WPA poster, 1940. John Buczak, artist. Work Projects Administration Poster Collection/Library of Congress

PWA (1933–1943)—The Public Works Administration planned, funded, and administered the building of large public structures such as roads, bridges, dams, post offices, courthouses, schools, and parks. The PWA was a stimulus program. It made loans and grants to state and local governments which in turn hired private construction firms to carry out the work.

CCC (1933–1942)—The Civilian Conservation Corps conserved and developed natural resources on rural, government-owned lands. The CCC built national and state parks, planted forests, and constructed roads. The program was designed to help single, unemployed, young men whose families were on relief.

FERA (1933–1935)—The Federal Emergency Relief Administration provided funds to states to operate relief programs and create jobs in construction, the arts, and the manufacture of consumer goods. After two years, the FERA was replaced by the WPA.

WPA (1935–1943)—The Works Progress Administration (later renamed the Works Projects Administration) was the New Deal’s largest and most comprehensive agency. Its goal was to provide one paid job for every family in need. The WPA used mostly unskilled laborers to build such things as roads, schools, parks, courthouses, and recreational institutions like museums and zoos.

NYA (1935–1943)—The National Youth Administration offered work to youngsters ages of 16 to 25. By employing youth in part-time “work study” jobs at their schools, such as construction, administration, and repair projects, the government hoped to give them skills while keeping them in school and out of the strained job market.

WPA poster, 1940. John Buczak, artist. Work Projects Administration Poster Collection/Library of Congress

PWA (1933–1943)—The Public Works Administration planned, funded, and administered the building of large public structures such as roads, bridges, dams, post offices, courthouses, schools, and parks. The PWA was a stimulus program. It made loans and grants to state and local governments which in turn hired private construction firms to carry out the work.

CCC (1933–1942)—The Civilian Conservation Corps conserved and developed natural resources on rural, government-owned lands. The CCC built national and state parks, planted forests, and constructed roads. The program was designed to help single, unemployed, young men whose families were on relief.

FERA (1933–1935)—The Federal Emergency Relief Administration provided funds to states to operate relief programs and create jobs in construction, the arts, and the manufacture of consumer goods. After two years, the FERA was replaced by the WPA.

WPA (1935–1943)—The Works Progress Administration (later renamed the Works Projects Administration) was the New Deal’s largest and most comprehensive agency. Its goal was to provide one paid job for every family in need. The WPA used mostly unskilled laborers to build such things as roads, schools, parks, courthouses, and recreational institutions like museums and zoos.

NYA (1935–1943)—The National Youth Administration offered work to youngsters ages of 16 to 25. By employing youth in part-time “work study” jobs at their schools, such as construction, administration, and repair projects, the government hoped to give them skills while keeping them in school and out of the strained job market.

WPA poster, 1940. John Buczak, artist. Work Projects Administration Poster Collection/Library of Congress

Below is a partial list of area New Deal projects, with year of completion and the federal agency which helped fund it, if known. Buildings on the National Register of Historic Places are marked with an asterisk [*].

BENTON COUNTY
GARFIELD—Garfield Elementary School* (1942 NYA)
NORWOOD COMMUNITY—Norwood School* (1937 WPA)
ROGERS—Central Ward Elementary School (1936 WPA), Lake Atalanta (1937 WPA)
SILOAM SPRINGS—American Legion Hall (1934 WPA), Siloam Springs High School (1940 WPA),
post office* (1937 WPA), Twin Springs fountain (1936 NYA)
SULPHUR SPRINGS—Sewer treatment plant (PWA), Sulphur Springs High School* (1941 WPA)

BOONE COUNTY
EVERTON—Everton School* (1939 WPA)
HARRISON—Boy Scout Hut (1938 NYA)
HARRISON AREA—Haggard Ford swinging bridge* (1941 WPA)
VALLEY SPRINGS—Valley Springs School* (1940 WPA)

CARROLL COUNTY
BERRYVILLE—Berryville School Agricultural Building* (1940 WPA) & Gymnasium* (1937 WPA), post office* (1939)
GREEN FOREST—water tower (1937 PWA)
EUREKA SPRINGS—fire station (NYA), Lake Leatherwood* (1939-1940 WPA & CCC), sewage disposal plant (about 1939 PWA)
MULLADAY HOLLOW—bridge* (1935 CCC)
OSAGE COMMUNITY—Osage Elementary School (WPA)

MADISON COUNTY
HINDSVILLE—Hindsville School (1939 WPA)
HUNTSVILLE—paved Huntsville Square (1938 PWA), county courthouse (1939 PWA), Huntsville Grade School & gymnasium (1940 NYA), NYA camp (1939 NYA), Huntsville State Vocational School’s agriculture building (1936 NYA), home economics cottage (1936 WPA), & classroom-gymnasium (1940 NYA)
ST. PAUL—St. Paul High School & gymnasium (1940 WPA & NYA)
THORNEY—Enterprise School* (1935 WPA?)

NEWTON COUNTY
BOXLEY—sanitation units (WPA)
JASPER—county courthouse* (1940 WPA)
LOW GAP—Low Gap School (1939 WPA)
MT. JUDEA—Mt. Judea School (1935 WPA)
PARTHENON—Little Buffalo River Bridge* (1939 WPA), Newton County Academy gymnasium* (1936 WPA)
PONCA—low-water bridge (WPA)
VENDOR—Vendor School (1937 WPA)

WASHINGTON COUNTY
BALDWIN—Rural Women’s Rest Camp (FERA)
EVANSVILLE—Evansville School (1939 WPA)
FAYETTEVILLE—Fayetteville High School’s Root Auditorium-Gymnasium (1939 WPA) & Manual Training School (1939 NYA)
FAYETTEVILLE (UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS)—Agriculture Building (PWA), Band Building (PWA), Bailey Stadium [football & track] (1937 WPA), barn (1935 FERA), Chemistry Building* (1936 PWA), Gibson Hall [men’s dormitory] (1937 PWA), greenhouses, Home Economics Building* (1940 PWA), Field House [men’s gymnasium]* (1937 PWA), Ozark Hall [classrooms]* (1940 PWA), Student Union* (1940 PWA), Vol Walker Hall [library]* (1935 PWA)
LINCOLN—Lincoln Legion Hut (1934 WPA)
PRAIRIE GROVE—jail (FERA), Prairie Grove Legion Hut (1934 WPA), water & sewer systems (1934 FERA)
SPRINGDALE—Migrant labor camp (1941 Farm Security Administration), post office (1938 WPA), sanitation units, Springdale Legion Hut* (1934 FERA)
WEDINGTON—Lake Wedington Recreation Area* (1938 Rural Resettlement Administration, Soil Conservation Services, & WPA)
WINSLOW—Devil’s Den State Park* (1934-1942 CCC), Lee Creek bridge (1935 CCC)

WPA poster, 1940. John Buczak, artist. Work Projects Administration Poster Collection/Library of Congress

Below is a partial list of area New Deal projects, with year of completion and the federal agency which helped fund it, if known. Buildings on the National Register of Historic Places are marked with an asterisk [*].

BENTON COUNTY
GARFIELD—Garfield Elementary School* (1942 NYA)
NORWOOD COMMUNITY—Norwood School* (1937 WPA)
ROGERS—Central Ward Elementary School (1936 WPA), Lake Atalanta (1937 WPA)
SILOAM SPRINGS—American Legion Hall (1934 WPA), Siloam Springs High School (1940 WPA),
post office* (1937 WPA), Twin Springs fountain (1936 NYA)
SULPHUR SPRINGS—Sewer treatment plant (PWA), Sulphur Springs High School* (1941 WPA)

BOONE COUNTY
EVERTON—Everton School* (1939 WPA)
HARRISON—Boy Scout Hut (1938 NYA)
HARRISON AREA—Haggard Ford swinging bridge* (1941 WPA)
VALLEY SPRINGS—Valley Springs School* (1940 WPA)

CARROLL COUNTY
BERRYVILLE—Berryville School Agricultural Building* (1940 WPA) & Gymnasium* (1937 WPA), post office* (1939)
GREEN FOREST—water tower (1937 PWA)
EUREKA SPRINGS—fire station (NYA), Lake Leatherwood* (1939-1940 WPA & CCC), sewage disposal plant (about 1939 PWA)
MULLADAY HOLLOW—bridge* (1935 CCC)
OSAGE COMMUNITY—Osage Elementary School (WPA)

MADISON COUNTY
HINDSVILLE—Hindsville School (1939 WPA)
HUNTSVILLE—paved Huntsville Square (1938 PWA), county courthouse (1939 PWA), Huntsville Grade School & gymnasium (1940 NYA), NYA camp (1939 NYA), Huntsville State Vocational School’s agriculture building (1936 NYA), home economics cottage (1936 WPA), & classroom-gymnasium (1940 NYA)
ST. PAUL—St. Paul High School & gymnasium (1940 WPA & NYA)
THORNEY—Enterprise School* (1935 WPA?)

NEWTON COUNTY
BOXLEY—sanitation units (WPA)
JASPER—county courthouse* (1940 WPA)
LOW GAP—Low Gap School (1939 WPA)
MT. JUDEA—Mt. Judea School (1935 WPA)
PARTHENON—Little Buffalo River Bridge* (1939 WPA), Newton County Academy gymnasium* (1936 WPA)
PONCA—low-water bridge (WPA)
VENDOR—Vendor School (1937 WPA)

WASHINGTON COUNTY
BALDWIN—Rural Women’s Rest Camp (FERA)
EVANSVILLE—Evansville School (1939 WPA)
FAYETTEVILLE—Fayetteville High School’s Root Auditorium-Gymnasium (1939 WPA) & Manual Training School (1939 NYA)
FAYETTEVILLE (UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS)—Agriculture Building (PWA), Band Building (PWA), Bailey Stadium [football & track] (1937 WPA), barn (1935 FERA), Chemistry Building* (1936 PWA), Gibson Hall [men’s dormitory] (1937 PWA), greenhouses, Home Economics Building* (1940 PWA), Field House [men’s gymnasium]* (1937 PWA), Ozark Hall [classrooms]* (1940 PWA), Student Union* (1940 PWA), Vol Walker Hall [library]* (1935 PWA)
LINCOLN—Lincoln Legion Hut (1934 WPA)
PRAIRIE GROVE—jail (FERA), Prairie Grove Legion Hut (1934 WPA), water & sewer systems (1934 FERA)
SPRINGDALE—Migrant labor camp (1941 Farm Security Administration), post office (1938 WPA), sanitation units, Springdale Legion Hut* (1934 FERA)
WEDINGTON—Lake Wedington Recreation Area* (1938 Rural Resettlement Administration, Soil Conservation Services, & WPA)
WINSLOW—Devil’s Den State Park* (1934-1942 CCC), Lee Creek bridge (1935 CCC)

CCC poster, 1941. Albert M.Bender, artist. Work Projects Administration Poster Collection/Library of Congress

ARTHUR FRIEDMAN—At first [the camp was] filled with men from Minnesota and Wisconsin. I used to see them on the streets of Fayetteville and other towns in Washington County, and we used to do battle with them in the area honkey-tonks. Later on the camps were filled with ‘Arkansawyers’ because it was found that the morale was much better when young men were allowed to serve closer to their home.

HUBERT NICHOLAS—We lived in a barracks. The first one I was in there was about 20 men. When you went into the camp for the first time you went to the “new side.” As people left, to make room for new recruits, you went over to the “other side.” . . . You know times was hard then…a lot of them boys . . . they didn’t have enough to eat.

EDWIN WILSON—The second day some of the older men decided to play a prank on one of the “fresh meats” (as the newcomers were called) and gave him a pail. They told him to go over to the ballpark and milk old Jersey. There was, of course, no cow at the ballpark.

LONNIE CENTER—At first they put us to work cleaning trails and working on the road. We worked on the dam, too. I drove a dump truck, then I worked in the carpentry shop making furniture for the cabins.

RUEBEN S. BLOOD SR.—I think the mule was the only one in our survey crew that didn’t fall down the mountain at least once.

RAY WILKIE—At the camp we got $30 a month plus clothes and board. They sent $25 of that back to our folks. It would make you or break you. Once in a while someone would run, but very few did. There weren’t any jobs to be had.

ED CAUDLE—That $22 was like heaven opening up and sending an abundance of riches those families had never seen before.

JOE COPELAND—I think they tried to choose destitute families to give these benefits to. Of course, that was everybody. . . . I never had a job that amounted to anything before I went to Devil’s Den.

MACK DYER—We learned a lot [about] how to care for ourselves there.

ALVA SPEARS—There was lots of education. I studied surveying and learned to type.

ORVILLE TAYLOR—It’s an important place. As far as I’m concerned, that’s where I got started.

LT. N. H. RANDALL—For well over a year, in freezing weather or scorching sun, [the men] toiled to make the shimmering lake possible. . . . Who knows how long the work of their hands may last?

CCC poster, 1941. Albert M.Bender, artist. Work Projects Administration Poster Collection/Library of Congress

ARTHUR FRIEDMAN—At first [the camp was] filled with men from Minnesota and Wisconsin. I used to see them on the streets of Fayetteville and other towns in Washington County, and we used to do battle with them in the area honkey-tonks. Later on the camps were filled with ‘Arkansawyers’ because it was found that the morale was much better when young men were allowed to serve closer to their home.

HUBERT NICHOLAS—We lived in a barracks. The first one I was in there was about 20 men. When you went into the camp for the first time you went to the “new side.” As people left, to make room for new recruits, you went over to the “other side.” . . . You know times was hard then…a lot of them boys . . . they didn’t have enough to eat.

EDWIN WILSON—The second day some of the older men decided to play a prank on one of the “fresh meats” (as the newcomers were called) and gave him a pail. They told him to go over to the ballpark and milk old Jersey. There was, of course, no cow at the ballpark.

LONNIE CENTER—At first they put us to work cleaning trails and working on the road. We worked on the dam, too. I drove a dump truck, then I worked in the carpentry shop making furniture for the cabins.

RUEBEN S. BLOOD SR.—I think the mule was the only one in our survey crew that didn’t fall down the mountain at least once.

RAY WILKIE—At the camp we got $30 a month plus clothes and board. They sent $25 of that back to our folks. It would make you or break you. Once in a while someone would run, but very few did. There weren’t any jobs to be had.

ED CAUDLE—That $22 was like heaven opening up and sending an abundance of riches those families had never seen before.

JOE COPELAND—I think they tried to choose destitute families to give these benefits to. Of course, that was everybody. . . . I never had a job that amounted to anything before I went to Devil’s Den.

MACK DYER—We learned a lot [about] how to care for ourselves there.

ALVA SPEARS—There was lots of education. I studied surveying and learned to type.

ORVILLE TAYLOR—It’s an important place. As far as I’m concerned, that’s where I got started.

LT. N. H. RANDALL—For well over a year, in freezing weather or scorching sun, [the men] toiled to make the shimmering lake possible. . . . Who knows how long the work of their hands may last?

Workers building a structure, Lake Wedington (Washington County), circa 1937-1938. Ada Lee Shook Collection (S-98-85-1745A)

The Lake Wedington Project (1935-1938) was developed to move farmers from worn-out fields to more-productive land, to prevent further soil erosion and to create a scenic recreational and educational area. Hundreds of men were employed, with some coming from as far as Madison County. While most of the workers were paid by the WPA, the project was administered by the Rural Resettlement Administration (and later the Soil Conservation Service), under the direction of Professor C. B. Wiggans of the University of Arkansas Horticulture Department. The 18,000-acre project came to be known as “Wiggan’s Hole.”

Cabin nearing completion, Lake Wedington, circa 1937-1938. Ada Lee Shook Collection (S-98-85-1790)

With the drought and poor economy, many families in the project area were struggling. Most were glad for the project, which brought much-needed income both in jobs and land sales. Workers built cabins, picnic tables, an administration building, a fire tower, and a dam and 102-acre lake with a diving platform and a bathhouse. They converted farmlands into pastures and planted 350,000 trees and acres of food for wildlife. As the lake filled with water in February 1938, it drew hundreds of wild ducks.

Building the dam, Lake Wedington, circa 1937-1938. Ada Lee Shook Collection (S-98-85-1739)

The project boosted the local economy and created the area’s first large recreational lake. Within its first year of operation, it saw over 55,000 visitors and vacationers. Now part of the Ozark National Forest, today the Lake Wedington Recreation Area is managed by the USDA Forest Service. Most of its historic structures remain.

“In discussing the land use plan, [project manager] Wiggans explained that while to the people the recreational features are of prime importance, to the government these are secondary. The government puts first, the desire to preserve, improve and extend the present forest, and second, to develop pastures for grazing that will prevent soil erosion. The government is not unmindful however of the desirability to develop cheap or free recreational facilities and to place them within the reach of the man of small means and his family.”
Northwest Arkansas Times, June 30, 1936

Lake Leatherwood dam, Eureka Springs (Carroll County), 1940s–1950s. Bob Besom Collection (S-83-12-6B)

Lake Leatherwood  (1938–1940) near Eureka Springs was built for recreational use and for soil and erosion control, in an effort to protect woodland and possible housing sites at the north end of West Leatherwood Creek. The CCC, WPA, and the Soil Conservation Service came together to build numerous features including barbeque pits, a picnic shelter, roads, a bridge, and a caretaker’s home. The 100-acre lake included a swimming beach, diving platform, bathhouse, and boat dock. The dam was made of concrete and faced with handcut limestone blocks, mined at a nearby quarry. At 1,600 acres, Lake Leatherwood Municipal Park is one of the largest municipal parks in the U.S. In recent years efforts were made to strengthen the dam, bringing it up to modern standards.

Margaret Becker Lester fishing at Lake Atalanta, Rogers (Benton County), early 1950s. Liz Lester Collection

Lake Atalanta (1936–1938) was named for Atalanta Gregory, the late wife of the Rogers businessman who donated the land. Funded by the WPA, the city-owned recreational lake was created by damming Prairie Creek with an earthen dam. Over 100 men were employed daily. In September 1938 WPA officials opened the gates on two springs, allowing the lake to fill. A small dock was built and supplied with city-owned rental boats. The lake was stocked with bass and bream, but anglers had to wait before they could cast a line, to give the fish time to grow. In the late 1940s a recreation complex was built with a swimming pool, restaurant, miniature golf course, and roller skating rink. In recent years Lake Atalanta has undergone a $17.5 million renovation, complete with bike and hiking trails, a dog park, fishing piers, pavilions, a playground, and a wading creek.

“More than 100 men are expected to be given employment on the [Lake Atalanta] project, and many teams of horses will be required. The project is the first approved by the WPA for this area on which farmers, whose crops were affected by the drought, will be given work.”
Springdale News, October 8, 1936

Members of Clarence Beely Post 139 at the American Legion Hut, Springdale, circa 1937. Charles Teeter Collection (S-2007-70-5)

The American Legion is an organization which serves veterans, service members, and communities. During the New Deal four Legion huts were built in Northwest Arkansas, including huts in Prairie Grove and Lincoln. The building of the Springdale hut (1934) was a community affair, with the daily labor rate of $1 paid by the Civil Works Administration (a short-lived job-creation program under the FERA). Many Springdale residents contributed materials and services, including Henderson Scott and his mule team which hauled the stone used to build the structure. The hut served as as a community meeting and polling place for many years. Today it is home to Legion Post 139 and can be rented for events.

American Legion Hut, Siloam Springs (Benton County), 1940s. Siloam Springs Museum Collection (S-83-300-61)

The Siloam Springs hut (1934) was built by the WPA and the American Legion. Its walls are of cut stone and cast concrete. By 1990 the building was boarded up and no longer in use. It was later renovated by Main Street Siloam Springs to be used for community and special events. Legion Post 29 still meets there.

Garage construction, National Guard Armory, Fayetteville (Washington County), circa 1940. Washington County Historical Society Collection (P-322A)

The National Guard Armory erected a garage (1940 or 1941) next to its building in Fayetteville, adjacent to the county courthouse. Built of native stone blocks with WPA funds, the building housed the Guard’s vehicles and equipment. Today Washington County uses it to store equipment.

“The [Springdale] hut will serve as a meeting place for members of the post and [women’s] auxiliary as well as a place for public gatherings . . . the hut is the culmination of a hope and desire in the minds and hearts of local ex-servicemen . . . “
Springdale News, August 23, 1934

Road builders, Devil’s Den State Park, near Winslow (Washington County), 1935. Carl Smith, photographer. Ada Lee Shook Collection (S-2001-103-3)

Miles and miles of roads, streets, and highways were improved or built under the New Deal. A 24-mile-road from Farmington to Oklahoma cost $24,789 while the road between Rhea’s Mill and Cincinnati cost $10,200. Hundreds of men worked on sections of Highway 71, the region’s main artery, improving and grading the roadway. Farm-to-market gravel roads were built in Newton and Washington Counties and elsewhere, connecting farmers in small, rural communities to larger markets. The roads also made it easier for relief supplies like clothing and food to be delivered to distribution points, for pickup by families on assistance.

Paved streets around the town square, Huntsville (Madison County), circa 1940. Julia Outland Collection (S-83-269-6)

The dirt streets surrounding the Huntsville Square (1937–1938) were paved through the WPA and the Arkansas Highway Department, which contributed equipment. Crushed limestone for the streets’ base was quarried nearby and topped with 10,000 gallons of asphalt and a finer layer of crushed limestone.

Haggard Ford Swinging Bridge, near Harrison (Boone County), November 2015.

The WPA helped build bridges in Alpena, Eureka Springs (Mulladay Hollow), Elkins (East First Street), and Parthenon (Little Buffalo River). Just north of Harrison is the Haggard Ford Swinging Bridge (about 1938–1941). WPA-paid workers received $1 a day to build a one-lane suspension bridge over Bear Creek, with poured concrete towers, steel cables and hangers, and a wood deck. A major flood in 1961damaged the bridge, leaving it unable to support vehicular traffic. Further deterioration led to an order to dismantle it in 1977. But local residents rallied to save the bridge, purchasing wood planks and completing the decking work themselves. Today the bridge is open to foot traffic.

“Another loop drive of great scenic beauty between Fayetteville and Mountainburg has been developed within the last year by the Civilian Conservation Corps workers. . . . A thousand young men from the cities have built this road. It is now ready for use, and it will open new territory to almost every motorist . . . “
Springdale News, January 10, 1935

Outhouse at James A. “Beaver Jim” Villines’ farmstead, Boxley Valley, Buffalo National River (Newton County), October 2015. Courtesy National Park Service.

Nearly 54,000 sanitation units (outhouses) were installed in Arkansas by various New Deal agencies. They were built to combat the spread of diseases like hookworm, dysentery, and typhoid fever. By building outhouses in quantity, not only was a whole community better protected, but the bulk purchase of supplies lowered costs. The units were made of wood or stone, ideally with concrete floors. They were designed to be well ventilated and to keep out flies, and located carefully, to prevent groundwater contamination.

The Federal Emergency Relief Administration allotted $5,160 to build sanitation units in Washington County, including some in Winslow, Prairie Grove, and Springdale. By May 1935 some 505 had been built. Units were also installed in Boxley Valley, including one built by the Works Progress Administration at James A. Villines’ place. A “one-holer,” it was built of wood with a concrete floor and seat.

“I had one of these [government privies] on the farm that I owned at Erbie [Newton County].  . . . they were designed by a non-imaginative bureaucrat in Washington. The only improvement over the old ones was the hole lined with a burlap sack which was sprayed with used motor oil. This was supposed to keep down flies and wasps. Local builders were given the contract to build these with the stipulation that local, needy labor be used.”
Unknown author, Harrison Times, June 4, 1981

Construction of the Madison County Courthouse, Huntsville, 1939. Gloria Sisk Collection (S-85-296-46)

Two New Deal county courthouses were built in Northwest Arkansas. The Newton County Courthouse (1939–1940) in Jasper was built with WPA labor at a total cost of about $42,000, with the county contributing over $12,000 through a bond issue. The two-story reinforced-concrete-and-granite building was built in a “restrained” Art Deco style, with a rough, native-stone appearance.

The Madison County Courthouse (1939) was built by the PWA in the Art Deco style, with glazed brick, limestone details, and interior marble floors. It held offices, a jail, and a courtroom. The government provided 45% towards the construction cost of $89,000, with the county funding the rest through a narrowly approved bond issue. In 2013 and 2014, voters were once again asked to support the courthouse, by approving a 1% county sales tax to repair the aging structure. They shot down the proposal both times. Some repairs have been made through state funds, but a complete restoration is estimated at $3.6 million.

U.S. Post Office, Springdale (Washington County), 1944. Howard Clark, photographer. Caroline Price Clark Collection (S-2002-72-355)

Post offices were built in Berryville (1938–1939), Siloam Springs (1937), and Springdale (1936–1937). The latter was built of ivory-colored brick for $65,000 with WPA funds. It had offices, lock boxes, a mail-sorting room, a basement with employee lockers, and places for patrons to buy stamps, mail packages, and purchase money orders. When the building was dedicated September 1937, there was a parade, concert music, prayers, and speeches by city and post office officials. The building is now home to the Springdale Chamber of Commerce.

Natalie Smith Henry painted the mural, “Local Industries” (1939-1940), for the Springdale Post Office, as part of New Deal’s Section of Fine Arts, U.S. Department of the Treasury. The mural is now on display at the Shiloh Museum.

Spring Valley School students, Spring Valley (Washington County), 1935. Shirley Dold Collection (S-89-92-45)

Many area elementary and high schools were built as part of the New Deal, including schools in Vendor and Mt. Judea (Newton County), Everton and Valley Springs (Boone County), Berryville (Carroll County), Evansville (Washington County), and Rogers and Sulphur Springs (Benton County). Spring Valley School (Washington County; built about 1935) is a one-story fieldstone masonry building with two detached, rock-veneer sanitary units (outhouses). The Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) put $800 towards its construction, with the community supplying the rest.

Parade float at Garfield School, Garfield (Benton County), 1955. Black’s Studio, photographer. David Quin Collection (S-94-173-1)

Garfield Elementary School (1938–1941) was built in the heavy Rustic Revival style popular among Ozark schools. The National Youth Administration paid area youngsters to quarry the building’s limestone from a nearby farm, build a blacksmith shop to keep the quarry’s drill bits sharp, level the building site, and dig the foundation. The boys worked eight-hour days, five days a week for two weeks, earning $14.40. Two weeks off and they were back to work.

Greenhouse, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, 1956. Howard Clark, photographer. Caroline Price Clark Collection (S-2001-82-354)

The University of Arkansas grew during the New Deal, receiving over $2 million in loans and grants. In 1935 the FERA allotted $2,965 to pay for twenty-six men to build two greenhouses. Public Works Administration-built buildings include the chemistry, agriculture, and home economics buildings, the student union (now Memorial Hall), the field house (formerly the men’s gymnasium and now the Faulkner Performing Arts Center), Gibson Hall (dormitory), a classroom building (now Ozark Hall), and Vol Walker Library (1935), a Classical Revival-style building. Today Vol Walker is home to the Fay Jones School of Architecture.

Vol Walker Library, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, 1940s. Vaughan-Applegate Collection (S-78-30-2427)

Bailey Stadium (1937–1938) was named after Arkansas Governor Carl E. Bailey. It was a $200,000 Works Progress Administration (WPA) project featuring a track and football field, steel bleachers with wood decking to seat 12,500, a press box, and buildings for equipment and teams. It was noted that “. . . the field proper has been sodded for some time and daily watering has kept it looking green and begging for cleated hoofs.” The stadium was dedicated by WPA administrator Harry Hopkins on October 9, 1938, amid a fanfare of speeches, music, and a procession of University officials, college deans, and ROTC cadets. The name changed to Razorback Stadium after Bailey lost the 1940 election. Over the years the stadium received numerous expansions and renovations. Nothing of the original structure remains.

Bailey Stadium, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, about 1940. Washington County Historical Society Collection (P-112)

“The new stadium, which is giving new students and old ones, too, a thrill this week, as they view it for the first time, is something of which any city, any state, any nation could be proud. It ranks with the best. It is built for the ages.”
Northwest Arkansas Times, September 8, 1938

Arkansas Democrat. “Crowd of 3,000 Attends Dedication Newton County Courthouse at Jasper.” 10-27-1940.

Arkansas Historic Preservation Program. “Garfield Elementary School”. http://www.arkansaspreservation.com/national-register-listings/garfield-elementary-school  (accessed 9-28-2020).

———. “Beely-Johnson American Legion Post 139.” http://www.arkansaspreservation.com/national-register-listings/beely-johnson-american-legion-post-139 (accessed 9-28-2020).

———. “Madison County Courthouse.” http://www.arkansaspreservation.com/national-register-listings/madison-county-courthouse  (accessed 9-28-2020).

———. “Newton County Courthouse.” http://www.arkansaspreservation.com/National-Register-Listings/PDF/NW0005.nr.pdf (accessed 9-28-2020).

Arkansasmatters.com. “Jail Improvement Sales Tax Rejected in Madison County.” 7-2014. https://www.kark.com/news/jail-improvement-sales-tax-rejected-in-madison-county/ (accessed 9-28-2020).

Bernet, Brenda. “Madison County tax proposed for repairs: Courhouse ailing, voters weigh 1% bump.” Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, 9-9-2013.

———. “Old courthouse showing its age: tax seen as way to restore it.” Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, 7-20-2014.

Bowden, Bill. “2 recall time in camp that built Devil’s Den.” Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, 3-18-2013.

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Lavinia Morsani (center left), Ozark Grape Festival Queen 1926, Springdale, August 18, 1926. Escorting her, from left: Jack Joyce (crown bearer), Betty Smitherman Mohney (train bearer), and Martha Montgomery (flower girl). Gene H. Thompson Collection (S-96-56-10)

Ozark Grape Festival Queen
Perhaps, after seeing the success of Rogers’ Apple Blossom Festivals beginning in 1923, Springdale leaders organized the Ozark Grape Festival in 1925 and 1926. Festivities included tours of the Welch Grape Juice plant, band music, a parade, a Mardi Gras Carnival, and speeches by dignitaries such as Governor Tom J. Terral, who also crowned the festival’s queen. She was chosen by a committee led by Springdale lawyer Ulys A. Lovell from among the representatives sent by each neighboring community.

Mary Snapp of Harrison was the 1925 winner. She was crowned in an elaborate ceremony which featured young women in Grecian robes and little girls dressed as purple butterflies, who “flitted before the royal party as it approached the throne.” The queen’s attendants carried white baskets filled with Concord grapes. Her crown was decorated with tinted pearls and a “diamond tiara.” In honor of her achievement, the Springdale Community Club gave her a Ford Coupe automobile. The following year the Club partnered with the Italian community of Tontitown, which grew grapes for Welch’s. Hometown girl Lavinia Morsani was named queen. So much rain fell before the event that Spring Creek flooded, creating a wet, muddy mess which separated the crowd from the stage.

Virginia Franco (center), Queen Concordia 1952, with her maids Betty Lou Ceola (left) and Cathy Beckford, Tontitown, 1952. The men, from left, are Don Dead, Vernon Mathis, J. E. Vail, Enea “Nehi” Morsani, Joe Ranalli, and Franklin Ardemagni. Olivia Cigainero Collection (S-2003-2-539)

Queen Concordia
A group of Italian immigrant farm families settled first in southeastern Arkansas in 1895, but the swampy location proved too harsh. A number of folks, led by Father Pietro Bandini, split off in 1898 and moved to what is now Tontitown. In celebration, the settlers held a community picnic complete with a spaghetti dinner and a Catholic mass. As word spread, the annual event grew to include out-of-town guests, ice-cream stands, speakers, games, music, and a bake sale. Eventually known as the Tontitown Grape Festival, today it’s a multi-day event featuring such things as carnival rides, a book sale and bazaar, musical performances, a car raffle, and a fried chicken and spaghetti supper.

A daughter of those first settlers became the first Queen Concordia, named after the Concord grapes grown on area farms. In 1932 seventeen-year-old Albina Mantegani Gasparotto won the crown by collecting items for the bazaar and selling the most dinner tickets. Because of the hardship caused by the Great Depression and World War II, no further queens were crowned until 1947, when Elsie Mae Fiori won. For much of the festival’s history, contestants were members of St. Joseph Catholic Church. Today any young woman can enter, provided she sells enough raffle tickets to qualify. Sadly, there will be no queen in 2020, as the festival was cancelled because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Cathy Horton, Miss Benton County Fair 1969, Bentonville, September 16, 1969. Horton was a Bentonville High School junior who had previously won the Miss Rotary title. With an attendance of more than 1,000, it was the largest crowd in some time. Northwest Arkansas Times Collection (NWAT Box 20 69.15)

Miss County Fair
Northwest Arkansas’s strong agricultural economy led to the founding of several horticultural, agricultural, and mechanical fairs, beginning with the area’s first, held in 1856 in Fayetteville. Most early fairs were short-lived due to financial loss, rain, and low public interest. Over time some evolved into today’s county fairs. While early fairs featured horse races, baseball games, and such novelties (for the time) as moving pictures and airplane demonstrations, the backbone of today’s fairs continue to be livestock shows, craft and food contests, carnival rides, performances, and the queen pageant.

Contestants during the 1961 Benton County Fair were judged in three fashion categories—jeans, street dress, and formal attire—as well as “personal interviews and appearance on the stage.” They weren’t required to wear swimsuits, unlike the girls at Washington County’s 1962 fair. In later years, the Miss Benton County Fair contest became a scholarship pageant open to county high school (or homeschool) senior girls. Today’s contestants are judged by interviews and in fitness, casual, and evening gown competitions. County fair winners went on to the state contest, including Leslie Ann Wilkins of Jasper, Miss Newton County Fair 1976. She became Miss Arkansas State Fair 1976 at age sixteen.

Janis Barnes (right), American Honey Queen 1968 (and former Springdale Honey Queen) with the Arkansas Junior Honey Queen, Springdale, 1968. Springdale News Collection (S-2000-133-601)

Honey Queen
In 1962 the Northwest Arkansas Beekeepers Association selected a runner-up from the Miss Benton County Fair pageant to serve as their first Honey Queen. She was judged for her knowledge of home economics, appearance, and personality. Queens were chosen from runners-up at other county fairs to compete in the statewide competition, including Linda Santa Cruz of Berryville, who was named Arkansas Honey Queen 1966 and who went on to become American Honey Queen 1967. As a representative of the American Beekeeping Federation, she made appearances at state fairs, food fairs, and at an international meeting of beekeepers. She also had the honor of handing the crown to American Honey Queen 1968, Janis Barnes of Berryville.

Joan Walters, Chicken-of-Tomorrow Queen, Fayetteville, June 15, 1951. Roy’s Photo Shop, photographer. J. Dickson Black Collection (S-92-142-3)

Chicken-of-Tomorrow Queen
The Chicken-of-Tomorrow contest was a three-year national competition sponsored by the A&P grocery-store chain to encourage chicken breeders to develop a broad-breasted chicken with the white meat American consumers wanted. The contest ended in 1951, when the winner was announced during a week-long celebration in Fayetteville. Events included educational talks, exhibits, dances, concerts, a chicken barbecue, a parade, and a queen competition.

Communities statewide held pageants to select a young woman to compete for the Chicken-of-Tomorrow crown. Joan Walters of Rogers was the winner. Following the crowning ceremony, a Queen’s Ball was held at the University of Arkansas Field House (then a smaller version of Razorback stadium). Two days later the new queen paraded around town in an elaborate float featuring a giant papier-mâché chicken.

Northwest Arkansas Poultry Princess contestants, Springdale, April 23, 1973. Jerry Biazo, photographer. Springdale News Collection (SN 4-23-1973)

Northwest Arkansas Poultry Princess
First held in 1960, the Northwest Arkansas Poultry Festival was one of several district festivals sponsored by the Arkansas Poultry Federation as a way to “gain more respect and prestige for the . . . poultry industry . . . and to promote increased consumption of poultry and poultry products.” Activities included fried-chicken suppers, parades, and a beauty pageant. Four women were awarded the title Poultry Princess, making each eligible to compete against other district princesses for the state title. For a few years in the early 1960s, the winner of the state contest represented Arkansas in the Miss Universe Pageant.

The last festival was held in 1976. The following year, the Federation cancelled the district festivals in favor of the state contest in Hot Springs. Lee Zachary, executive vice-president of the Springdale Chamber of Commerce, approved the decision, saying the festivals “ . . . cost a lot of money and took a great deal of time and effort. They had become a losing project financially.” Rather than competing in a local pageant, poultry growers, suppliers, and other members of the local poultry industry sponsored their own candidates in the state pageant.

A Chicken Cookin’ contestant tells the judges about her entry, Springdale High School, Springdale, April 21, 1973. The winners were Donna Charlesworth, Gabriele Schafer, Mrs. Ronald Jefferson, and Mrs. James Shreve. Northwest Arkansas Times Collection (NWAT Box 12 65.8A)

Northwest Arkansas Chicken Cookin’ Queen
A Chicken Cookin’ contest was also part of the Northwest Arkansas Poultry Festival. Sponsored by area businesses, competitors met in the Springdale High School cafeteria to cook fanciful meals. Over the years entries included Feather-light and Henpecked Pound Cake, Drumstick Crown, Henny Penny Pizza, Chicken in a Nest, and Breast of Chicken Magnifique. Four women were pronounced winners and each could compete in the state contest. The Arkansas Chicken’ Cooking Queen and Miss Arkansas Poultry Princess toured the country, promoting the poultry industry.

Wilma Lea Blevins, American Dairy Princess 1964, Rodeo of the Ozarks Parade, Springdale, July 2, 1964. Springdale News Collection (SN Pre-65-31)

Dairy Princess
In 1961 members of the Huntsville Rural Development’s Dairy Project met to discuss the selection of a county Dairy Princess as part of a Dairy Foods promotion campaign during Dairy Month. “Any girl between the ages of 16 and 25, with a dairy background, who has never been married, [was] eligible.” At a similar event in Benton County, contestants were judged for their “healthy appearance and natural attractiveness, dairy farm background, public speaking ability, and personality.” Winners went on to compete at a state level, with those winners competing for the national title, first offered in 1955.

One local young woman rose to the top. Born and raised in Bergman (Boone County), Wilma Lea Blevins learned to milk cows by age five on her parents’ dairy farm. After becoming Agri Queen at the University of Arkansas, she won the Arkansas Dairy Princess title in 1963. The following year she competed in the national American Dairy Princess pageant in Chicago. Blevins was so stunned when she was pronounced the winner that she couldn’t remember later what happened on stage. She received a $1,000 scholarship and a wardrobe to use as she traveled the country on a year-long tour as a dairy industry spokesperson.

Miss University of Arkansas contestants, Fayetteville, April 1973. From left: Trudy English (Miss University of Arkansas 1973), Shelly Fischer, Jan Hudson, Carolyn Rhodes, Patty Culpepper, Kathy Blakely, Britt Crews, Patsy Bolin, Jan Pettigrew, Jan Wallace, Dawn Winter, Kathy Dye, and Susie Robinson. Springdale News Collection (S-98-31-992)

Miss University of Arkansas
The GAEBALE festival started on the University of Arkansas campus in 1947. Pronounced a bit like “jubilee,” the term contained the first letters of the colleges and schools on campus—Graduate, Arts & Sciences, Education, Business, Agriculture, Law, and Engineering. A beauty contest was introduced in 1952, with contestants representing their sorority or dormitory. The young women were judged in the usual categories plus a swimsuit competition. In 1964 Karen Carlson’s winning physique was detailed in the local newspaper as “…5 feet7½ inches, weight 125,…measurements of 36-23-35.”

In April 1972 the campus Student Union cancelled the beauty contest in part because of finances, low interest, and lack of a pageant director. The newspaper suggested that “…beauty pageants don’t have the same kind of zowie and pizzazz that they used to.” In the end, two fraternities and another sponsor held the contest with a field of fourteen candidates, all of whom were white. It’s unclear when the first African-American students were encouraged to participate, but it may have been in 1973, when Carolyn Rhodes of Camden was a contestant. Patrisha Young, who won the Miss Black University of Arkansas title during the 1981-1982 school year, was also a contestant in the Miss University pageant in 1985. The contest was cancelled in 1993 because Campus Activities Center staff “expressed concern that the pageant’s restrictions were discriminatory.” It resumed in 2007 but it is unclear if there ever was a black Miss University of Arkansas.

Danai Bahena (center), Springdale High School Homecoming Queen 2011, and her court, Springdale, October 16, 2011. Back, from left: Cassidy Riggins, Laura Worthen, Johnnielynn Pace, Magnolia Bahena, Tamika Davis, and Madeline “Maddie” Poellot. Front, from left: Ariana “Aj” Zaldivar, Brenda Castillo, Evelyn Bahena, Konnor Kirk, Lindsey Parker, and Gabriella “Gabby” Vega. Cynthia Hutchinson, photographer. Courtesy 5H Photography and Danai Bahena Obispo

Homecoming Queen
Each fall, high schools, colleges, and universities celebrate homecoming with activities such as parades, football games, dances, parties, music, and the selection of a homecoming queen. Racial segregation followed by years of discrimination often meant that, if a school had women of color as students, they were left behind when it came time to choose homecoming candidates. That began to change slowly beginning in the 1970s, when two African-American women were selected to be part of the University of Arkansas’ 1974 homecoming court. In 1982 Merike Manley became the University’s first African-American homecoming queen. She was followed by Karen Mathis in 1986, Monica Jones in 1993, and Kimberly Smith in 2009.

As area population diversified, more women of color were represented at homecomings. In 2011, Danai Bahena was surprised to learn that the football players at Springdale High School had nominated her for homecoming queen. Her win was personally significant. As the oldest daughter of five, and the first Latina to win the honor, she felt like she represented a new generation. Her sister, Magnolia, was a homecoming maid in her sophomore, junior, and senior years. 

Elizabeth “Betsy” Bridenthall (right), Miss Fayetteville 1965, receives gifts of clothing, luggage, and the keys to a new car, Fayetteville, April 1965. Northwest Arkansas Times Collection (NWAT Box 12 65.8A)

Miss Fayetteville
For a community, beauty pageants were part entertainment, part fundraiser, and part bragging rights. In a June 1950 opinion column in the Northwest Arkansas Times, the author chided Fayetteville for its lack of a pageant, saying, “Why not take part in the [Miss Arkansas pageant] and cop a little favorable publicity? If our representative wins, we receive favorable nationwide attention.” He needn’t have worried. The popularity of pageants grew tremendously in the 1950s. Civic organizations such as the Lions Club, the Kiwanis Club, and the Jaycees sponsored contests for Miss Huntsville, Miss Rogers, Miss Washington County, Miss Pea Ridge, Miss Madison County, and the like.

Pat Moore, Miss Fayetteville 1952, received a two-day, expense-paid trip for herself and a chaperone to the state pageant as well as “ . . . $10 worth of dry cleaning; [a] pair of nylon hose; a box of chocolates; and a supply of cosmetics.” Event proceeds went to the purchase of two scoreboards and clocks for the high school’s new gymnasium. In addition to the traditional pageant competition categories, each contestant had three minutes to display a talent, whether it was “singing, dancing, playing a musical instrument, dramatic reading, art display, dress designing, etc., or she may give a . . . talk on the career she wishes to pursue.” Elizabeth Bridenthal won the 1965 competition before a crowd of six hundred. She sang selections from the operas Madame Butterfly and Gypsy.

Donna Axum, Miss Arkansas 1964, Fayetteville, 1964. Bob’s Studio, photographer. Springdale News Collection (S-2000-26-820)

Miss Arkansas and Miss America
A native of El Dorado, Arkansas, by 1963 University of Arkansas senior Donna Axum had already won several contests—Poultry Princess, National Cotton Picking Queen, and Arkansas Forest Queen—when she was awarded the title of Miss Arkansas. She credited her win to a last-minute gamble. When told the judges didn’t like her hairstyle, she changed it to a bouffant, a large, rounded hairdo. With her next contest in sight, she said, “You just don’t ever dream of being the top girl in the Miss America pageant. Just being there is enough.” But with hard work and determination her dream came true. She was crowned Miss America 1964. The following year she was an honored guest at many local pageants, boosting local attendance.

In 2017, Axum reached out to Savannah “Savvy” Shields of Fayetteville, the second University student to be crowned Miss America. In addition to wise advice, she gave her Miss America ring to Shields, as a “reminder of what being Miss America was about.” After her win Shields spent the next year making appearances in forty-eight states, living out of “two very overweight suitcases.” She received $90,000 in scholarship money. Another local who made it to the national stage was Ashton Campbell of Hindsville. After winning Miss Arkansas 2014, she placed third in the Miss America pageant. Unfortunately, the 2020 state competition was cancelled because of the coronavirus pandemic, as was the national pageant, which would have celebrated its one-hundredth anniversary.

Iman DeMarco, Miss Gay Arkansas America 2019, Oklahoma City, September 2019. Carrie Strong, photographer. Courtesy Carrie Strong, Miss Gay Arkansas America, and Iman DeMarco

Miss Gay Arkansas America
In 1971 Jerry Peek of Nashville created the Miss Gay America pageant to recognize the best female impersonators/entertainers in the country. Patterned after the Miss America pageant, the original contest featured evening gown, interview, and talent categories. The pageant’s first winner was Norma Kristie of Arkansas. The Miss Gay Arkansas America pageant was established in 1972.

After winning the preliminary pageant, Miss Gay Sweetheart Arkansas America, in 2019 Iman DeMarco of Rogers won the state title. “As a Latino and a father of two, winning was such an accomplishment and gratifying. Being a part of such a prestigious pageant . . . helps by bringing hope to many. . . . As Miss Gay Arkansas I want to be the one who inspires . . . and pushes many beyond their limits. We have everything in our power to be our future, to do and be anything we want.” Although she didn’t win the national competition, she uses her skills to conduct workshops for hopeful contestants. Through her work with the Bentonville Follies, an annual charity drag-show contest, she has helped raise money for Northwest Arkansas charities, including $104,000 for the Arkansas Crisis Center, a nonprofit organization offering “ . . . helpline services to teens in crisis.”

Mark Munger (left) and Kimberlee Jo Campbell, Little Mr. and Miss Springdale 1967, Springdale, March 17, 1967. With, from left: Timmy Janke and Rebecca Lynn Pendergraft (2nd runners-up) and Earl Fears Jr. and Lisa Kay Sullivan (1st runners-up). Jim Morriss, photographer. Springdale News Collection (SN 3-1967 #40)

Mr. and Miss Tiny Tot
Contests for children have been around since at least the 1950s and often are paired with pageants for young women. Many are sponsored by organizations such as the Jaycees or the Lions, civic clubs which use the contests to raise funds for their charitable programs. There are contests for babies, toddlers, and young boys and girls, many with fanciful names. In the 1960s Madison County had categories for King & Queen Baby, Prince & Princess Tot, and Senior & Junior Princess, while the Benton County Fair had Little Miss Tiny Tot and Miss Tiny Tot. The Springdale Jaycettes, the women’s offshoot of the Jaycees, organized a pageant with a more grown-up sounding name—Little Mr. and Miss Springdale. In 1952 the winner of Fayetteville’s contest received “…$3 worth of ice cream, a cosmetic set, a beach ball, and a swim toy.”

Grace Julian, Ms. Senior Washington County 1988, Fayetteville, September 26, 1988. Springdale News Collection (SN 9-26-1988)

Ms. Senior Arkansas
The Ms. Arkansas Senior America Pageant began in 1986, a state offshoot of the national organization which started in 1980. During its first years, the state contest was held in Harrison. Today, the judging categories are formal wear, talent contest, interview, and philosophy of life. Contestants have to be sixty-years in age or older, and must not be former state queens.

In 1988, Grace Julian of Springdale was crowned Ms. Senior Washington County during a pageant held at the Sang Senior Center in Fayetteville. The following month she competed in the statewide contest, “for ladies sixty and over who have ‘reached the age of maturity and elegance.’” Although she did not win, years later another Northwest Arkansas woman did—Constance May Waddell of Bella Vista was named Ms. Senior Arkansas 1996.

Judy Eoff, Miss Decatur Barbecue 1956, being crowned by musician Leon McAuliffe, Decatur, August 2, 1956. She received a $25 savings bond as a prize. The other young women were given a ticket to the chicken dinner. Northwest Arkansas Times Collection (NWAT Box 5 56-8.49)

Miss Decatur Barbecue
When the small town of Decatur lost its only poultry-processing plant in the early 1950s, most of its citizens moved away to find new work. Community leaders built their own plant to bring new prosperity to the town. In 1953 Decatur took first place in the state’s “towns under 1,000” category. To celebrate, a Homecoming Barbecue was held, complete with chicken dinners, an equestrian (horse) team display, “Indian dancing,” and a concert by Leon McAuliffe and His Cimarron Boys. Two contests were held, Tiny Tots and Miss Decatur Barbecue. The following year the National Municipal League named the town an “All-American City,” leading city officials to make the barbecue an annual event.

Many Northwest Arkansas towns sent a contestant. In the early years, the pageant included ballgown and swimsuit competitions. Nowadays the young women compete in formal and casual wear and are asked questions about their favorite food, hobby, song, color, and animal. When Desi Meek won in 2018, she was slated to be the last to wear the crown. The Decatur Chamber of Commerce intended to end the pageant because so few girls were participating. Plus, two-thirds of the contest winners weren’t from Decatur. Following a month-long debate, the Chamber decided to continue, limiting the contest to young women who were students at one of three area high schools.

Miss Beaver Lake contestants stand before the cameras and the crowd, Horseshoe Bend, August 29, 1987. Stacy Malone of Bentonville (2nd from right) was crowned winner. Mark Neil, photographer. Springdale News Collection (SN 8-29-1987

Miss Beaver Lake
The Beaver Lake Water Festival began in 1966 at Beaver Shores. Geared as family entertainment, it featured water-skiing contests, motor-boat races, log-rolling contests, a skydiving show, barbecue, and a fireworks display. The Miss Beaver Lake contest was added to the program in 1968, the event’s third year. The festival was put on by several different organizations over the years, including the Springdale Moose Lodge in the early 1980s, when the festival was held at Horseshoe Bend.

The age-range of contestants spanned from sixteen to twenty-three, depending on the year. For many years the pageant was a swimsuit competition—“No talent presentation . . . required.” The 1971 winner received a trophy, gift certificates from merchants, $100 in cash, and the use of a new Plymouth car for a week. The contest lasted until at least 1991, when participants were judged for poise, personality, talent, and stage appearance.

Joy Patrick, Crossbow Queen 1961, being driven into the arena to crown the 1962 queen, Charlotte McBee, Huntsville, October 14, 1962. With Ed Reed (driver) and Crossbowettes Diane McKinney (back of coach, left) and Shirley Duncan. Pat Donat, photographer. Northwest Arkansas Times Collection (NWAT Box 106, D-62.10)

Crossbow Queen
At the urging of Huntsville’s community leaders, George Stevens of Marcella, Arkansas, inventor of the repeating crossbow (a Medieval weapon which shoots an arrow), came to Huntsville in 1958 to create a tourism opportunity for the town. His crossbow tournament featured shooting contests, daredevil horseback-riding competitions by the Lancers, a group of costumed members of local riding clubs, and a demonstration by the Crossbowettes, a team of girls from Huntsville High School who performed precision drills and specialty tricks such as shooting backwards at targets, aided by a tiny mirror.

Stevens established the Crossbowettes in part to take advantage of their youthful beauty to attract visitors. Each year a young woman was selected as queen. Before her coronation, she was driven into the arena in an elaborate horse-drawn carriage, escorted on horseback by the Lancers and the Crossbowettes. Most of the queens were Crossbowettes, chosen by the young women themselves. But dwindling attendance couldn’t justify the effort it took to run the pageantry portion of the tournament. The last queen was crowned in 1967. The crossbow contests themselves continued until 2003.

Rodeo queens including Pat Locke, Miss Rodeo of the Ozarks 1949 (3rd from right) and Pat Parsons, Miss Rodeo of the Ozarks 1950 (far right), Parsons Stadium, Springdale, July 1951. Washington County History Book Collection (S-90-21N240.21)

Miss Rodeo of the Ozarks
The Rodeo of the Ozarks began in 1945, just as World War II was winding down. After two enthusiasts suggested that Springdale hold its own rodeo, Thurman “Shorty” Parsons and Dempsy O. Letsch agreed to take on the task. Early rodeos featured ropers and riders, parades, and a traveling caravan of “hillbilly” comedy and music to entice attendees. The first Miss Rodeo of the Ozarks was Lois Wilson in 1946. In the beginning, local horsewomen and members of area riding clubs competed for the title. In later years, outsiders were allowed to compete on their quest to become Miss Rodeo USA.

A member of the Siloam Springs Riding Club, Lindsey Thompson of Oklahoma became Miss Rodeo of the Ozarks 2018. She and the other contestants were judged by “personality….interviews, modeling and fashion, horsemanship and speech…[and] their ability to greet and mingle with fans…” By 2018, the pageant’s director, eighty-five-year-old Pat Parsons Hutter, had been on the job since 1958. One of her many duties was “taking [the girls] to breakfast every morning and getting them to bed by midnight.” As “Shorty” Parsons daughter and a Miss Rodeo of the Ozarks herself, she saw interest in the rodeo decline over the years. In 2014 only three women competed for the crown.

Sherri Ware (center), Miss Rodeo of the Ozarks 1991, Parsons’ Stadium, Springdale, July 4, 1990. With Julie Talkington (left), Miss Rodeo of the Ozarks 1990, and Mikki Skelton. Ware was formerly Miss Rocking W Ranch (Texas). Travis Doster, photographer. Springdale News Collection (SN 7-4-1990)

DeanE Walker and Miss Springdale High School candidates at Tatman’s Jewelry, Springdale, February 28, 1974. As a group, the girls were allowed to select the crown to be awarded each year. Springdale News Collection (SN 2-74 #13)

Queen of Queens
Former model DeanE Walker of Springdale was part of the pageant circuit from the late 1950s to the 1980s. A qualified official pageant judge, she ran a charm school which taught young women poise and fashion modeling. She also served as director of several pageants including Junior Miss, Northwest Arkansas Poultry Princess, Miss Washington County, and Miss Springdale High School. The latter competition began in 1959 as a way to help pay for the school’s annual yearbook. Walker said the contest’s advisory board chose “ . . . girls who have a variety of talents and would look good on stage. After all, this is a money-raising project, so we have to please the public.” In 1974 she told contestants that they were not allowed to wear “ . . . full wigs, jewelry or gowns with sleeves or rhinestones, and must wear elbow-length gloves during the pageant.” No mothers were allowed backstage.

DeanE Walker (center) reviews pageant clothes with contestants getting ready for the Miss Arkansas 1980 pageant, Springdale, June 26, 1980. With Kathy Higgins (left), Miss Washington County 1980, and Regina Hopper, Miss University of Arkansas 1980 (later Miss Arkansas 1983). Mark Neil, photographer. Springdale News Collection (SN 6-26-1980)

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________ “Fayetteville woman crowned 2017 Miss Decatur Barbecue.” Westside Eagle Observer, 8-9-2017.

________ “Meek returns to crown Miss Decatur Barbecue.” Westside Eagle Observer, 7-31-2019.

________ “New Miss Decatur Barbecue to be crowned Saturday.” Westside Eagle Observer, 8-1-2018.

________ “Sara Garner to turn crown over to new Miss Decatur Barbecue.” Westside Eagle Observer, 8-2-2017.

Chicken-of-Tomorrow Souvenir Program, June 11-16, 1951. Shiloh Museum of Ozark History Collection.

Hall, Kay B. “First Queen Remembers Early Grape Festivals.” Springdale Morning News, 8-14-1992.

Harrison, Eric. E. “Pandemic puts pageants onhold.” Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, 5-9-2020.

Havel, O’Dette. “Contest Was No Cockamamie Notion,” University Reflections. University of Arkansas, Spring 1993.

Hightower, Lara. “Pat Parsons Hutter.” Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, 6-24-2018.  (accessed 6/2020)

Hinshaw, Jerry, with Lloyd McConnell and John I. Smith. “The Washington County Fair 1856-1976.” Washington County Fair 1856-1976 program, September 1976.

Holsted, David. “Dairy Princess treated like royalty.” Harrison Daily Times, 9-26-2019.

Jines, Billie. “Grape Festival Dates Back to 1899.” Springdale News, 8-12-1964.

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Madison County Record. “First Red Cross Quota Reached; Second Short.” 4-10-1952.

_______ “Harrison to Host Second Ms. Senior Arkansas Pageant.” 9-24-1987.

_______ “June 26, 2014: A crowning achievement: Hindsville native named Miss Arkansas 2014.” 9-19-2019.

_______ “Ms. Senior Arkansas Pageant Set For March 30.” 3-28-1996.

_______ “Ramirez Winn Talent Contest.” 10-17-1991.

_______ “Twelve Compete For Miss Beaver Lake Title.” 7-28-1983.

_______ Untitled photo of Janis Barnes, American Honey Queen 1968, 3-14-1968.

McKiever, Tonya. “Miss Benton County Fair Pageant set for first night.” Benton County Daily Record, undated (September 2007).

Miss Gay Arkansas America. “Miss Gay Arkansas America . . .”  (accessed 6/2020)

Nolasco, Stephanie. “Miss America 2017 Savvy Shields ‘blacked out’ after winning the crown.” Fox News, updated 9-18-2017.  (accessed 6/2020)

Northwest Arkansas Times. “3rd Annual Beaver Lake Water Festival,” 8-28-1968.

_______ “ “28 Tiny Tots, 12 Senior Girls Entered in Contest To Choose ‘Miss Fayetteville.’”

_______ “5,000 Attend NWA Poultry Festival, Beauty Pageant at Springdale.” 5-28-1962.

_______ “Area Poultry Festival Begins Tomorrow.” 5-14-1965.

_______ “American Honey Queen Keeps Busy Schedule.” 9-6-1967.

_______ “Beauty Pageant In GAEBALE Is Dropped At UA.” 4-4-1972.

_______ “Beaver Lake Queen Named.” 9-7-1970.

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_______ “Bentonville Girl Crowned County Fair Queen.” 9-17-1969.

_______ “Berryville Girl Named Honey Queen.” 1-29-1968.

_______ “Big Crowd Expected For Area Poultry Festival.” 5-12-1961.

_______ “Clara Webb is Named Miss Benton County.” 9-23-1964.

_______ “Committee Plans Dairy Princess Contest.” 4-21-1961.

_______ “Dairy Princess Contest to Be Held During Dairy Month.” 5-18-1961.

_______ “Dairy Princesses.” 9-9-1961.

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_______ “Julie Ann Wins Big!” 5-6-1975.

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_______ “Salute From the Vet.” 2-15-1991.

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• Although the days of the caravan are long over, Rodeo of the Ozarks board members travel to other rodeos to promote the event and invite cowboys and cowgirls to participate.
• In 1950 the Whisker Club was challenged by the men of Pea Ridge who, for some unknown reason, had begun growing beards weeks earlier. Springdale lost most of the beard-growing competitions (best groomed, most Abe-Lincoln-like), and were teased as “short beards.”
• Rodeo cowboys often wear big, flashy belt buckles. When the sport was first professionalized, many cowboys were also boxers and received similar belts as prizes in the ring.
• In 1946 Springdale’s citizens were asked to walk to the rodeo grounds or share a ride in an effort to keep parking spaces open for out-of-town visitors.
• The pointed toe in a cowboy boot makes it easy to regain a lost stirrup while a tall, tapered heel helps hold the boot in place. If a boot should get stuck in the stirrup during a wild ride, the loose top allows the cowboy to slip out of his boot and avoid injury.
• The phrase “cowboy up” means to face up to a difficult situation or challenge.
• The Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association was originally called the Cowboy Turtles Association. When they organized in 1936, these men fought cheating rodeo promoters, poorly advertised shows, and unfair judging. They said that although they were slow to band together, they had to stick their necks out for their beliefs.
• At one time fireworks were banned at the rodeo after they spooked the horses of the Springdale Riding Club, causing a stampede.
• “Biting the dust” happens when a rider is thrown from his horse. “Broomtail” is slang for a wild mare. When a bronc rider is “grabbin’ the apple,” he’s reaching for the pommel of his saddle to keep from being thrown from his horse.
• Bill Picket, an African-American cowboy who performed in Buffalo Bill Cody’s Wild West Show in the late 1800s, is believed to have invented the sport of steer wrestling. His style of bulldogging included jumping from his horse onto the steer’s back, biting the animal’s lip, and twisting its horns until it fell to the ground. Today’s wrestlers don’t bite.
• The term “fishing” refers to a roper who has thrown at but missed an animal, but by chance the rope flips onto the animal’s neck.
• In 1948 Frank Autry was the Rodeo of the Ozark’s arena director. He was a cousin of movie star Gene Autry.
• A “honda” is the eye in the end of a rope through which the other rope end passes through, forming a loop.
• Bronc is short for bronco, which is Spanish for “rough” or “wild.”
• Fancy roping and trick riding were competitive events in early 1900s rodeos. Today they are paid performances.
• Each time a contestant wins a rodeo event, the prize money is tallied. A rodeo “champion” is the person who wins the most money for the year in one of seven sanctioned events at Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association-approved rodeos. The term “added money” refers to the total prize money in each event. It’s made up of the contestants’ entry fees and the purse put up by the rodeo. “Ground money” is split evenly among the contestants should no one win the event.
• In 1946 an 800-foot hitching rack was constructed at Parsons Stadium. That’s a lot of horses!
• The Professional Women’s Rodeo Association was established in 1987.
• The word “rodeo” is Spanish (pronounced ro-DAY-oh). It comes from the word rodear, meaning “to surround.”

Early rodeo leaders, Parsons Stadium, Springdale, July 1946. From left: Walter Watkins, Evert Head, B. B. “Cap” Brogdon (1946 parade marshal). Springdale Chamber of Commerce Collection (S-84-157-69A)

Many noted Springdale residents and business leaders helped organize and operate the rodeo because “it was the thing to do.” The rodeo is part civic pride, part economic opportunity, and part good fun.

People like poultryman John Tyson, truckers Harvey Jones and Willis Shaw, grocer Don Harp, merchants Sandy Boone and Tex Holt, attorney Mace Howell, livestock men Shorty Parsons and Dempsey Letsch, and jeweler Mike Tatman have been among the many men and women who have contributed to the rodeo’s success.

Springdale Benevolent Amusement Association, 1963. Seated, from left: Ulysses A. Lovell, Wayne Hyden, Thurman “Shorty” Parsons, Joe Sanford “Sandy” Boone, Mace Howell. Standing, from left: Gene Thompson, Johnnie Gladden, Jerry E. Hinshaw, Howard Long, J.W. “Slim” Bayley, M. Hugh “Chick” Otwell, Wayne High, Don Hoyt, Otis Cardwell. Not pictured: Jay Martens. Ray Watson, photographer. Pat Parsons Hutter Collection (S-94-54-30)

In 1947 Shorty Parsons sold the rodeo grounds to the newly formed Springdale Benevolent Amusement Association. The Association raised funds in a number of ways, including $25 memberships. The stadium’s mortgage was paid off in 1954. Parsons served as president from 1950 to 1988.

Over the years the Association has used its proceeds for many local projects such as outfitting the Springdale High School band, developing a Babe Ruth baseball field, building a community center, and contributing to Ducks Unlimited and the Springdale National Guard Armory.

Early rodeo organizers, Shiloh Park, Springdale, 1949. Seated, from left: Velma Robinson, Murl Letsch, Gladys Reed. Back row, from left: Isabel Cloppert, Mrs. Calvin Walker, Patricia Parsons, Georgia Ritter (seated low on fence), unidentified, Marguerite Walker. Howard Clark, photographer. Howard Clark Collection (S-2002-72-2124)

In the early days, rodeo leaders and their wives took on many responsibilities to make the rodeo a success. Shorty Parsons and his family served brown beans, cornbread, and strawberry shortcake to 400 or so rodeo participants at the Parsons’ home.

Rodeo can get into a person’s blood. Parsons’ daughter, Pat Parsons Hutter, has been involved with the Rodeo of the Ozarks most of her life. She served as rodeo queen in 1950 and since 1958 has coordinated the queen’s pageant. She was a national barrel racer for forty-five years and even met her husband at the rodeo. She has never missed a parade or rodeo.

Springdale’s Skunk Holler Hillbilly Band promoting the Rodeo of the Ozarks, Van Buren, Arkansas, June 1946. P. W. “Doc” Boone at the microphone, with Shelby Ford (in white hat). Don Hoyt Collection (S-86-315-39)

In the rodeo’s early days, goodwill caravans of horses, riders, and performers traveled miles and miles around Northwest Arkansas, eastern Oklahoma, and Southwest Missouri. The group put on short promotional shows. Their stage was a flat-bed trailer provided by Springdale produce broker Joe Robinson. In 1946 the caravan sold $16,000 in tickets.

In June 1950 the caravan was ordered to “not block the streets” and “move on” in Noel, Missouri, prompting the Springdale Chamber of Commerce to declare that Noel would “not get another chance to disapprove of rodeo visitors.” A few days later two Noel businessmen came to town to be “punished” by a dunking in a stock tank full of water.

“Mac” McRoberts being dunked by Charles Tansey (left) and Wayne High, Emma Avenue, Springdale, 1952. Sandy Boone Collection (S-2006-154-18)

Springdale merchants decorated their businesses to promote rodeo spirit. During Western Week residents were asked to wear at least two pieces of western-style clothing. In 1950 the Whisker Club began and men were encouraged to grow beards. Those who didn’t could purchase shaving permits, with the proceeds going to rodeo festivities.

Folks who didn’t comply might be fined a small fee, dunked in a stock tank full of water, or tried by a “kangaroo court” and sent to “jail” until they were bailed out. In 1953 the guilty party might also have found himself the temporary caretaker of a “flap-eared burro.”

Western Days winners, Springdale Bank and Trust, Springdale, June 30, 1989. Springdale News Collection (S-93-95-46)

First Rodeo of the Ozarks parade, Emma Avenue, Springdale, July 1945. Evert and Reba Head (far left) lead the Springdale Riding Club. Sandy Boone Collection (S-2006-102-13)

Both Springdale and Fayetteville formed riding clubs in 1945. Springdale’s was Western in style while Fayetteville’s was Eastern and English—very traditional riding styles, saddles, and dress. Fayetteville’s club focused on proper horse breeding.

Fayetteville also held a horse event in 1945, but it wasn’t as well attended as Springdale’s rodeo. Some think that may have been due to the liveliness and informality of the rodeo appealing to a wide group of locals and country folks.

First National Bank’s second-place-winning float at the high school bus lot, Springdale, July 1949. From left: Georgia Mae Newton, Sarah Mitchell, Jean Kever, Mary Vaughan, Geraldine Kendrick, unidentified boy. Mary Maestri Vaughan Collection (S-99-33-6)

Hundreds of riders and their horses traveled down Emma Avenue during the first rodeo parades. Beginning in 1949 businesses and civic clubs entered floats with a western theme. Heekin Canning was famous for their “tin man” float, complete with a tin can cowboy dressed in western gear. Prizes were given for such things as best float, best dressed riding club, furthest traveled club, best large wagon and team, and best pony cart.

Rodeo of the Ozarks parade, Emma Avenue, Springdale, July 1967.
Springdale News Collection (SMN 7-1-4-67)

Each year Springdale holds two parades during the rodeo. Marching bands, stagecoaches, the Springdale Stepperettes, antique cars, riders and their horses, fire engines, rodeo officials and queens, civic groups, and even the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile have all traveled down Emma Avenue to the delight of the crowds.

Other rodeo festivities through the years have included square dance contests, barbecues, “shoot-outs,” horseshoe tournaments, pancake breakfasts, stick- horse parades, stagecoach rides, mare-colt races, chuck-wagon dinners, and “ole time mellodrammers.”

Kelli Martin of Siloam Springs, Ozarks Barrel Race Futurity-Derby, Parsons Stadium, Springdale, May 31,1985. Charles Bickford, photographer. Springdale News Collection (SN 5-31-1985)

Women first competed in trick riding and bronc riding events at the 1897 rodeo in Cheyenne, Wyoming, but those days were short lived. Few competed in the early 1900s, when many thought a woman’s place was in the beauty pageant, not the rodeo arena. The tide changed in 1947 when an all-girl rodeo was staged in Amarillo, Texas. Its success proved that people would pay to watch female rodeo contestants.

Today barrel racing is a popular women’s sport. Riders and their quarter horses complete a quick cloverleaf pattern around three barrels. Penalties are given for each barrel tipped over. A good time is fourteen seconds.

Sandra McWhorter of Rogers (Rodeo of the Ozarks queen candidate), Parsons Stadium, Springdale, July 1946. Hubert L. Musteen, photographer. Don Hoyt Collection (S-86-315-42A)

A rodeo queen’s duty is to promote the rodeo, give interviews, visit schools, and ride in parades. In 1993 candidates for queen were judged for their personality, appearance, and horsemanship. Each gave an impromptu speech about who they were, what their goals were, and what being Miss Rodeo of the Ozarks would mean to them.

The winner received roses, a crown, a custom saddle, and a photo session. The runner-up received a diamond watch while the horsemanship winner got a belt buckle and a pair of boots.

Rodeo queens, Parsons Stadium, Springdale, July 4, 1975. From left: Theresa King of Bentonville (Miss Rodeo of the Ozarks), Connie Della Lucia (Miss Rodeo America), and Debbie Garrett of Springdale (Miss Arkansas-Oklahoma Rodeo). Charles Bickford, photographer. Springdale News Collection (SN 7-4-1975)

Animal-rights activists, Parsons Stadium, Springdale, July 4, 1992. Springdale News Collection (SN 7-4-1992)

The rodeo means many things to many people. To some it’s a time to have fun watching athletes test their skills against each other and their animals. To others it’s a time to worry about the treatment of animals in the chutes and the arena.

While all involved love animals and are concerned about their welfare, they don’t see eye to eye on the rights of animals or the sport of rodeo.

Ashley Creek enjoying the rodeo, Parsons Stadium, Springdale, July 1,1982. Springdale News Collection (SN 7-1-1982)

“15 Queens Sight for Sore Cowboy Eyes.” Springdale News, June 20, 1993.

“1,500 Welcome Tour Home; Program Stopped at Noel,” Springdale News, June 23, 1950.

“3,000 Witness Rodeo Parade Held Thursday,” Springdale News, July 11, 1946.

Boone, Joe Sanford “Sandy.” Interview by Kim Allen Scott, May 11, 1994.

“Chuck Wagon Feed Expected to Draw Big Crowd Tonight,” Springdale News, July 1, 1952.

Clark, Ralph. “Rodeo History.” About.com

“Complete Hitch Racks at Rodeo Grounds Tuesday,” Springdale News, June 6, 1946.

“Cousin of Gene Autry to Direct Springdale Rodeo.” Springdale News, June 28, 1948.

“Cowboy Garb is Dressy But it Has a Purpose,” Springdale News, June 29, 1959.

“Eighth Annual Show Features Varied Program,” Springdale News, July 2, 1952.

“First Annual Rodeo Draws Crowd,” Springdale News, July 5, 1947.

Haseloff, Cynthia. “Rodeo of the Ozarks Caravans Sold Tickets Around Region.” Northwest Arkansas Morning News, June 25, 2000.

“Hats, Boots Show Up,” Springdale News, June 22, 1953.

Litzinger, Beverly. “Local Entrepreneur a Rodeo Participant for More Than 50 Years.” Northwest Arkansas Times, June 30, 2000.

“Local Citizens Plan Purchase Rodeo Grounds,” Springdale News, 2-6-1947.

“Many Floats Will Be Featured in Rodeo Parade,” Springdale News, June 27, 1950.

Martinez, Diana Rowe. “The History of Rodeo.” 2000. suite101.com (web link no longer active as of February 2019).

“Miss Rodeo of the Ozarks on the Right Track.”  Springdale News, June 20, 1993.

“Noel Men Dunked by Request in Apology for Tour Incident.” Springdale News, June 26, 1950.

“Parade Prize Winners Named.” Springdale News, May 5, 1949.

“Posses Looking for Fun, Ideas at World Famous Rodeos.” Springdale News, June 20, 1993.

Program. First Annual Fayetteville, Arkansas, Horse Show, June 1945.

Program. Rodeo of the Ozarks, July 1976.

“Quadrille Team Puts on Dandy Show.” Springdale News, June 20, 1993.

Rattenbury, Richard. “American Rodeo Gallery.” National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum website (web link no longer active as of February 2019).

Robson, Gary D. “Rodeo Terminology.” Caption Central. (web link no longer active as of February 2019).

“Rodeo of the Ozarks Action at 8 p.m. Wilder Than Shootout at High Noon.” Springdale News, June 20, 1993.

“Rodeo Dictionary.” Springdale News, June 28, 1948.

Scott, Kim Allen. “Let’s Rodeo! A Short History of the Rodeo of the Ozarks.” Unpublished manuscript,  June 1995. Shiloh Museum research files.

“Springdale Benevolent Amusement As’sn Organized February 6, 1947.” Springdale News, June 28, 1948.

“Still in the Saddle: Parsons Family Keeps Riding with Rodeo of the Ozarks,” Northwest Arkansas Times, July 4, 2004.

Strong, Jean. “Rodeo of the Ozarks: Looking Ahead to 55 Years.” The Ketchpen, Spring 1999.

“Thousands Have Made Habit of Coming to City,” Springdale News, June 27, 1950.

“Trail Riders Drive Rodeo Spirit to Town.” Springdale News, June 20, 1993.

“Walk to Rodeo,” Springdale News, June 27, 1946.

“Welcome 7th Annual Rodeo of the Ozarks,” Springdale News, June 22, 1953.

Wells, Julie. “Women in Rodeo.” Women’s Professional Rodeo Association website (web link no longer active as of February 2019).

“Western Attire for all Residents Sought as Rodeo Time Nears,” Springdale News, June 13, 1951.

“Whisker Club Does Good Job of Advertising Local Rodeo,” Springdale News, June 27, 1950.

“Whiskers Club Funds to Provide Entertainment for Cowboys,” Springdale News, May 2, 1951.

James O. and Mary Snelson Nicholson, early pioneers, about 1900. J. W. Nicholson/Boone County Library Collection (S-87-38-7)

Ed Pendley house under construction, near Hill Top, 1913. Steve Erwin Collection (S-97-144-50)

In the 1830s and 1840s, homesteaders looking for free land came by river and military road to the area then known as Carroll County. They built log cabins, hunted and farmed, established post offices, and started businesses such as general stores and a bear-grease rendering plant (for lamp oil).

Senator James Townsend “Town” Hopper, sponsor of legislation to create Boone County, early 1900s. Jessalee Nash/Boone County Library Collection (S-87-127-69)

After the strife of the Civil War, Union and Confederate forces fought once again, but this time for positions of leadership.  James Townsend Hopper, a former Union soldier, was elected to the state Senate. There he sponsored legislation to create a new county, since local government was controlled by ex-Confederates. In April 1869, with the help of a Republican legislature, land from the east side of Carroll County was taken and Boone County was born.

Looking southwest at Harrison, with the courthouse in the center, about 1910. Mrs. F. L. Coffman/Boone County Library Collection (S-87-128-23)

When Boone County was created in 1869, Harrison became the county seat. Originally called Crooked Creek, the name was changed when Captain Henry W. Fick asked civil engineer M. LaRue Harrison, both former Union soldiers, to survey the town. Fick was Harrison’s postmaster and developed many business interests in the pro-Union, pro-Republican town.

A few years later folks petitioned to move the county seat to Bellefonte, a long-established community that had supported the Confederacy. Worried about losing business in Harrison, Fick found like-minded former Confederates to help him campaign. It was a close vote, but the seat stayed in Harrison. Residents’ fears of violence from the losing side came to nothing.

Courthouse construction crew, Harrison, about 1907. The previous courthouse burned down in 1906. Robert Flippo/Boone County Library Collection (S-87-128-50)

For many years the county seat of Harrison looked like the Old West with dirt streets, roaming livestock, and the dangerous “Dead Man’s Corner,” scene of many a fight and shooting.

Harrison grew dramatically in population with the coming of the railroad in 1901. More people meant more businesses, homes, and infrastructure—things like sewers, roads, and utilities.

The town’s first street improvement district was created in 1924. Streets in the business district were paved and a sewer system was built. But by 1936 only 10 percent of the town’s streets were surfaced. Believing Harrison couldn’t continue to grow without improvement, downtown merchant Layton Coffman successfully led a campaign to pave streets citywide.

Digging for sewer mains, Harrison, October 1925. W. Carl Smith, photographer. Ada Lee Shook Collection (S-98-85-1646)

Bellefonte Spring, about 1912. Bellefonte (“beautiful fountain”) was one of many communities founded around a spring. Eula Albright/Boone County Library Collection (S-87-127-58)

Springs and creeks were important to settlers. Creeks provided energy for grist mills and cotton gins. Springs offered medicinal and business opportunities. In the 1880s, Eureka Springs in nearby Carroll County became a prosperous health resort as people flocked to “take the waters” and cure their ailments.

Boone County had three resorts. The most popular was in the town of Elixir Springs, where the spring’s water was said to cure rheumatism and blood diseases. About 1,000 people lived and worked in the town in the early 1880s. But the resort and the town’s life were short lived. By 1892 it and another resort at Tom Thumb Springs were long gone.

One of the Valley (or Double) Springs, about 1925. Eula Albright/Boone County Library Collection (S-87-129-2)

Milum Spring, south of Harrison, early 1900s. Roger V. Logan Jr./Boone County Library Collection (S-87-129-59)

In April 1857, under the leadership of Captain Alexander Fancher, a large company of County residents and others formed a caravan at Milum Spring and headed for new opportunities in California.

In September they stopped at Mountain Meadows, a valley in the Utah Territory.  There they were attacked by Mormons and Native Americans.  They battled several days, after which the survivors where allowed to leave, only to be brutally attacked one more time.  Seventeen children deemed too young to tell the tale were allowed to live.

The reasons for this terrible massacre and the actions taken by the various parties is still hotly debated by historians, descendents, and church leaders.  After many years of denial, a small monument to the victims now stands in the valley.

James D. Dunlap home, early to mid-1900s. Some survivors of the Mountain Meadows massacre were raised in this home, built about 1854. Roger V. Logan Jr./Boone County Library Collection (S-87-60-8)

Richard R. and Nancy A. Hopper Capps, near Hopewell, early 1900s. Capps first served in Co. H, 2nd Regiment Missouri Light Artillery (a Union force). Roger V. Logan, Jr./Boone County Library Collection (S-87-129-44)

Colonel Eli Dodson, early 1900s. He served in the 14th Arkansas Infantry Confederate (organized in Boone County) and later as county judge. Martha Sisco/Boone County Library Collection (S-87-129-57)

In the hills of Northern Arkansas, where slavery wasn’t as common as it was in the Delta, most folks weren’t interested in leaving the Union. After much legislative debate and voting, Arkansas seceded in May 1861. County residents were forced to choose sides—Union or Confederate.

Most of the county’s men formed companies and went off to fight. Some saw action at the Battles of Pea Ridge and Prairie Grove. Those left behind faced hardships, too. Armies destroyed a gunpowder mill on Crooked Creek and a niter works (explosives) at Dubuque and they took livestock, food, and grain. Violent bushwhackers took what was left and often burned homes when they weren’t satisfied.

Reverend W.R. “Buck” Burnett family, Hill Top, 1908. Burnett was a Freewill Baptist minister who preached without pay. His daughter-in-law, who was ashamed of this house with its pigs in the yard, hid this photo for many years. Steve Erwin Collection (S-97-144-132)

Charles W. Czech home on South Pine Street, Harrison, early 1900s. Czech owned the Jersey Roller Mill which was known for its quality flours and meals (coarse-ground grains). Boone County Library Collection (S-87-128-28)

The first settlers built hand-hewn log cabins and lived a simple, hard life. As communities and towns grew, roads and a railroad were built. New architectural styles and fancy construction materials made their way into the county, allowing prosperous businessmen to build large, showy homes.

By the early 1900s many in the African American community in Harrison owned their own homes. They were often located in the less desirable parts of the town, although a few families lived in white neighborhoods.

Threshing on the Vol Denton farm, Alpena, June 30, 1911. As a stream-driven thresher moved its way through the fields, the top rails of a split-rail fence were often fed as fuel into the firebox; the rails were later replaced. Steve Erwin Collection (S-97-144-49)

Boone County’s prairies and cleared lands offered farmers a good place to plant crops and feed their livestock. An 1883 newspaper article declared that county soil was “well adapted to the production of corn, wheat, cotton, tobacco, grass, sorghum, oats, barley, etc., etc.”

Early settlers grew vegetables and grains to feed themselves.  It was only later that crops were grown for market. In 1905 the Lead Hill area shipped out about 5,000 bales of cotton. In 1913 “Black Ben Davis” apples were shipped from the Hickory Grove farm near Harrison.

E. G. Whitaker General Store, Alpena, circa 1909. Nancy Barron/Boone County Library Collection (S-87-128-44)

Bank of Harrison, Harrison, circa 1895. Garvin Fitton/Boone County Library Collection (S-87-127-37)

Soon after settlers first arrived in the county, businesses like general stores began to spring up. By 1885 Harrison had a number of stores that sold food, medicine, clothing, furniture, saddles, and hardware. Specialized shops included a bakery, ice cream and candy makers, and a man who made tinware. Residents from neighboring communities flocked to town on Saturdays to shop and socialize.

The coming of the railroad in 1901 meant that more goods were brought into the county and farm products and natural resources like lumber and ores were sent to market. In the 1910s fresh eggs were shipped to Memphis in railroad cars cooled with ice.

Sam Paul’s blacksmith shop, Gaither, circa 1902. Dr. Troy Coffman/Boone County Library Collection (S-87-128-21)

Cotton gin, Everton, circa 1900. Gladys McKay/Boone County Library Collection (S-87-127-55)

By 1847 four legal, tax-paying distilleries operated in Carroll County. Many more illegal stills were likely hidden in the hills by folks who refused to pay the alcohol tax. The manufacture of moonshine grew in the 1890s when the government raised alcohol taxes, and from 1915 to 1935 during Prohibition, when alcohol was severely limited nationwide.

After World War II, returning veterans found their county overrun with bootleggers. They re-sold alcohol illegally at a premium to folks who lived in a “dry” county like Boone which didn’t allow alcohol sales. Determined to put an end to the lawbreakers, one group pushed for the legalization of alcohol sales while another tried to rid local government of do-nothing officials.

In the end, it took a double murder on the Harrison square in 1946 before the town’s sheriff and city administration finally dealt with the lawlessness.

Legal still #51, near Hurricane Cave, circa 1900. Red Coffman/Boone County Library Collection (S-87-128-86)

Shady Grove School, October 10, 1913. Steve Erwin Collection (S-97-144-12)

Early county schools were one-room log buildings, with one teacher for all grades.  Rural students tended to complete fewer grades and had shorter terms than students in town.  This was due in part to community funding problems and the students’ need to work at home and on the farm.

In the 1870s academies were established in Bellefonte, Rally Hill, and Valley Springs.  The Harrison College and Normal Institute (a training school for teachers) was later established for females.  These schools provided a comprehensive education for those who could afford the fees.  Big towns like Harrison built impressive public schools.

During the 20th century consolidation reduced the number of school districts from 99 to six.  By 1935 every student had access to a high school education.

St. Louis and North Arkansas Railroad train on Long Creek trestle, Alpena, April 15, 1901. Carroll County Heritage Center Collection (S-84-211-94)

Alpena depot, 1902. Carroll County Heritage Center Collection (S-85-27-29)

In 1883 a railway line was built into Carroll County, spurring economic growth and tourism. Boone County wanted an extension of the line, but the expense and difficulty of building in the mountains kept financial backers away.

For 20 years folks made do with a daily stagecoach run between Eureka Springs and Harrison. Eventually backers were found and residents gave land and cash to smooth the way. In March 1901 the St. Louis and North Arkansas Railroad steamed into Harrison where it was greeted with band music and speeches. Later the line pushed eastward into the county and became the Missouri and North Arkansas Railroad.

The railroad brought goods and people into the county and sent produce, livestock, and natural resources like timber and mineral ores all over the nation.

Missouri and North Arkansas Railroad shops, looking northwest, Harrison, about 1915. Mrs. F. L. Coffman/Boone County Library Collection (S-87-129-47)

The Missouri and North Arkansas Railroad had a troubled existence. By 1921 financial problems led to a major wage cut. Union workers went on strike and the line closed down, causing hardship for many families and businesses. Although a group of investors bought the railroad and resumed operations, the workers remained on strike.

Tensions increased in Harrison as strike-breakers crossed the picket line and vandalism occurred. On January 14, 1923, hundreds of armed men arrived by train and car. They searched homes for union literature and firearms, threatened strikers, and burned the Union Hall. The violence grew. Before it was over one man was hanged from a railroad bridge. Fearing for their lives, strikers and their families fled. The union was busted.

Another strike in 1946 effectively ended the railroad line.

Vannie, a Harrison cook, about 1900. Garvin Fitton/Boone County Library Collection (S-87-38-2)

In 1900 just over 100 African Americans lived in Harrison, which had a total population of more than 1,500. Many had been in the area for a long time and had established churches, a school, and businesses. A division existed along race lines but, for the most part, life was peaceful. Things changed as racial intolerance spread across the country and “justice” increasingly meant the use of violence.

Tensions increased in Harrison when a number of homeless, unemployed African-American railroad laborers came to town. In 1905 a black man was jailed for breaking into a home. Mob violence erupted and blacks were beaten and their homes burned. Many fled for their lives, never to return. Three years later a youth was accused of robbery and rape. Once again the black community feared mob violence and fled. By 1910 “Aunt Vine” Smith was the only African American left in Harrison.

The 2010 census listed a few dozen blacks in Boone County, home to the Arkansas faction of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan.

Gloria Mines, Zinc, about 1916. Fay Hodge/Harrison Daily Times [published 11-14-1986] (S-88-36-3)

Town names such as Lead Hill and Zinc attest to the importance of mining in Boone County. In the1850s small mines near Dubuque and Lead Hill used crude smelters to extract lead from rock.

Mining began in earnest in the 1870s and it was hard work. Hand tools were used to dig pits in the ground or shafts into the sides of mountain. Tons of ore-bearing rock were processed on site or sent to distant smelters. In 1886, 33 wagon-loads of ore (34,320 pounds) were shipped from the Bonanza Mine near Lead Hill down the White River to Batesville, and then on to St. Louis by rail.

A zinc “rush” began around 1899. Zinc was used as a pigment in paints, for battery electrodes, and for galvanizing iron. During World War I zinc prices soared only to fall at war’s end. Many mines were abandoned and towns shrank or disappeared.

Cutting staves, Richland Creek, early 1900s. Earl Henry/Boone County Library Collection (S-87-128-34)

Early settlers found large stands of oak, hickory, cedar, walnut, cherry, and pine.  Railroads headed for Northwest Arkansas in the 1880s in part to take advantage of its vast timber reserves.  Logging became a major industry, creating jobs and boom towns along the line.

Once saws and axes felled the giant trees, teams of mules hauled the logs to sawmills and factories where the timber was turned into barrel staves, railroad ties, lumber, fence posts, and tool handles.  When the trees were gone in one area, operations moved to the next.  New settlers farmed the cleared land.

A circa-1883 forestry report predicted a 300-year supply of timber.  By the 1920s the forests were largely gone.  The timber boom was over.

Methodist Sunday School group enjoying dinner on the ground, Wilson Spring, early 1900s. Carroll County Heritage Center Collection (S-84-211-71)

People came together in a variety of ways.  Picnics on the Fourth of July were common, as were “dinners on the ground,” often organized by churches.  On Decoration Day families tidied up cemeteries and placed flowers on graves.  Log-raisings to build barns and homes were held when a new family moved into the neighborhood.  The Boone County fair started in 1887 and offered livestock contests, mule racing, and arts and crafts exhibitions.

Traveling preachers held meetings and sometimes debated one another.  Fiddle music and dancing were popular but some churches frowned on this pastime. “Play parties” were a way to get around this.  Rather than use instruments to make music, songs were sung and participants did a type of square dance.

In all of these activities, folks had a chance to get together to strengthen community and social bonds and meet eligible partners.

Independence Day celebration, Hill Top, 1910s. The women may be students of the Hill Top Mission School. Steve Erwin Collection (S-97-144-86)

For many decades Independence Day was a time for communities to come together and have a good time.

The town of Harrison was incorporated in March 1876.  In celebration, city fathers planned a grand event for the Fourth of July which, that year, fell on the Centennial of the nation’s founding.  Over 3,000 folks listened to bands, picnicked, heard readings of the Declaration of Independence and other patriotic speeches, and watched fireworks.

A joust was held at the race track.  Men riding horses and holding pointed sticks raced towards posts that held rings suspended by wire.  The winner was the first to spear the ring with his stick.  First prize was $20.

Riverside baptism at Omaha, 1909. Brother Voiles, minister. Carroll County Heritage Center Collection (S-84-211-125)

Early settlers brought their religion with them, often worshipping in their homes.  One of the first churches was Crooked Creek Primitive Baptist Church, founded in 1834.  Churches formed and split frequently as communities changed or members differed on church teachings.

Traveling preachers and circuit riders (pastors on horseback who visited the several churches in their care every few weeks) held services where they could—in homes, fields, and even the county courthouse.  A revival meeting at Harrison led to several baptisms and the 1890 formation of the First Baptist Church.

A mission school was founded in Hill Top.  In Harrison the Methodists built a college, only to have it burn down before school started.

William J. Meyers, early 1900s. Robert Raley/Boone County Library Collection (S-87-38-1)

Henry Starr, Harrison, February 1921. Robert Raley/Boone County Library Collection (S-87-38-31)

In February 1921 notorious outlaw Henry Starr was one of several men who tried to rob the Peoples National Bank on Harrison’s square.  Before the robbery they cut telephone lines and surveyed the bank and square.

The bank’s former president, William J. Meyers, happened to be in the bank that day.  Once the cashier opened the safe the thieves began grabbing money.  A distraction caused by an uncooperative patron turned their attention away from the safe, allowing Meyers a chance to grab the .38 caliber Winchester rifle stored in the vault.  He shot and wounded Starr.  Starr told his men to flee; eventually they were caught and tried.  Starr died a few days after the robbery.

James O. and Mary Snelson Nicholson, early pioneers, about 1900. J. W. Nicholson/Boone County Library Collection (S-87-38-7)

In the 1830s and 1840s, homesteaders looking for free land came by river and military road to the area then known as Carroll County.  They built log cabins, hunted and farmed, established post offices, and started businesses such as general stores and a bear-grease rendering plant (for lamp oil).

Senator James Townsend “Town” Hopper, sponsor of legislation to create Boone County, early 1900s. Jessalee Nash/Boone County Library Collection (S-87-127-69)

After the strife of the Civil War, Union and Confederate forces fought once again, but this time for positions of leadership.  James Townsend Hopper, a former Union soldier, was elected to the state Senate.  There he sponsored legislation to create a new county, since local government was controlled by ex-Confederates.  In April 1869, with the help of a Republican legislature, land from the east side of Carroll County was taken and Boone County was born.

Ed Pendley house under construction, near Hill Top, 1913. Steve Erwin Collection (S-97-144-50)

Looking southwest at Harrison, with the courthouse in the center, about 1910. Mrs. F. L. Coffman/Boone County Library Collection (S-87-128-23)

When Boone County was created in 1869, Harrison became the county seat. Originally called Crooked Creek, the name was changed when Captain Henry W. Fick asked civil engineer M. LaRue Harrison, both former Union soldiers, to survey the town. Fick was Harrison’s postmaster and developed many business interests in the pro-Union, pro-Republican town.

A few years later folks petitioned to move the county seat to Bellefonte, a long-established community that had supported the Confederacy. Worried about losing business in Harrison, Fick found like-minded former Confederates to help him campaign. It was a close vote, but the seat stayed in Harrison. Residents’ fears of violence from the losing side came to nothing.

Courthouse construction crew, Harrison, about 1907. The previous courthouse burned down in 1906. Robert Flippo/Boone County Library Collection (S-87-128-50)

For many years the county seat of Harrison looked like the Old West with dirt streets, roaming livestock, and the dangerous “Dead Man’s Corner,” scene of many a fight and shooting.

Harrison grew dramatically in population with the coming of the railroad in 1901. More people meant more businesses, homes, and infrastructure—things like sewers, roads, and utilities.

The town’s first street improvement district was created in 1924. Streets in the business district were paved and a sewer system was built. But by 1936 only 10 percent of the town’s streets were surfaced. Believing Harrison couldn’t continue to grow without improvement, downtown merchant Layton Coffman successfully led a campaign to pave streets citywide.

Digging for sewer mains, Harrison, October 1925. W. Carl Smith, photographer. Ada Lee Shook Collection (S-98-85-1646)

Bellefonte Spring, about 1912. Bellefonte (“beautiful fountain”) was one of many communities founded around a spring. Eula Albright/Boone County Library Collection (S-87-127-58)

Springs and creeks were important to settlers. Creeks provided energy for grist mills and cotton gins. Springs offered medicinal and business opportunities. In the 1880s, Eureka Springs in nearby Carroll County became a prosperous health resort as people flocked to “take the waters” and cure their ailments.

Boone County had three resorts. The most popular was in the town of Elixir Springs, where the spring’s water was said to cure rheumatism and blood diseases. About 1,000 people lived and worked in the town in the early 1880s. But the resort and the town’s life were short lived. By 1892 it and another resort at Tom Thumb Springs were long gone.

One of the Valley (or Double) Springs, about 1925. Eula Albright/Boone County Library Collection (S-87-129-2)

Milum Spring, south of Harrison, early 1900s. Roger V. Logan Jr./Boone County Library Collection (S-87-129-59)

In April 1857, under the leadership of Captain Alexander Fancher, a large company of County residents and others formed a caravan at Milum Spring and headed for new opportunities in California.

In September they stopped at Mountain Meadows, a valley in the Utah Territory.  There they were attacked by Mormons and Native Americans.  They battled several days, after which the survivors where allowed to leave, only to be brutally attacked one more time.  Seventeen children deemed too young to tell the tale were allowed to live.

The reasons for this terrible massacre and the actions taken by the various parties is still hotly debated by historians, descendents, and church leaders.  After many years of denial, a small monument to the victims now stands in the valley.

James D. Dunlap home, early to mid-1900s. Some survivors of the Mountain Meadows massacre were raised in this home, built about 1854. Roger V. Logan Jr./Boone County Library Collection (S-87-60-8)

Richard R. and Nancy A. Hopper Capps, near Hopewell, early 1900s. Capps first served in Co. H, 2nd Regiment Missouri Light Artillery (a Union force). Roger V. Logan, Jr./Boone County Library Collection (S-87-129-44)

In the hills of Northern Arkansas, where slavery wasn’t as common as it was in the Delta, most folks weren’t interested in leaving the Union. After much legislative debate and voting, Arkansas seceded in May 1861. County residents were forced to choose sides—Union or Confederate.

Most of the county’s men formed companies and went off to fight. Some saw action at the Battles of Pea Ridge and Prairie Grove. Those left behind faced hardships, too. Armies destroyed a gunpowder mill on Crooked Creek and a niter works (explosives) at Dubuque and they took livestock, food, and grain. Violent bushwhackers took what was left and often burned homes when they weren’t satisfied.

Colonel Eli Dodson, early 1900s. He served in the 14th Arkansas Infantry Confederate (organized in Boone County) and later as county judge. Martha Sisco/Boone County Library Collection (S-87-129-57)

Reverend W.R. “Buck” Burnett family, Hill Top, 1908. Burnett was a Freewill Baptist minister who preached without pay. His daughter-in-law, who was ashamed of this house with its pigs in the yard, hid this photo for many years. Steve Erwin Collection (S-97-144-132)

The first settlers built hand-hewn log cabins and lived a simple, hard life. As communities and towns grew, roads and a railroad were built. New architectural styles and fancy construction materials made their way into the county, allowing prosperous businessmen to build large, showy homes.

By the early 1900s many in the African American community in Harrison owned their own homes. They were often located in the less desirable parts of the town, although a few families lived in white neighborhoods.

Charles W. Czech home on South Pine Street, Harrison, early 1900s. Czech owned the Jersey Roller Mill which was known for its quality flours and meals (coarse-ground grains). Boone County Library Collection (S-87-128-28)

Boone County’s prairies and cleared lands offered farmers a good place to plant crops and feed their livestock. An 1883 newspaper article declared that county soil was “well adapted to the production of corn, wheat, cotton, tobacco, grass, sorghum, oats, barley, etc., etc.”

Early settlers grew vegetables and grains to feed themselves.  It was only later that crops were grown for market. In 1905 the Lead Hill area shipped out about 5,000 bales of cotton. In 1913 “Black Ben Davis” apples were shipped from the Hickory Grove farm near Harrison.

Threshing on the Vol Denton farm, Alpena, June 30, 1911. As a stream-driven thresher moved its way through the fields, the top rails of a split-rail fence were often fed as fuel into the firebox; the rails were later replaced. Steve Erwin Collection (S-97-144-49)

E. G. Whitaker General Store, Alpena, about 1909. Nancy Barron/Boone County Library Collection (S-87-128-44)

Soon after settlers first arrived in the county, businesses like general stores began to spring up. By 1885 Harrison had a number of stores that sold food, medicine, clothing, furniture, saddles, and hardware. Specialized shops included a bakery, ice cream and candy makers, and a man who made tinware. Residents from neighboring communities flocked to town on Saturdays to shop and socialize.

The coming of the railroad in 1901 meant that more goods were brought into the county and farm products and natural resources like lumber and ores were sent to market. In the 1910s fresh eggs were shipped to Memphis in railroad cars cooled with ice.

Bank of Harrison, Harrison, about 1895. Garvin Fitton/Boone County Library Collection (S-87-127-37)

Cotton gin, Everton, about 1900. Gladys McKay/Boone County Library Collection (S-87-127-55)

Cotton gin, Everton, about 1900. Gladys McKay/Boone County Library Collection (S-87-127-55)

By 1847 four legal, tax-paying distilleries operated in Carroll County. Many more illegal stills were likely hidden in the hills by folks who refused to pay the alcohol tax. The manufacture of moonshine grew in the 1890s when the government raised alcohol taxes, and from 1915 to 1935 during Prohibition, when alcohol was severely limited nationwide.

After World War II, returning veterans found their county overrun with bootleggers. They re-sold alcohol illegally at a premium to folks who lived in a “dry” county like Boone which didn’t allow alcohol sales. Determined to put an end to the lawbreakers, one group pushed for the legalization of alcohol sales while another tried to rid local government of do-nothing officials.

In the end, it took a double murder on the Harrison square in 1946 before the town’s sheriff and city administration finally dealt with the lawlessness.

Legal still #51, near Hurricane Cave, circa 1900. Red Coffman/Boone County Library Collection (S-87-128-86)

Shady Grove School, October 10, 1913. Steve Erwin Collection (S-97-144-12)

Early county schools were one-room log buildings, with one teacher for all grades.  Rural students tended to complete fewer grades and had shorter terms than students in town.  This was due in part to community funding problems and the students’ need to work at home and on the farm.

In the 1870s academies were established in Bellefonte, Rally Hill, and Valley Springs.  The Harrison College and Normal Institute (a training school for teachers) was later established for females.  These schools provided a comprehensive education for those who could afford the fees.  Big towns like Harrison built impressive public schools.

During the 20th century consolidation reduced the number of school districts from 99 to six.  By 1935 every student had access to a high school education.

St. Louis and North Arkansas Railroad train on Long Creek trestle, Alpena, April 15, 1901. Carroll County Heritage Center Collection (S-84-211-94)

In 1883 a railway line was built into Carroll County, spurring economic growth and tourism. Boone County wanted an extension of the line, but the expense and difficulty of building in the mountains kept financial backers away.

Alpena depot, 1902. Carroll County Heritage Center Collection (S-85-27-29)

For 20 years folks made do with a daily stagecoach run between Eureka Springs and Harrison. Eventually backers were found and residents gave land and cash to smooth the way. In March 1901 the St. Louis and North Arkansas Railroad steamed into Harrison where it was greeted with band music and speeches. Later the line pushed eastward into the county and became the Missouri and North Arkansas Railroad.

The railroad brought goods and people into the county and sent produce, livestock, and natural resources like timber and mineral ores all over the nation.

Missouri and North Arkansas Railroad shops, looking northwest, Harrison, about 1915. Mrs. F. L. Coffman/Boone County Library Collection (S-87-129-47)

The Missouri and North Arkansas Railroad had a troubled existence. By 1921 financial problems led to a major wage cut. Union workers went on strike and the line closed down, causing hardship for many families and businesses. Although a group of investors bought the railroad and resumed operations, the workers remained on strike.

Tensions increased in Harrison as strike-breakers crossed the picket line and vandalism occurred. On January 14, 1923, hundreds of armed men arrived by train and car. They searched homes for union literature and firearms, threatened strikers, and burned the Union Hall. The violence grew. Before it was over one man was hanged from a railroad bridge. Fearing for their lives, strikers and their families fled. The union was busted.

Another strike in 1946 effectively ended the railroad line.

Vannie, a Harrison cook, about 1900. Garvin Fitton/Boone County Library Collection (S-87-38-2)

In 1900 just over 100 African Americans lived in Harrison, which had a total population of more than 1,500. Many had been in the area for a long time and had established churches, a school, and businesses. A division existed along race lines but, for the most part, life was peaceful. Things changed as racial intolerance spread across the country and “justice” increasingly meant the use of violence.

Tensions increased in Harrison when a number of homeless, unemployed African-American railroad laborers came to town. In 1905 a black man was jailed for breaking into a home. Mob violence erupted and blacks were beaten and their homes burned. Many fled for their lives, never to return. Three years later a youth was accused of robbery and rape. Once again the black community feared mob violence and fled. By 1910 “Aunt Vine” Smith was the only African American left in Harrison.

The 2010 census listed a few dozen blacks in Boone County, home to the Arkansas faction of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan.

Gloria Mines, Zinc, about 1916. Fay Hodge/Harrison Daily Times [published 11-14-1986] (S-88-36-3)

Town names such as Lead Hill and Zinc attest to the importance of mining in Boone County. In the1850s small mines near Dubuque and Lead Hill used crude smelters to extract lead from rock.

Mining began in earnest in the 1870s and it was hard work. Hand tools were used to dig pits in the ground or shafts into the sides of mountain. Tons of ore-bearing rock were processed on site or sent to distant smelters. In 1886, 33 wagon-loads of ore (34,320 pounds) were shipped from the Bonanza Mine near Lead Hill down the White River to Batesville, and then on to St. Louis by rail.

A zinc “rush” began around 1899. Zinc was used as a pigment in paints, for battery electrodes, and for galvanizing iron. During World War I zinc prices soared only to fall at war’s end. Many mines were abandoned and towns shrank or disappeared.

Cutting staves, Richland Creek, early 1900s. Earl Henry/Boone County Library Collection (S-87-128-34)

Early settlers found large stands of oak, hickory, cedar, walnut, cherry, and pine.  Railroads headed for Northwest Arkansas in the 1880s in part to take advantage of its vast timber reserves.  Logging became a major industry, creating jobs and boom towns along the line.

Once saws and axes felled the giant trees, teams of mules hauled the logs to sawmills and factories where the timber was turned into barrel staves, railroad ties, lumber, fence posts, and tool handles.  When the trees were gone in one area, operations moved to the next.  New settlers farmed the cleared land.

A circa-1883 forestry report predicted a 300-year supply of timber.  By the 1920s the forests were largely gone.  The timber boom was over.

Methodist Sunday School group enjoying dinner on the ground, Wilson Spring, early 1900s. Carroll County Heritage Center Collection (S-84-211-71)

People came together in a variety of ways.  Picnics on the Fourth of July were common, as were “dinners on the ground,” often organized by churches.  On Decoration Day families tidied up cemeteries and placed flowers on graves.  Log-raisings to build barns and homes were held when a new family moved into the neighborhood.  The Boone County fair started in 1887 and offered livestock contests, mule racing, and arts and crafts exhibitions.

Traveling preachers held meetings and sometimes debated one another.  Fiddle music and dancing were popular but some churches frowned on this pastime. “Play parties” were a way to get around this.  Rather than use instruments to make music, songs were sung and participants did a type of square dance.

In all of these activities, folks had a chance to get together to strengthen community and social bonds and meet eligible partners.

Independence Day celebration, Hill Top, 1910s. The women may be students of the Hill Top Mission School. Steve Erwin Collection (S-97-144-86)

For many decades Independence Day was a time for communities to come together and have a good time.

The town of Harrison was incorporated in March 1876.  In celebration, city fathers planned a grand event for the Fourth of July which, that year, fell on the Centennial of the nation’s founding.  Over 3,000 folks listened to bands, picnicked, heard readings of the Declaration of Independence and other patriotic speeches, and watched fireworks.

A joust was held at the race track.  Men riding horses and holding pointed sticks raced towards posts that held rings suspended by wire.  The winner was the first to spear the ring with his stick.  First prize was $20.

Riverside baptism at Omaha, 1909. Brother Voiles, minister. Carroll County Heritage Center Collection (S-84-211-125)

Early settlers brought their religion with them, often worshipping in their homes.  One of the first churches was Crooked Creek Primitive Baptist Church, founded in 1834.  Churches formed and split frequently as communities changed or members differed on church teachings.

Traveling preachers and circuit riders (pastors on horseback who visited the several churches in their care every few weeks) held services where they could—in homes, fields, and even the county courthouse.  A revival meeting at Harrison led to several baptisms and the 1890 formation of the First Baptist Church.

A mission school was founded in Hill Top.  In Harrison the Methodists built a college, only to have it burn down before school started.

William J. Meyers, early 1900s. Robert Raley/Boone County Library Collection (S-87-38-1)

In February 1921 notorious outlaw Henry Starr was one of several men who tried to rob the Peoples National Bank on Harrison’s square.  Before the robbery they cut telephone lines and surveyed the bank and square.

The bank’s former president, William J. Meyers, happened to be in the bank that day.  Once the cashier opened the safe the thieves began grabbing money.  A distraction caused by an uncooperative patron turned their attention away from the safe, allowing Meyers a chance to grab the .38 caliber Winchester rifle stored in the vault.  He shot and wounded Starr.  Starr told his men to flee; eventually they were caught and tried.  Starr died a few days after the robbery.

Henry Starr, Harrison, February 1921. Robert Raley/Boone County Library Collection (S-87-38-31)

Poultry processing plant, Berryville or Green Forest, 1960s-1970s. Carroll County Heritage Center Collection (S-86-211-46)

The railroad was a driving force in determining whether a town prospered or faded. When Alpena Pass was created along the Missouri & North Arkansas Railroad in 1900, Carrollton merchants moved their businesses and buildings to the new town. The railroad allowed markets to grow. Farmers grew fruit and vegetables to take advantage of the many canneries springing up, while sawmill operators turned trees into such materials as lumber, railroad ties, and barrel staves. Eureka Springs faded as medical practices evolved and the railroad moved its jobs to Boone County.

Carroll County wasn’t wealthy in the early part of the 20th century, so its largely rural, self-sustaining residents were better prepared to weather the economic woes of the Great Depression. Federally sponsored New Deal projects helped employ citizens in the 1930s. Workers built a gymnasium for Berryville, a water tower for Green Forest, an elementary school for Osage, and the Lake Leatherwood Park complex for Eureka. The Rural Electrification Act of 1936 provided federal loans to install electrical distribution systems. In 1938 Carroll Electric Cooperative of Berryville began constructing power lines, bringing power to many. Today their lines stretch across Northwest Arkansas and Southeast Missouri.

During World War II residents left to serve in the armed forces or work in war-related industries. But several factors led to later growth in population and economic opportunities. Large-scale chicken and turkey farming began in the 1950s when Berryville businessmen formed Carroll County Food Products. After Tyson Foods purchased the plant in the early 1970s, the county saw an influx of Latino residents. The construction of Table Rock and Beaver Lakes to the north and west brought tourism and encouraged the growth of family-style attractions such as Dinosaur World and the Great Passion Play. Eureka rebounded as a tourist destination, especially after incoming artists and others reopened long-shuttered downtown shops in the 1970s.

“The tomato industry of Carroll county ranks along with that of dairying, cattle and poultry. …The plants come into bearing about the middle of July and bear up to the middle of October, giving employment on the farm and at the canning plants at a time when most of the farm work is out of the way.”
Berryville Arkansas promotional booklet, mid-late 1930s

Beaver Dam, May 2017.

Today there are nearly 28,000 residents, with Berryville, Eureka Springs, and Green Forest as the county’s largest towns. Folks in Berryville and Eureka are often seen as different from one another, by outsiders and by themselves. Eurekans have a higher per-capita income than folks in Berryville, lean liberal in their politics, and look to tourism and the arts for their economy and identity. Industry is the major economic force in Berryville, politics are more conservative, and the population is twice the size of its western neighbor. With its poultry-processing plants, Tyson Foods is the largest employer in Berryville and Green Forest. Both towns have sizable, foreign-born populations.

The Carroll County Collaborative is a nonpolitical group made up of governmental, private, public, and nonprofit entities and organizations. It works to improve life for county residents and provide greater opportunities. Some of its priorities include affordable housing, new business development, conversion charter schools, and workforce development through such means as academies, incubator and apprentice programs, and a culinary institute. The Collaborative believes the county is “poised to be the next NATURAL growth area in Northwest Arkansas.”

“The Kings River divides Carroll County, and that’s where Woodstock and livestock meet.”

State Representative Bryan King of Green Forest
Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, September 19, 2010

“The nice thing about being in Berryville is you can drive ten miles west [to Eureka Springs] and it’s like you’re in a different country. You have restaurants. You have entertainment. Then you can go back home to the real world.”

Berryville Mayor Tim McKinney
Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, September 19, 2010

Sneed Cemetery, Osage, mid-late 20th century. Saunders Memorial Museum Collection (S-86-211-74)

The first settlers were Native Americans, having moved west from their ancestral homes ahead of white migration. White chroniclers made mention of Delaware Indians on Long Creek, small bands of Shawnee near what is now Alpena, and a Cherokee settlement north of what is now Berryville. Some of these early residents married the white settlers who came from Tennessee and Kentucky primarily. Around 1820 William Sneed of Kentucky traveled to the Ozarks with his wife, children, and enslaved workers. But, before moving, he surveyed the available land, made his choice, and planted several acres of corn. Making “improvements” by clearing fields, planting crops, and building homes was an important first step when claiming land from the government. In 1830 Sneed and his son, Charles, claimed several thousand acres of the best farmland in Osage Township. Their slaves helped build the Dubuque Road—the first road in the county—from Lead Hill through Carrollton and beyond. Charles served as Carrollton’s first postmaster and as county sheriff. Early court cases were held in the Sneed home.

Some of the first businesses were grist mills, tanneries (to prepare leather), blacksmith shops, and trading posts for things the settlers couldn’t make or grow themselves. Tilford Denton and his brother moved to the county seat of Carrollton in 1837 and set up shop as merchants. One year later their merchandise was valued at $2,800. Some settlers stayed for a short while before moving on. In 1857 Captain Alexander Fancher of Osage led family members and others on a wagon train headed for new opportunities in California. When they stopped at Mountain Meadows, a valley in the Utah Territory, most were attacked and killed by Mormons and Native Americans. The reason for the massacre has been hotly debated since then.

Civil War veterans’ reunion, Basin Spring Park, Eureka Springs, circa 1900. Carroll County Heritage Center Collection (S-84-211-45)

Arkansas seceded from the Union in 1861. Soon, Confederate and Union troops formed, pitting neighbors and family members against one another. While no major battles were fought in the county, there were several skirmishes and much guerilla activity. A group of lawless bushwhackers strung “old and feeble” Lige Massingale over a tree limb and burned his feet to get him to tell of hidden valuables. Having no luck, they set fire to his house. One legend tells how a small band of Confederates were able to capture a larger group of Union soldiers at Hog Scald Hollow by tricking them into getting drunk on corn whiskey. The soldiers seized a wagon as it was driven by their camp and discovered the liquor that had been hidden (on purpose) under the hay.

The upland counties of northern Arkansas had fewer enslaved workers than the rest of the state, owing to the hilly terrain which made plantation-style agriculture impractical. In 1860 the county’s population was just over 9,000 residents, 330 of whom where slaves. While their labor contributed to the economy, it was not a major factor. Perhaps this helps explain, in part, the formation of several Peace Societies along the state’s northern border, including one in Carroll County. While members of the societies opposed the Confederacy, they generally didn’t work against it, often preferring peaceful dissent and home protection to active conflict.

“Alsie [Holland] gathered up a heap of stones…they heard the tramp of horses’ hoofs and the renegades arrived. They came blustering in and demanded food, money and anything of value… One ruffian noticed the pile of stones on the hearth and asked what they were there for; aunt Alsie replied ‘those are secesh [secessionist] biscuits; have one’ she then proceeded to pounce the rocks on the fellow…”

Nora L. Davis Standlee
Carroll County Historical Quarterly, June 1957

Tornado-damaged home, Green Forest, March 1927. Carroll County Heritage Center Collection (S-85-14-21)

Carroll County has endured several destructive and deadly tornadoes. In 1927 nineteen people were killed and one hundred injured in Green Forest as a storm damaged the business district and destroyed about fifty homes, wrecking many more. A train car of doctors and nurses came from Harrison to help the injured, taking many to the Eureka Springs Hospital. Ten years later, Green Forest was struck again along with nearby Alpena Pass, with one person dead and twenty injured.

The worst tornado in county history struck Berryville at 10:30 p.m. on October 29, 1942. Right before the storm hit the power went out. As the Wyrick family hid under a mattress, they felt no motion as the storm picked up their house and moved it several feet. At the railroad station the tornado knocked over fifty-ton railroad cars and wrenched a baby out of its mother’s arms, badly hurting the mother and killing the child. Several businesses were demolished, including wholesale grocery houses and canneries, part of the economic lifeblood of the community. Rescuers searched for victims “by torch, flashlight, lanterns, candles, or even matches.” In all, twenty-nine people were killed, with sixty-eight seriously injured. The devastation made national news.

“They’re laying the dead out on the lawns as fast as they can get there out of the wreckage and we’re making regular trips picking up the bodies. Most of them are so badly mutilated that we can’t hope to identify them until relatives start coming in.”
Rex Nelson, undertaker
Northwest Arkansas Times, October 30, 1942

Carroll County Courthouse—Eastern Judicial District, Berryville, about 1905. Carroll County Heritage Center Collection (S-84-211-148)

The first seat of government was in Carrollton which, by the mid-1800s, was a large, centrally located, thriving settlement. But when Carroll County land was taken to form Boone County in 1869, Carrollton found itself on the border. A “courthouse war” erupted, pitting Carrollton against Berryville to the northwest. Petitions, elections, lawsuits, and countersuits followed as the two towns struggled for the courthouse and the prestige and revenue it would bring. In 1875, by a narrow margin of twenty-eight votes, the county seat was moved to Berryville.

Carroll County Courthouse—Western Judicial District, Eureka Springs, about 1910. Siloam Springs Museum Collection (S-83-300-72)

Across the Kings River was the new boomtown of Eureka Springs. Its residents wanted the convenience of their own courthouse, in part to avoid impassable roads due to the frequent flooding of the Kings River. In 1883 they successfully petitioned the Arkansas Legislature to form two judicial districts with the Kings River as the dividing line. By the late 1880s Green Forest challenged Berryville for its courthouse, saying the building was unsuitable and in disrepair. The votes were tallied and Berryville kept its courthouse (later moving to a modern facility in 1976). The most recent dispute occurred in 2010 when a circuit court judge, a native of Berryville, ruled to consolidate the two judicial districts into one at Berryville. He was unsuccessful. Today the former Berryville courthouse is home to the Carroll County Heritage Center while the old Eureka Springs courthouse is home to the county clerk’s office and city offices.

“I have seen thousands of Texas Longhorn steers pass through town [in front of the courthouse] in droves nearly every week in the year, as well as horses, sheep, goats and one time there was a herd of 500 turkeys…some of the merchants didn’t like the flies the stock drew, especially in warm weather.”
D. Elmer Jones, 1957
Carroll County Historical Quarterly, December 1966

The first St. Louis & North Arkansas train pulling into Berryville, April 15, 1901. Carroll County Heritage Center Collection (S-84-211-81)

In order to continue the success of Eureka Springs, a railroad was needed to bring health- and pleasure-seekers. Former Arkansas governor Powell Clayton spearheaded a project to connect with the St. Louis & San Francisco Railroad eighteen miles north. In 1883 the Eureka Springs Railway steamed into town. Together the two railroads built and operated the magnificent Crescent Hotel. But the Eureka railroad began to lose money as the fad of “taking the waters” began to wane. It was purchased by the St. Louis & North Arkansas Railroad in 1900, which began expanding the line west. Berryville and Green Forest each offered a bonus to bring the railroad to their towns but the terrain was too difficult and therefore too costly. But Berryville persevered. Residents gave the railroad money, right-of-way, and materials to build a spur line to town. In 1901 residents greeted the train with flower-decorated carriages.

A few years later the new railroad was failing and the line switched hands again. In 1906 it became the Missouri & North Arkansas Railroad (M&NA), followed by the Missouri & Arkansas Railway in 1935 and the Arkansas and Ozarks Railway in 1949. While the railroads had some successful years, there were many problems. The line was abandoned in 1961. In recent years the county has been home to two short, standard-gauge tourist railroads. The Eureka Springs Railroad operated out of Beaver for a time in the 1970s and early 1980s, but didn’t prove successful. The Eureka Springs & North Arkansas Railway, begun in 1981, operates out of the historic 1913 M&NA depot.

“Eureka Springs and Green Forest turned out in masses to help Berryville celebrate the arrival of the first train within her borders and rejoices with her in her good fortune. There is a popular superstition that these towns are jealous of each other, but no suspicion of such a situation showed up on this wonderful day . . .”
Berryville Progress, June 1901

Clarke’s Academy, Berryville, 1913. Pennington, photographer. Carroll County Heritage Center Collection (S-85-18-18)

Early Carroll County schools were subscription-based, meaning that students paid for their education. Professor Isaac A. Clarke founded an academy in Berryville in 1867, growing from twenty-five students to one hundred by the end of the first term. In 1879 first level tuition was $10, while Latin and Greek was $12.50 extra. The academy served students for nearly forty years. The Carrollton Academy began in 1877 as a “normal school,” where young men and women trained to be teachers. Years later the school’s 200 students “lined up in front of [their] old building with slates, dinner pails and books to march across town and occupy [their] new building.”

Osage Elementary School students with teacher Naomi McMorris (middle row, far left), 1939-1940. The building was constructed by Works Progress Administration workers as part of New Deal relief efforts. Ruth Sisco Curnutt Collection (S-85-284-76)

Eureka Springs had several small schools in its early years, including one for the children of African-American servants of wealthy vacationers. By the 1900s there were many small public school districts throughout the county, some with fanciful names like Blue Eye, Welcome Home, Grassy Nob, Parrott, Bobo, Gobbler, Snow, Possum Trot, and Hottentott. When Mabel Cripps Wilson began her teaching career in 1923 in the White Oak community, students walked one or two miles to school, brought their lunches in Karo syrup buckets, and went without shoes until the weather turned cold. These rural, one-room schools faded as communities dwindled and schools were consolidated in 1965. Today’s schools are in Eureka, Berryville, and Green Forest.

“Parents and guardians, confiding their children and wards in our care, may rest assured no effort will be spared to secure the development of mental powers and the lasting influences of moral principles upon the mind.”
Isaac A. Clarke
Clarke’s Academy for Males and Females, August 15, 1879

Basketball team, Green Forest, 1916. From left: Hattie Belle, Ruth, Ethel, Eloda, Rhea, Hazel, and Augusta. James and Sue Eldridge Collection (S-96-2-940)

Baseball teams began to form in Carroll County in the 1880s in such communities as Beaver, Denver, Farewell, Eureka Springs, Oak Grove, and Rule. During the summer special excursion trains brought crowds to the baseball field near Beaver. Public schools in the county’s larger communities fielded sports teams, including basketball for girls. In 1924 Eureka Mayor Claude A. Fuller received $500 towards the construction of Harmon Park. Wealthy New Yorker William E. Harmon provided money to construct playgrounds, because he wanted to provide “inspirational and tangible help for young people.” The Harmon Foundation recently donated funds towards the construction of a skate park, an ADA-accessible playground, and a future spray park.

The Saunders Memorial Muzzleloading Shoot began in 1954 in honor of Colonel C. Burton “Buck” Saunders, a longtime Berryville resident who was a skillful marksman and collector of unique firearms. Activities at Luther Owen’s Muzzle Loading Park include firearm matches, camping, and the sale of black-powder merchandise. In 1930 Albert Ingalls, Eureka Springs mayor and president of Crescent College, wanted a basketball team for the girls’ school. Hearing about a winning team in Sparkman, Arkansas (southeast of Hot Springs), he sent his wife Leila to recruit the girls. The Crescent Comets practiced in the basement of the city auditorium, running the distance from the Crescent Hotel and back. The team won two national championships.

“We loved it… And even though the school was for rich girls, our team [the Crescent Comets] was accepted with kindness from the regular students. …We got to dance in the lobby with all the other girls and we looked just as nice. Mrs. Ingalls saw to it. Before the college’s first formal, she bought each member of our team a formal gown from a fancy dress shop in Springfield [Missouri] so we could go and feel like we fit in.”
Mabel Blakely Williams
1886 Crescent Hotel & Spa blog, posted September 29, 2012

Junior basketball team, Berryville Public School, 1947. Back, from left: Jack Edens, Jerry Hill(?), James Graim, and coach E. S. Bigham. Front, from left: Clyde Cummings, Gerald Spitz, unidentified, and Leslie Stidham. Ann Bigham Engskov Collection (S-2016-44-25)

Health seekers by spring, Eureka Springs, about 1881. F. F. Fyler, photographer. Eureka Springs Carnegie Public Library Collection (S-83-325-39)

Carroll County’s first doctor may have been Arthur A. Baker, a blacksmith who taught himself medicine by reading books. Working first out of Carrollton and later Berryville, he traveled many miles by horseback to treat neighbors in need. In 1879 Dr. Alvah Jackson treated a patient suffering from severe skin disease using water from a healing spring. His miracle cure at Basin Spring led to a massive influx of health-seekers and entrepreneurs into what would become Eureka Springs. More springs were discovered, their mineral content tested, and their curative powers touted. Eureka went from a campsite to a town of nearly 4,000 in the space of one year. Entrepreneurs built fancy hotels, bathhouses, and sanitariums to treat the infirm. The springs were said to cure a host of illnesses including rheumatism, catarrh (inflammation of mucus membranes), tuberculosis, hay fever, diabetes, dyspepsia (indigestion), asthma, jaundice, malaria, paralysis, neuralgia (intense nerve pain), gout, cancer, dropsy (excess fluid in tissues or body cavities), and “female troubles.”

Frances Kerens felt that Eureka’s Catholic community needed a religious order to “help solve the problems of those in need of spiritual replenishing.” In 1900 land was purchased for the Hotel Dieu Hospital. Run by the Sisters of Mercy Motherhouse in St. Louis, the facility included a convent, school, chapel, surgical wing, and twenty-five-bed hospital. Financial problems led to its closure in 1913. An infamous chapter in Eureka’s medical history began in 1937 when Norman Baker purchased the shuttered Crescent Hotel to open a cancer hospital. A long-time quack who made millions by swindling the ill with bogus cancer treatments, he was finally sent to jail in 1940.

Other early hospitals include the Don Sawyer Memorial Hospital (now the Eureka Springs Hospital) and the Gentry Hospital in Berryville. In the 1930s and early 1940s, Vera Gentry was a midwife who ran a hospital in her home, welcoming about 300 babies into the world. Doctors used her hospital to perform tonsillectomies and appendectomies. Gentry’s hospital closed when Dr. Parker and Dr. Carter’s eleven-bed hospital opened in town, which in turn closed in 1969, shortly before the opening of Carroll General Hospital (now Mercy Hospital Berryville). Money for the facility came from a county tax and a grant. In 2016 the hospital caused some concern when it ended several services, including emergency ambulance, home health, and hospice.

Eureka Springs Memorial Hospital administrator Leonard Pratt with staff, January 10, 1974. Springdale News Collection (SN 1-10-1974)

The rise of Eureka as a spa town coincided with the end of the nation’s interest in “taking the waters.” Many factors contributed to bring this about including major advancements in science, improvements in the standards of medical care, and the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906. By the 1910s the grand Crescent Hotel had closed its doors and fewer health-seekers came to town. As Eureka transformed into a tourist town, interest in saving the springs grew. Preservationists restored several springs and their protective structures. Today they are open to the public, although they bear signs warning folks against drinking contaminated water.

“People who have been bedridden sufferers for years come here, drink the waters, and get well, often in a very incredibly short time… Ladies who have languished for years in their terrible mind-wrecking and body-destroying ills arrive here and in a few months at the furthest, are seen with the bloom of health upon their cheeks and rejoicing in restored womanhood.”
Eureka Springs Daily Democrat, December 17, 1891

Young ‘possum hunters, Oak Grove, about 1917. From left: Ertie Allen, Gilbert Wiley, and Eli Shahan. At the time, a properly tanned hide could bring up to twenty-five cents. Larry Parmlee Collection (S-85-5-17)

When settlers first came to Carroll County they found abundant natural resources—timber and stone to build with, animal pelts to trade for cash and goods, and plentiful game and fish to eat. One story tells of two women from the Beaver community who, having lost food and livestock to Civil War bushwhackers, were desperate to feed their families. They killed a number of deer by herding them into the woods and flapping their aprons to drive the deer off a high bluff to their death. In recent years the deer population in Eureka Springs had grown so large that, after much opposition, an urban deer hunt was organized in 2013 for bowhunters.

Some of the earliest sawmills were located on the Dry Fork Creek in 1840s. In the days when land could be claimed from the federal government by “improving” and using it, Franzisca Massman of the fast-growing town of Eureka stayed one step ahead of the law. She would find a choice spot (even if it had already been claimed by someone else), erect a cabin, move in a few furnishings, cook a meal, and plow a patch of ground. Once the usable timber had been cut she moved to a new claim. By the 1900s an expanding railroad allowed sawmills to ship lumber, barrel staves, and railroad ties throughout the region. Sawmill operations continued well into the 20th century, with operators producing oak flooring, shipping pallets, and pine posts treated with creosote.

A. L. Hanby’s steam-powered sawmill, Winona, 1890s-1900s. Carroll County Heritage Center Collection (S-84-211-186)

Rumors of vast oil fields in Northwest Arkansas led to the Sure Pop oil well in Eureka in 1921. Promoted by a Texas driller who promised great wealth, business leaders raised $10,000 to buy land. A derrick was built, oil leases were sold, a barbecue was held for 2,500, and newspapers told of the progress at the well site. But the well was never drilled and the Texas promoter left town after the derrick burned down mysteriously. Sure Pop shareholders with left with worthless leases.

The Crescent Hotel and other buildings in Eureka were built using high-quality, local limestone. The Eureka Stone Company, founded in 1904, used the railroad to ship its product throughout the region. When building projects grew scarce, the company fell dormant. In the late 1970s stonemason Don Underwood bought modern equipment and reopened the quarry. Today the company supplies stone for commercial and residential projects throughout Northwest Arkansas and the region. It also takes on restoration projects of some of Eureka’s old buildings and walkways.

“…Ab [Hanby] inherited a disposition to work…he acquired the habit of greasing his muscles with brains, so to speak, and as a result he has sawed more lumber for homes in the Eastern District of Carroll County than any other three men who have been engaged in the lumber business here. He has in time owned no less than forty different mills, having a dozen or more in operation at one time.”
Green Forest Tribune, December 19, 1913

Dr. Alonzo E. Quinn (left) and stonemasons, Grandview, 1890s. June Crane Collection (S-89-12-1)

Cans stacked outside the Hays Canning Company, Oak Grove, 1910s. Larry Parmlee Collection (S-85-5-29)

By 1913 there were large-scale canneries at Berryville, Urbanette, and Green Forest, with the latter shipping 8,000 cases of apples, 6,000 cases of tomatoes, and 6,000 cases of peaches that year. Wheat was an important crop and kept the flour mills in Green Forest, Urbanette, Yocum, and Berryville grinding away. Flour was shipped regionally and even overseas during World War I. By the 1920s the boom-and-bust cycle of crops forced farmers to diversify. Tomatoes were grown in the 1930s, supplying around thirty canneries before the industry declined from disease and the “labor-intensive nature of the tomato business.”

Dairy herds became big business for a time. In the early 1930s the Berryville Cheese Factory operated out of the basement of a hardware store. Later a large stone building was purchased where cans of milk were brought, pasteurized, and made into cheese. Kraft Foods purchased the business in 1946 and modernized the plant, offering high-paying jobs to local workers. The plant closed in 1985, in part due to improvements made to Kraft’s Benton County facility.

Tomato harvest, Oak Grove, 1910s. Larry Parmlee Collection (S-85-5-34)

While Eureka Springs’ economy shifted from healing springs to tourism over the years, agriculture-related businesses continue to be a mainstay in the rest of the county. In the 1960s Green Forest was home to two of the state’s thirty beekeepers who rented their hives to commercial fruit growers for crop pollination. Three Berryville businessmen started Carroll County Food Products in 1951, processing chickens and turkeys. By 1971 the plant was owned by Tyson Foods. Today Tyson employs nearly 3,000 county residents in several poultry-related businesses, including processing plants in Berryville and Green Forest, making for an annual payroll of $138 million. Tyson, Walmart, Carroll Electric Cooperative Corporation, and Mercy Hospital are the county’s largest employers.

“…the short nutritious grasses have proved to not only contain sufficient nourishment to sustain the life of large herds of cattle, but to actually fatten them during the winter months, and it is an actual fact that thousands of cattle and hogs are bred, born, and raised on the large areas of free range, brought to town, and shipped to market without ever seeing a grain of corn in their lives.”
Oak Leaves, 1914

African Methodist Episcopal Church members at Harding Spring, Eureka Springs, late 1910s. Harding was the only spring open to African Americans. Eureka Springs Historical Museum Collection (S-99-66-359)

Carroll County’s African American population has always been small in comparison to its white population. In 1860 there were a little over 9,000 residents, 330 of whom were enslaved workers. After the Civil War only thirty-seven former slaves stayed in the area. But the new boomtown of Eureka Springs offered economic opportunities. Blacks owned boarding houses and worked in bathhouses, hotels, laundries, and barbershops. They improved their community by building homes, establishing a school, and organizing an African Methodist-Episcopal Church. But they were segregated from the white community—limited by where they could live, work, shop, and spend leisure time. As the health resort faded in the early 1900s, many moved away.

Berryville was considered a “sundown town.” It’s said that signs were still posted in the 1950s warning blacks not to stay past nightfall. Today the county is largely white, with a few folks self-identifying as African American, Native American, Asian, and Pacific Islander. There is a sizable Latino population, many of whom work in the poultry industry.

“Uncle Dick Fancher . . . was buried in the colored people’s cemetery [in Eureka Springs]… He was sold as a slave at auction here in Berryville when he was but ten years old and was bought…for $400 [in 1848].”
Benton County Democrat, May 11, 1911

“First Dance” at the Ozark Mountain Folkfair, Eureka Springs, May 1973. A singer with the Lewis Family (center) dances with a Folkfair staff member. Albert Skiles, photographer. Courtesy Albert Skiles.

In the 1970s Northwest Arkansas saw an influx of young adults seeking a simpler, more meaningful life. Edd Jeffords of Eureka Springs published the Ozark Access Catalog, with tips about buying land and planning a garden. He told newcomers to work hard and “learn about the lives and customs of the people they were living beside.” Over twenty folks lived in the Lothlorien commune near Berryville. They helped their neighbors with farm chores and paid their electric bills by working as waitresses, artisans, and the like. In 1973 Jeffords helped put together the Ozark Mountain Folkfair, a three-day event featuring such musicians as John Lee Hooker and the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. Thousands of youngsters braved heavy rain, mud, and ticks to attend.

Some folks accepted and helped the newcomers while others saw them as immoral hippies and drug addicts who took advantage of the welfare system. In 1972 the Eureka Springs Times-Echo warned of a “well-oiled plot” by the “longhairs” to take over city government. Back-to-the-landers moved into Eureka’s vacant storefronts, selling such things as health food, handmade leather items, and even a “Christ of the Ozarks marijuana cigarette clip.” While some moved away in the 1980s, others stayed and became teachers, artists, and city-council members. Richard Schoeninger, who came to Eureka to edit an underground newspaper, served as mayor in the late 1980s. He jokingly reported two problems with his job—following rules and wearing underwear.

“In not voting, you gave up your right to vote for someone else—who, for all you know, was a Communist, an extremist of one sort or another, or a hippie who has added nothing to the community…”
Dick Fisher, editor, Eureka Springs Times-Echo
Arkansas Gazette, June 25, 1972

“The polite woman who waits on you in any café may likely as not be ‘an extremist of one sort or another’ during her free time. People here are employed making looms, rewiring houses…dishwashing…teaching horseback riding… We certainly haven’t hurt the town economically.”
Maren Statts
Arkansas Gazette, June 25, 1972

Joanie O’Bryant performing at the City Auditorium, Ozark Folk Festival, Eureka Springs, October 1962. Ernie Deane, photographer. Frances Deane Alexander Collection (S-2012-137-628)

James Braswell of Green Forest has been called the “Stephen Foster of the Ozarks” after the 19th-century’s great American songwriter. In 1890 at age seventeen he became the director of the Green Forest Cornet Band. He wrote his first song, “Meet Me at the Basin While in Eureka Springs” when he was hired one summer to play cornet in the resort town. Back then, Eureka residents enjoyed special July 4th excursions on the Eureka Springs Railway, riding on flatcars across the White River bridge near Beaver to picnic, play baseball, and watch fireworks.

Recreation lovers use Carroll County as their jumping-off point to take advantage of camping, hiking, fishing, hunting, and boating opportunities at Beaver Lake to the west and Missouri’s Table Rock Lake to the north. But the powerhouse of county tourism is Eureka Springs. When Eureka faded as a spa town, population and business declined. In the late 1940s Dwight Nichols and a partner bought the Crescent Hotel on the cheap, only to realize that vacationers were few and far between. Nichols offered a six-day package for $40 through a Chicago travel agency. About 150,000 tourists visited in 1958.

The first Ozark Folk Festival was held in Eureka in 1948 to preserve and continue the area’s native arts of music, dancing, and craftsmanship. Many musical legends have performed at the festival including Doc Watson, Almeda Riddle, Fred High, and Jimmy Driftwood. The festival features many beloved traditions such as the Barefoot Ball, a Queen’s Contest, a parade, and a square-dancing presentation by the HedgeHoppers, third-grade students from Eureka Springs Elementary School. Newer festivals celebrate bluegrass, jazz, blues, art, film, and Mardi Gras.

Performers prepare for the Great Passion Play, Eureka Springs, 1968. Dwight Nichols, photographer. Frances Deane Alexander Collection (S-2012-137-173)

Tourism increased during the 1960s with the coming of Beaver Lake and other tourist attractions like Dinosaur World, Quigley’s Castle, and Gerald L. K. Smith’s Christ of the Ozarks statue and the Great Passion Play. Residents had mixed feelings about Smith, a minister who supported anti-Semitic and fascist causes throughout his life. But the play, based on the last days of Jesus Christ, was popular. Economic downturns and changing visitor interest nearly closed the complex in 2012, but operators trimmed costs to stay open.

In the 1970s a number of artists moved to town, opening downtown stores to sell their work. Back then, Eureka advertised itself as the “Little Switzerland of the Ozarks.” Today it bills itself as the “Wedding Capital of the South.” In fact, Eureka made headlines in 2014 when it issued the first same-sex marriage license in Arkansas. Recently there has been an effort to promote the town as gay- and motorcycle-friendly, with some opposition. With 1.5 million visitors annually, Eureka is appreciated for the quality of its visual art and musical offerings. It has kept up with the times, offering such activities as ghost hunts, zip-line adventures, and winery tours.

“Now some folks just don’t care for oldtime fiddle music. . . . I reckon the more sophisticated run of people wouldn’t find it funny when Toby [Baker’s] gourd ‘gittar’ bursts into flame and smoke smack in the middle of a ditty [at the Folk Festival]. But these men and others are preserving some of the things that made the mountain country what it was before paved highways, television and electric washing machines brought upheaval to the hills.”
Ernie Deane
Arkansas Gazette, October 21, 1958

“We want the town full, not congested. Our economy depends on tourism. But we’re no shopping mall. We’re a community. Eighty-five per cent of us, non-natives, came here because we fell in love with it. I didn’t want the town to go totally commercial. We need stewardship, not to devalue our history or ruin the legacy.”
Eureka Springs Mayor Richard Schoeninger
Arkansas Gazette, January 31, 1989

Baptism at the White River, possibly the Mundell Community, about 1915. Eureka Springs Historical Museum Collection (S-99-66-379)

Most early Carroll County settlers were Baptist or Methodist. A Union Baptist church was organized at Joel Plumlee’s Green Forest home in 1838. Services were held once a month, from Saturday morning to Sunday night. There was preaching, Holy Communion, foot washing (a ritual of humility), and river baptisms. Eureka Springs’ fast-growing and diverse population brought new denominations.

Founded in 1882, St. Elizabeth Catholic Church moved into an impressive limestone building in 1909, complete with Italian mosaic floors and marble altars. Christian Science was introduced in the late 1880s by Lou Aldrich. Finding no relief from Eureka’s waters, she used prayer to treat her illness. She went on to become a healer herself, only to face legal action for “practicing healing without a medical license.” The case was dismissed after her attorney asked those healed by the new religion to stand (most stood) and then asked the same for those healed by doctors (nobody stood).

Today there is a wide variety of denominations in the county—Lutheran, Presbyterian, Pentecostal, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, Unitarian—even Native American. In Green Forest there are two Spanish-language Southern Baptist churches for the local Latino population. The Rock Springs Baptist Church near Berryville may be the oldest still-active church in the county. It was founded in the early 1850s by Dr. Alvah Jackson, discoverer of Eureka’s famous Basin Spring. But as congregations dwindle, country churches face uncertain futures. Recently the Historic Preservation Alliance of Arkansas put the 1895 Possum Trot Church near Osage on its “Six to Save” list.

“We didn’t have a college education, but we did have a lot of kneeology. You get down on your knees and pray to God for knowledge and understanding.”
Anita Hudson, speaking about Possum Trot Church
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, June 8, 2009

Carroll County storytellers Melvin Anglin (left) and Coy Logan, whose tales were included on the 1981 album, Not Far From Here.

Between 1970 and 1980 George West and William K. McNeil recorded folk narratives and folksongs of the Ozarks, resulting in the 1981 album, Not Far From Here. The project was sponsored by the Carroll County Historical Society and funded in part with grants from the Arkansas Arts Council, the Arkansas Endowment for the Humanities, and the National Endowment for the Arts, Folk Art Division.

Two of the project’s participants—Melvin Anglin (1906–1992) and Coy Logan (1906–1984)—were from Berryville. Both men learned their tall tales and stories of the Civil War from their grandparents. Thanks to George West, William K. McNeil, and the UALR Center for Arkansas History and Culture, we offer the recorded stories of Anglin and Logan here for your listening pleasure.

“28 Known Dead in Berryville Storm.” Northwest Arkansas Times, October 30, 1942.

“35th Annual Ozark Folk Festival.” Unknown Eureka Springs newspaper, October 1982. Shiloh Museum research files.

“About the Festival.” Original Ozark Folk Festival, accessed October 2016.

“An Economic Analysis of Carroll County in Northwest Arkansas.” Center for Business and Economic Research, Sam M. Walton College of Business, University of Arkansas, August 30, 2002, accessed September 2016.

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