Page 6 - 2018 TR Explore White County

6SS SUNDAY, JULY 29, 2018
ADVERTISING SUPPLEMENT TO THE THREE RIVERS EDITION OF THE ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE • EXPLORE WHITE COUNTY
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industry and plentiful educational opportu- nities, including three colleges, public and private schools, and one of the largest home-schooling populations in the state.
e two rivers, along with two wildlife management areas and the Bald Knob National Wildlife Refuge, also draw tourists looking for outdoor adventures.
Read on for more details about the cities in the county.
BALD KNOB
Named for a rocky formation that jutted above the floodplains to the south, Bald Knob has a lengthy industrial history. A
prehistoric salt operation existed in the Liberty Valley area south of town, and workers also extracted salt in Bald Knob during the Civil War.
e area was sparsely populated until the St. Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern Railroad arrived in 1872. Railroad officials began quarrying the rocky landmark for rail- road-bed ballast, and the quarry brought a number of Irish-born workers to the city. A local timber industry also began during the 1870s, reaching its peak in the 1930s.
e railroad allowed local farmers to ex- port Bald Knob’s favorite cash crop — straw- berries. In the 1920s, the Strawberry Co. built the world’s longest strawberry shed, stretch- ing three-quarters of a mile, parallel to the Missouri Pacific Railroad tracks. During the
1950s and ’60s, Bald Knob was nicknamed “the Strawberry Capital of the World.”
Housed in the 1915 MoPac Depot, the Bald Knob Railroad Museum provides a wealth of information about the city’s rail- roading history, as well as artifacts such as a combination car and the bar from the Wag- onwheel Saloon. e museum is also home to Arkansas Traveler Hobbies, a model- railroad supply shop.
➤ FAST FIGURES
• Population: 2,881
• Incorporation: 1881
• Area: About 4.5 square miles
BEEBE
Railroad construction also allowed for the development of Beebe, which began life at the intersection of the St. Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern Railroad. When the first train stopped there in 1872, the site was named in honor of Roswell Beebe, president of the Cairo and Fulton Railroad Co., which later became part of the St. Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern Railroad Co.
e railroad stop soon attracted people and businesses. One early citizen was Jim Smith, a civil engineer and surveyor who laid out the city and constructed several structures, including the historic building at Main and Center streets.
e city continued to grow throughout the 20th century and now offers Arkansas State University-Beebe, the city’s largest employer. With easy access to U.S. 67, Beebe provides a cozy home for those who work in Little Rock or at the Little Rock Air Force Base in Jacksonville.
➤ FAST FIGURES
• Population: 8,146
• Incorporation: 1875
• Area: About 10 square miles
JUDSONIA
Situated on the Little Red River, the south- ern half of Judsonia was once called Pros- pect Bluff. Local landowner Erastus Gregory opened a shop there in 1837, and many set- tlers began arriving by steamboat. In 1850, a group of 18 families from North Carolina came to Prospect Bluff by wagon train.
After the Civil War, migrants from North- ern states settled north of town, naming the city Judsonia. Although Judsonia and Prospect Bluff were incorporated as two separate cities in 1872, they combined un- der Judsonia’s name in 1874.
Judsonia was home to Judson University from 1871 to 1888, and the area began exporting strawberries in 1874. Several historic structures from the early 20th
century exist in the city, including a 1920 swing bridge across the Little Red River and Works Progress Administration buildings from the Great Depression.
In 1952, a tornado destroyed part of Judsonia’s business district, along with homes, churches and the local school. e community’s zeal to rebuild earned it the title Most Community-Conscious Small Town in America by Grit magazine in 1953.
➤ FAST FIGURES
• Population: 1,992
• Incorporation: 1872
• Area: About 3 square miles
KENSETT
Originally a collection of farms, Kensett developed into a thriving community soon after the Cairo and Fulton Railroad was con- structed there in 1872. e railroad helped foster a local lumber industry, which helped propel the local economy into the 20th cen- tury, even during the Great Depression.
e decline of the railroad reduced the number of economic opportunities in Kensett, and most residents now commute to Searcy for work. Kensett has been home to a number of famous folks, including baseball legend Bill Dickey, harmonica player Lonnie Glosson, Congressman Wilber D. Mills and actress Georgia Holt, the mother of Cher.
➤ FAST FIGURES
• Population: 1,633
• Incorporation: 1911
• Area: About 2 square miles
PANGBURN
In 1817, members of the King family were traveling up the Little Red River in a flatboat when they saw a lone apple tree blooming in a wild maize field and decided to stop there, becoming the first recorded white settlers in Pangburn. Early settlers in the area found the ruins of an Osage village, which they used to shelter their livestock.
Although the settlement was first named Judson after a family that came there from Tennessee, the town was renamed Pangburn in 1880 to honor Dr. William David Pangburn, who immigrated there from New York in 1860.
e Missouri and North Arkansas Rail- road arrived in 1908. A timber industry soon developed in Pangburn, and the cleared land, in turn, fostered a cotton industry. e rail- road shut down in 1946, and the river became unnavigable in 1962, with the construction of Greers Ferry Dam.
However, the river still draws visitors to Pangburn. e frosty waters from the bottom
SEE PANGBURN ON PAGE 8SS