”

March 12, 1926
“Just received your letter, and are glad to know you had 100% collections, and we always know that you will get the money when we ship to your customers. Will be glad to see you whenever you can come up with the money.”

January 21, 1928
“Don’t let anybody get by if they want to buy apples, peach, plum, pear or cherries.”

March 15, 1928
“We are wondering why it is you have not sent in some orders. You surely are not working very hard, as I am sure there is a number of people not far from where you live who want to buy some of our good trees. . . . Please put in at least 1 or 2 days and get some orders and rush them to us.”

March 19, 1929
“I was very much disappointed that I failed to meet you in the office this afternoon. I gave your boy samples of Stayman Winesap and we have a big surplus in Stayman, Red Delicious and Black Ben Davis in this extra fine 2 year old tree. Sell them at $20.00 per hundred if you can. If they take 50 or more sell them at 20¢. We will give you ¼ of all the money we collect. . . . We would like for you to go out and work a few days and see how much you can make. Rush the orders to us and if you have to give a fellow a Golden Delicious to buy, tell him we are making him a present of the same kind of tree that Stark Brothers sell for $1.50. Anything to get the business and we always appreciate your business because we have never failed to get the money on your orders.” Yours for More and Better Fruit, John Parker

“The apple is the king of fruits, and the mountains of Arkansas form its throne. Hurrah for Arkansas, for our fine flavored apples . . .”
Springdale News, October 30, 1894

“Verily, as the poet says, “God dreamed of apple trees” when his hand created these delightful hills and hollows, these wide plateaus and gentle slopes, for this is the world’s greatest apple orchard . . .”
John T. Stinson
Fruit Growing Along the Frisco System, 1904

“The countryside was beautiful with trees that blossomed fragrantly in the spring and were crimson with fruit in the autumn. . . . For me, the apple blossom festivals held in Rogers during the 1920s were symbolic of the beauty that was once down Northwest Arkansas’s lanes; and which brought the apple blossom to be the State Flower of Arkansas.”
Thomas Rothrock
Arkansas Historical Quarterly, Winter 1974

“We had a winesap, a tart-sweet apple, and a good “keeper”—we always tried to retain a few bushels in the root cellar, where they lasted well into the winter. Ingrams, a small sweet apple were the very best “keeper.” . . . I remember one [tree] that bore fruit which ripened early, but never lost its green color. We called them “June Apples.” They were so sweet that there were occasional pockets of crystallized sugar near the core. Also we had Arkansas Blacks, a yellow-fleshed apple, so dark red that it was almost black, firm, sweet, juicy.”
Caryn Schmitt and Steven Finney
Flashback, August 1986

“Pruning was commenced at once and continued all winter whenever the weather was mild. No pruning was allowed when the wood was in a frozen condition. . . . Weak, interfering and dead limbs were cut out, strong ones often shortened in to balance the tops. . . . [C]are was used to cut back to a fair-sized limb in a good position to continue growth and assist in healing the wound.”
Springdale News, February 21, 1908

“Orchard men from various other sections of the country began to discover that this region was most admirably adapted to horticulture, with the apple as the prime minister of progress. Rolling acres where from prehistoric days the forest had flourished were turned into symmetrical orchards, the flourishing trees burdened with plump fruit . . .”
John T. Stinson
Fruit Growing Along the Frisco System, 1904

“There is no longer little doubt about the beneficial results of spraying . . . It means better fruit and more fruit, and The News predicts that the time is not far distant when Northwest Arkansas will be up with other fruit sections in this particular.”
Springdale News, April 25, 1908

“My father [Harvey W. Gipple] held that insects would eventually become immune to the chemicals used in the spray material… Growers sprayed summer and winter but still there were diseases and insects which caused the fruit to be of an inferior quality. They thought the spray materials were diluted or had lost their effectiveness, but they finally realized—just as my father had thought—worms had become immune to the chemicals . . .”
Pearl Gipple Banks
Benton County Pioneer, July 1957

“During World War I men laborers were scarce and Reed [Adcock] hired a number of us boys to pick apples for him . . . Someone threw an apple, another did the same, and that started the ball to rolling. . . . Almost spontaneously apples began to fly . . . The next morning . . .  [Adcock] told us in a very kind way that the program had changed. From now on, he said, I shall pay you 5¢ per bushel for picking apples, instead by the day.”
A. D. Lester
Benton County Pioneer, Summer 1972

“In the packing house [operated by Teasdale Fruit and Nut Products Co.] under the supervision of Miss Lizzie McFarlin, all were so busy and everything so nice and clean. The fruit is packed in 50-pound boxes, which are all nicely paperlined, carefully faced and made pretty by the use of lace paper.”
Martha A. Warren, September 1, 1907
(quoted by Erwin Funk, Rogers Daily News, July 1, 1950)

“From every source and from all parts of the country come complaints of last season’s packing of apples. The wholesalers denounce the packing of inferior fruit, because it has shut off consumption; the retailers have had grievance for the same reason and the consumer has been so disgusted he has simply passed the apples by and has bought oranges and bananas instead.”
Springdale News, June 15, 1908

“There would be such a line, we would take the truck over and leave it. A man would stay with it to pull it up. And at noon someone would take his place. We’d be lucky if we got it unloaded that day. And this was in the 1930s when the apple business was sort of winding down.”
Jack Yates
Benton County Daily Democrat, March 1, 1987

“As the hundreds of carloads were dispatched . . . Secretary Stroud’s office [of the Ozark Fruit Growers Association] . . . was kept in touch with the market conditions in cities from Denver and St. Paul eastward by representatives and salesmen who quoted prices . . . the refrigerator cars of local fruit were sent to points where there was the greatest demand. . . . Constant communications by wire kept the output of fruit from glutting any particular market, and results were soon evident in better prices to the grower.”
Will Plank
Benton County Pioneer, March 1963

“There is much more to a glass of cider than just squeezing apples so over came Cleva and Harry Douglas [of Rogers] with buckets and baskets, tubs and sacks . . . There were a few discussions with bees and wasps as to just which apples belonged to whom, but I didn’t push the issue, and let them have a fair share.”
Lanette Tillman
Oklahoma Ranch and Farm World, April 13, 1969

“Owing to the extensive apple orchards and the large returns received from the crops, much attention is being paid to methods of care and cultivation . . . as well as packing and marketing the fruit. It has been our observation that the grower who gives his orchard good care and cultivation is repaid many times over for the extra expense.”
Fruit Farming Along the Frisco, 1899

“The [Southern Fruit Products Co.] factory is nearly as large as all out doors. Uses apples of all grades, large and small, and has a capacity of 3,500 bushels per day and even then the bins get to running over though they work night and day. Last year it made 530,000 gallons of vinegar which finds its way to every section of the Union. Sells by the train load. Just think of that, Betsey, train loads of vinegar!”
Martha A. Warren, September 1, 1907
(quoted by Erwin Funk, Rogers Daily News, July 1, 1950)

“The Macon and Carson distillery has up to the present date used something over 30,000 bushels of apples in the manufacture of brandy. They expect before the season is over to use over a quarter of a million bushels of fruit.”
Unknown source, September 1899
(quoted by Robert G. Winn, Washington County Observer, 1970s–1980s)

“The apples were peeled, sliced, then dried by a night crew over wood stoves. Sulphur was thrown on the fires, the resulting vapors preventing the apple slices from turning too brown. When ready to market, the dried apples were sprinkled with soda water and then packed into wooden or pasteboard boxes.”
Thomas Rothrock
Arkansas Historical Quarterly, Winter 1974

Kimmons-Walker apple evaporator, Springdale, circa 1900. Austin Cravens/W. Fay Atkisson Collection

“The National Pure Food Commission seems to think that the use of sulphur will be a violation of the pure food law. . . . If Sulphur is barred from use in bleaching fruit, it will work great injury to the business and affect not only the evaporator men, but all who grow fruit.”
Springdale News, March 6, 1908

“. . . no commercial apple has even been as well adapted to Northwest Arkansas’s climate and soil as the Ben Davis; and probably no apple will ever be. . . . Said a Louisiana native to an Arkansas apple peddler, ‘That man Benny Davis up there sho’ do grow the apples.'”
Thomas Rothrock
Arkansas Historical Quarterly, Winter 1974

“The awards on apples [at the Chicago World’s Fair] have just been made and the Arkansas display . . . secured the highest award for the largest and best display of apples. . . . New York had long been noted for her apples but they did not begin to compare with the fruit from Arkansas, which was a great revelation to most of the people, who looked upon Arkansas as a wilderness.”
Springdale News, October 30, 1893

“The apple is the king of fruits, and the mountains of Arkansas form its throne. Hurrah for Arkansas, for our fine flavored apples . . .”
Springdale News, October 30, 1894

“Verily, as the poet says, “God dreamed of apple trees” when his hand created these delightful hills and hollows, these wide plateaus and gentle slopes, for this is the world’s greatest apple orchard . . .”
John T. Stinson
Fruit Growing Along the Frisco System, 1904

“The countryside was beautiful with trees that blossomed fragrantly in the spring and were crimson with fruit in the autumn. . . . For me, the apple blossom festivals held in Rogers during the 1920s were symbolic of the beauty that was once down Northwest Arkansas’s lanes; and which brought the apple blossom to be the State Flower of Arkansas.”
Thomas Rothrock
Arkansas Historical Quarterly, Winter 1974

“We had a winesap, a tart-sweet apple, and a good “keeper”—we always tried to retain a few bushels in the root cellar, where they lasted well into the winter. Ingrams, a small sweet apple were the very best “keeper.” . . . I remember one [tree] that bore fruit which ripened early, but never lost its green color. We called them “June Apples.” They were so sweet that there were occasional pockets of crystallized sugar near the core. Also we had Arkansas Blacks, a yellow-fleshed apple, so dark red that it was almost black, firm, sweet, juicy.”
Caryn Schmitt and Steven Finney
Flashback, August 1986

“Pruning was commenced at once and continued all winter whenever the weather was mild. No pruning was allowed when the wood was in a frozen condition. . . . Weak, interfering and dead limbs were cut out, strong ones often shortened in to balance the tops. . . . [C]are was used to cut back to a fair-sized limb in a good position to continue growth and assist in healing the wound.”
Springdale News, February 21, 1908

“Orchard men from various other sections of the country began to discover that this region was most admirably adapted to horticulture, with the apple as the prime minister of progress. Rolling acres where from prehistoric days the forest had flourished were turned into symmetrical orchards, the flourishing trees burdened with plump fruit . . .”
John T. Stinson
Fruit Growing Along the Frisco System, 1904

“There is no longer little doubt about the beneficial results of spraying . . . It means better fruit and more fruit, and The News predicts that the time is not far distant when Northwest Arkansas will be up with other fruit sections in this particular.”
Springdale News, April 25, 1908

“My father [Harvey W. Gipple] held that insects would eventually become immune to the chemicals used in the spray material . . . Growers sprayed summer and winter but still there were diseases and insects which caused the fruit to be of an inferior quality. They thought the spray materials were diluted or had lost their effectiveness, but they finally realized—just as my father had thought—worms had become immune to the chemicals . . .”
Pearl Gipple Banks
Benton County Pioneer, July 1957

 

“During World War I men laborers were scarce and Reed [Adcock] hired a number of us boys to pick apples for him . . . Someone threw an apple, another did the same, and that started the ball to rolling. . . . Almost spontaneously apples began to fly . . . The next morning . . .  [Adcock] told us in a very kind way that the program had changed. From now on, he said, I shall pay you 5¢ per bushel for picking apples, instead by the day.”
A. D. Lester
Benton County Pioneer, Summer 1972

“In the packing house [operated by Teasdale Fruit and Nut Products Co.] under the supervision of Miss Lizzie McFarlin, all were so busy and everything so nice and clean. The fruit is packed in 50-pound boxes, which are all nicely paperlined, carefully faced and made pretty by the use of lace paper.”
Martha A. Warren, September 1, 1907
(quoted by Erwin Funk, Rogers Daily News, July 1, 1950)

“From every source and from all parts of the country come complaints of last season’s packing of apples. The wholesalers denounce the packing of inferior fruit, because it has shut off consumption; the retailers have had grievance for the same reason and the consumer has been so disgusted he has simply passed the apples by and has bought oranges and bananas instead.”
Springdale News, June 15, 1908

“There would be such a line, we would take the truck over and leave it. A man would stay with it to pull it up. And at noon someone would take his place. We’d be lucky if we got it unloaded that day. And this was in the 1930s when the apple business was sort of winding down.”
Jack Yates
Benton County Daily Democrat, March 1, 1987

“As the hundreds of carloads were dispatched . . . Secretary Stroud’s office [of the Ozark Fruit Growers Association] . . . was kept in touch with the market conditions in cities from Denver and St. Paul eastward by representatives and salesmen who quoted prices . . . the refrigerator cars of local fruit were sent to points where there was the greatest demand. . . . Constant communications by wire kept the output of fruit from glutting any particular market, and results were soon evident in better prices to the grower.”
Will Plank
Benton County Pioneer, March 1963

“There is much more to a glass of cider than just squeezing apples so over came Cleva and Harry Douglas [of Rogers] with buckets and baskets, tubs and sacks . . . There were a few discussions with bees and wasps as to just which apples belonged to whom, but I didn’t push the issue, and let them have a fair share.”
Lanette Tillman
Oklahoma Ranch and Farm World, April 13, 1969

“Owing to the extensive apple orchards and the large returns received from the crops, much attention is being paid to methods of care and cultivation . . . as well as packing and marketing the fruit. It has been our observation that the grower who gives his orchard good care and cultivation is repaid many times over for the extra expense.”
Fruit Farming Along the Frisco, 1899

“The [Southern Fruit Products Co.] factory is nearly as large as all out doors. Uses apples of all grades, large and small, and has a capacity of 3,500 bushels per day and even then the bins get to running over though they work night and day. Last year it made 530,000 gallons of vinegar which finds its way to every section of the Union. Sells by the train load. Just think of that, Betsey, train loads of vinegar!”
Martha A. Warren, September 1, 1907
(quoted by Erwin Funk, Rogers Daily News, July 1, 1950)

“The Macon and Carson distillery has up to the present date used something over 30,000 bushels of apples in the manufacture of brandy. They expect before the season is over to use over a quarter of a million bushels of fruit.”
Unknown source, September 1899
(quoted by Robert G. Winn, Washington County Observer, 1970s–1980s)

“The apples were peeled, sliced, then dried by a night crew over wood stoves. Sulphur was thrown on the fires, the resulting vapors preventing the apple slices from turning too brown. When ready to market, the dried apples were sprinkled with soda water and then packed into wooden or pasteboard boxes.”
Thomas Rothrock
Arkansas Historical Quarterly, Winter 1974

Kimmons-Walker apple evaporator, Springdale, circa 1900. Austin Cravens/W. Fay Atkisson Collection

“The National Pure Food Commission seems to think that the use of sulphur will be a violation of the pure food law. . . . If Sulphur is barred from use in bleaching fruit, it will work great injury to the business and affect not only the evaporator men, but all who grow fruit.”
Springdale News, March 6, 1908

“. . . no commercial apple has even been as well adapted to Northwest Arkansas’s climate and soil as the Ben Davis; and probably no apple will ever be. . . . Said a Louisiana native to an Arkansas apple peddler, ‘That man Benny Davis up there sho’ do grow the apples.'”
Thomas Rothrock
Arkansas Historical Quarterly, Winter 1974

“The awards on apples [at the Chicago World’s Fair] have just been made and the Arkansas display . . . secured the highest award for the largest and best display of apples. . . . New York had long been noted for her apples but they did not begin to compare with the fruit from Arkansas, which was a great revelation to most of the people, who looked upon Arkansas as a wilderness.”
Springdale News, October 30, 1893

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“Apples—Once Key Produce.” (unattributed/undated newspaper article in Shiloh Museum research files).

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Campbell, W. S. “Rise and Fall of the Apple Empire.” Flashback, Vol. XI, No. 1 (February 1961).

Cherry, Kim. “Apples: A Look Back at a Major Industry.” Northwest Arkansas Times, March 6,1982.

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Fruit Farming Along the Frisco. St. Louis and San Francisco Railway, St. Louis, MO: 1899.

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“Good Packing of Apples—This is Absolutely Necessary in Order to Realize the Best Prices.” Springdale News, June 15,1908.

History of Benton County. Goodspeed, 1889.

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Mores, Jeff. “Apple of the Country’s Eye.” Benton County Daily Record, November 10, 2008.

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Payne, Ruth Holt. “The Seedling that Made Good: The Story of the Black Ben Davis Apple.”  Flashback, Vol. IX, No. 1 (February 1959).

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Plank, Will. “The Ozark Fruit Growers’ Association, Our Great Marketing Organization.”  Benton County Pioneer, Vol. 8, No. 3 (March 1963).

Pollan, Michael. The Botany of Desire: A Plant’s-Eye View of the World. Random House: New York, 2001.

Reynolds, Sonja. “When Apples Were King—Festivals of Days Gone By.” Benton County Daily Democrat, March 1, 1987.

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