Little Rock is a sprawling city of about 200,000 at the center of a metropolitan area of more than 500,000 people, with many residing in bedroom communities in adjoining counties. Arkansas's capital city is much like the rest of Middle America with its outlying suburbs, gated communities, and shopping centers miles from the historic core. A century ago, however, Little Rock was markedly different and served a population of fewer than 50,000. The majority of citizens lived within blocks of the town center and did business downtown along rows of shops that, in many cases, dated to the late...

When Union soldiers returned North after the Civil War, they brought home stories of a sparsely populated area with bountiful timber and potential for homes and farms. Over the next 50 years, first by wagon train and then by railroads, settlers came to build not only homes and farms but also thriving communities in the Clay, Greene, and Craighead counties of northeastern Arkansas. Today, visitors and residents of the area see the bustle of Jonesboro and the thriving Arkansas State University. Readers of Jonesboro and Arkansas' Historic Northeast Corner will discover Jonesboro as it lived a...

Bisecting the entire state from northeast to southwest, U.S. Highway 67 has been and continues to be a major route for traffic through Arkansas. Spanning the time period from 1900 to 1960, this book traces the development of the many interesting river and railroad towns that grew up along the highway. U.S. Highway 67 enters from Missouri and exits at Texarkana, crossing such towns as Corning, Walnut Ridge, Newport, Searcy, Beebe, Jacksonville, Little Rock, Malvern, Arkadelphia, Gurdon, Prescott, Emmet, and Hope. Through rare vintage postcards and photographs, this visual tour follows the...

Arkansas has always been among the leading states whose people stepped up to defend the nation in times of war. On a few thousand acres of land across the Arkansas River from the capital city of Little Rock, this dedication is evident. Images of America: Camp Robinson and the Military on the North Shore traces the areas military history from the founding of Fort Logan H. Roots in the late 1800s through the training for World War I and World War II, when as many as 50,000 men and women were stationed at Camp Robinson at any one time. This book pays tribute to the Arkansas National Guard, which...

From its rise in the 1800s until well into the twentieth century, Hot Springs was a famed resort known worldwide. The grand hotels and world-class bath houses that sprang up around the government-protected springs drew countless visitors, ranging from the famous and wealthy to those of humble means, all seeking the health and pleasure promised by the Spa City's promoters. In the words of a railroad tourist guidebook from about 1910, "A stay at Hot Springs, be it ever so brief, always remains a pleasant memory afterward. It was the writer's good fortune to spend a few days at this popular...

First established by the French in 1686, Arkansas Post was the first permanent European settlement in the Mississippi River Valley. It played a key role in the long struggle between France, Spain, and England for control of the lucrative fur trade. The only battle of the American Revolution fought west of the Mississippi took place in Arkansas County. Located in the heart of the Grand Prairie, Stuttgart, one of two Arkansas County seats, is known as the "duck and rice capital of the world." Bayou Meto and several lakes draw waterfowl to the area each fall, and ducks flocking to Stuttgart...

Anchored around the county seat of Jasper with a population of less than 500 and one of the most picturesque courthouse squares in the state, Newton County is a nature lovers dream. The majority of the county is composed of the Ozark National Forest and the scenic corridor of the Buffalo National River, the nations first national river, where Jasper is a hub. Spring weekends find the area filled with vehicles bearing canoes and kayaks traveling to float the incomparable Buffalo River and, as year-round backpackers head out for scores of trails through the most striking wilderness in the...