Street leading up to town square in FayettevillePoints of interest:
Dickson Street, the center of activity in Fayetteville.
The Fayetteville Public Library 
The Stone House 
Old Main, original University of Arkansas building.The city is served by Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport in Highfill, Arkansas. The airport also serves Springdale, Arkansas, Bentonville, Arkansas (home to Wal-Mart), Rogers, Arkansas, and all of Northwest Arkansas.
Some of Fayetteville's highlights include the town square, where a farmer's market is held from April through November, and Dickson Street, a main street that is lined with shops and restaurants and that leads through town to the University of Arkansas. The Walton Arts Center, located on Dickson Street (and named after members of the Walton family) is a performing arts center that puts on plays, concerts and other cultural events. Fayetteville was the first home of Bill and Hillary Clinton while they both taught law at the University of Arkansas School of Law. The house where they were married and lived is now a museum highlighting his early political life and features campaign memorabilia, a replica of Hillary's wedding dress, a photo gallery, and footage from his early campaign commercials[1].
The Fayetteville Public Library, founded in 1916, relocated in October 2004 into a $23 million dollar building, which was the first "green" building in Fayetteville. On June 3, 2006, the library celebrated its 90th birthday. The Blair Library was awarded the 2005 Thomson Gale Library Journal Library of the Year award, and, as a testament to its popularity, has seen its popularity increase dramatically, with three times more items checked out in 2005 than in 1997 [9]. The library includes a local coffeeshop, Arsaga's, and hosts several events, including film festivals, book signings, and public forums throughout the year.
Other points of interest include:
The Botanical Garden of the Ozarks,The Botanical Garden of the Ozarks 86 acres (348,000 m²) is a new botanical garden now taking shape near Fayetteville, Arkansas, USA. The site is located at the Fayetteville-Springdale border on Crossover Road (Highway 265), and currently includes seasonal plantings in a small area, a wildflower meadow (1998), a lakeside hiking trail and a self-guided tree identification tour.
The TrellisThe garden's history dates to 1993 with a 2001 master plan. Construction will be undertaken in three phases. Phase 1 will build the garden gateway and entry road, parking area, visitor center, cafe and dining terrace, exhibit gallery, conference room, and 1/3 of the core gardens with 1/2 of the horticulture and maintenance facilities. Phase 2 will create additional gardens, offices, classrooms, boat rental facility, amphitheater, observatory, demonstration gardens, and the remaining core gardens. Phase 3 will add trails, tropical conservatory, and lakeside overlooks, with the western 50 acres (202,000 m²) dedicated to native woodland plant restoration and wayside interpretive stations.
University of Arkansas,The University of Arkansas, often shortened to U of A or just UA, is a public co-educational land-grant university. It is the flagship campus of the University of Arkansas System and is located in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Founded as Arkansas Industrial University in 1871, its present name was adopted in 1899 and classes were first held in February 1872. It is noted for its strong architecture, agriculture (particularly poultry science), creative writing and business programs. It is also noted for the fact that University of Arkansas engineering students won the 2006 world championship for solar-powered boats.
University of Arkansas logoThe University of Arkansas strives to be known as a "nationally competitive, student-centered research university serving Arkansas and the world." The school recently completed its "Campaign for the 21st Century," in which the university raised more than $1 billion for the school, used in part to create a new Honors College and significantly increase the university's endowment. Among these gifts were the largest donation given to a business school at the time ($50 million), and the largest gift given to a public university in America ($300 million), both given by the Walton Family Charitable Support Foundation.
Enrollment for the fall semester of 2007 was 18,647, with 3,137[6] (16.8%) being graduate students, and 403 are Law School students. The University campus comprises 130 buildings on 345 acres (1.40 km2), including the Inn at Carnall Hall, which serves as an on-campus hotel facility. Academic programs are in excess of 200. The ratio of students to faculty is 17:1.
History
The University of Arkansas was founded in 1871 on the site of a hilltop farm that overlooked the Ozark Mountains, giving it the nickname "The Hill".
Justin Smith Morrill-Morrill Land-Grant Colleges ActThe University was established under the Morrill Land-Grant Colleges Act of 1862. The University’s founding also satisfied the provision in the Arkansas Constitution of 1868 that the General Assembly was to "establish and maintain a State University."
Washington County SealInitially, to found the University, $130,000 was raised by the citizens of Washington County. This was in response to the competition created by the Arkansas General Assembly’s Organic Act of 1871, providing for the "location, organization and maintenance of the Arkansas Industrial University with a normal department [i.e., teacher education] therein." Classes started in February 1872.
Plaque on University of Arkansas campusCompleted in 1875, Old Main, a two-towered brick building designed in the Second Empire style, was the primary instructional and administrative building. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Its design was based on the plans for the main academic building at the University of Illinois, which has since burned down. However, the clock and bell towers were switched at Arkansas. The northern taller tower is the bell tower, and the southern shorter tower is the clock tower. One legend for the tower switch is that the taller tower was put to the north as a reminder of the Union victory during the Civil War. A second legend is that the contractor accidentally swapped the tower drawings after having had too much to drink. Although the southern tower was designed with clock faces, it never held a working clock until 2006. The bell tower has always had some type of chime, initially a bell that was rung on the hour by student volunteers. Electronic chimes were installed in 1959. In addition to the regular chimes of the clock, the university's Alma Mater plays at 5 p.m. every day. Old Main housed many of the earliest classes taught at the university, and has served as the offices of every college within the university during its history. Today, in addition to hosting classes, it contains the restored Giffels Auditorium and historic displays, as well as the administrative offices of the J. William Fulbright College of Arts & Sciences.
Old Main in 2007, with the recently added south tower clock face
The lawn at Old Main serves as an arboretum, with many of the trees native to the state of Arkansas found on the lawn. Sitting at the edge of the lawn is Spoofer's Stone, a place for couples to meet and pass notes. Students play soccer, cricket and touch football on the lawn's open green.
J William FulbrightBeginning with the class of 1876, the names of students at University of Arkansas are inscribed in "Senior Walk" and wind across campus for more than five miles (2.5 miles of sidewalk). The sidewalk is one of a kind nationally. More recently, the names of all the recipients of honorary degrees were also added. School superstition states that it is bad luck to step on the Class of 1900.
Chi Omega CrestOne of the more unusual structures at Arkansas is the Chi Omega Greek Theatre, a gift to the school by the national headquarters of the sorority. It marked the first time in the history of Greek letter social organizations that a national sorority had presented a memorial of its foundation to the institution where it was founded. Chi Omega was organized on April 5, 1895, at the University of Arkansas and is the mother (Psi) chapter of the national organization. The theater has been used for commencements, convocations, concerts, dramas and pep rallies. The largest crowd ever assembled there – upwards of 6,000, according to professor Walter J. Lemke – was for a concert by the Army Air Corps Band during World War II. From 1934 to 1991, the space under the stage was used for a rifle range by the Army ROTC.
The University of Arkansas became the first major Southern public university to admit an African-American student without litigation when Silas Hunt of Texarkana, an African American veteran of World War II, was admitted to the university's School of Law in 1948. Roy Wilkins, administrator of the NAACP, wrote in 1950 that Arkansas was the "very first of the Southern states to accept the new trend without fighting a delaying action or attempting to . . . limit, if not nullify, bare compliance." Today the School of Law continues to receive national awards and recognition for its high degree of diversity.
The α-tocopherol form of vitamin E.Vitamin E was co-discovered by UA Agricultural Chemistry Professor Barnett Sure (1920-51). Sure, along with fellow professor Marinus C. Kik (1927-67) made major advances in nutrition science during their long tenures at the University of Arkansas. Sure co-discovered vitamin E, and extended knowledge of how vitamin E, amino acids and B-vitamins function on reproduction and lactation. Kik developed the process for parboiling rice (a major agricultural crop in the state) to increase retention of vitamins and shorten cooking time. He documented benefits of adding fish and chicken to rice and grain diets to provide adequate protein for a growing world population. Sure and Kik were Agricultural Experiment Station scientists and professors in the UA Department of Agricultural Chemistry, which merged in 1964 with Home Economics, now the School of Human Environmental Sciences.
In the 1920s, Loy Barnett, an engineering graduate student at the University of Arkansas, set forth the principle of high-level Class B plate modulation for radio transmission and developed the technology that allowed small- and medium-size AM radio stations to flourish across the United States. Barnett later joined RCA and continued research on broadcast technology into the 1960s.
The most widely-implemented automated mail sorting equipment in the world–the Wide Area Bar Code Reader–was developed by the University of Arkansas’ College of Engineering. A $50,000 grant from the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) to Professors Dwight F. Mix and J.E. Bass in 1989 began the research and development effort. By 1999, more than 15,000 University of Arkansas bar code readers were located in every major USPS facility, increasing the efficiency of processing 20 billion pieces of mail a year at a savings of $200 million. This R&D effort has spawned four additional electronic systems to help the USPS "read the mail."
During the 1980s, Professors Allen Hermann and Zhengzhi Sheng of the Department of Physics were in the vanguard of research in superconductivity: the phenomenon whereby Direct Current (DC) electricity, once started, can flow essentially forever. The Thallium-based material they discovered at Arkansas held the world's record for high temperature, 125K, for five years (1988-93) and drew international attention to the University. Their work led to numerous patents and a manufacturing agreement, as well as further advances in high-density electronics.
University of Arkansas plant pathologists George Templeton, Roy Smith (USDA), David TeBeest and graduate student Jim Daniels conducted research in the early 1970s that led to COLLEGO, the first biological herbicide for weed control in a field crop. Other UA scientists and students worked on the project that resulted in EPA registration of COLLEGO by Upjohn in 1982 for control of northern jointvetch in rice and soybeans. The work provided a model used worldwide to develop biological herbicides. Leadership in this area helped the U of A obtain grants from the USDA and others for construction of the Rosen Center for Alternative Pest Control.
Campuses and academic divisions
Altogether, there are eleven branches and three other units in the University of Arkansas System, including the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock and a branch campus in Pine Bluff. Other branch campuses are in Monticello, Little Rock, and Fort Smith. Additionally, the UA System includes two year or community college campuses in Hope, Batesville, De Queen, Morrilton, and the Phillips Community College in Helena-West Helena. Units also under the UA System include the Clinton School of Public Service, the Criminal Justice Institute, the Arkansas Archaeological Survey, and the Division of Agriculture. The University maintains the most advanced secondary educational institution in Arkansas, the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences, and the Arts in Hot Springs, Arkansas.
The following degree-granting academic divisions are located on the Fayetteville campus:
Dale BumpersDale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences,
The Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food, and Life Sciences is the University of Arkansas' college for students interested in plants, animals, food, the natural environment and the human environment. It is named for former US Senator and Arkansas governor Dale Bumpers. Bumpers College currently offers 14 majors. The Poultry Science program ranks as one of the three best nationally. Many faculty members have University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture research or extension appointments, which adds significantly to the number of teaching faculty and the resources available for instruction and extracurricular learning opportunities.
School of Architecture, Vol Walker Hall, home of the School of Architecture
The School of Architecture at the University of Arkansas offers education in various architectural fields. Over the past years from 2008, 100% of graduates have achieved placement in both jobs and graduate programs after graduation.
Degrees
Four degrees total are attainable from the College, the Bachelor of Architecture (B.Arch.) and Bachelor of Landscape Architecture, which require about ten semesters of work, and the Bachelor of Science in Architectural Studies or Bachelor of Science in Landscape Architecture Studies, both are the basis for graduate work in architecture or further education in other fields. Several minors are also available.
Sam M. Walton College of Business,
The Sam M. Walton College of Business is a business college at the University of Arkansas. The college is funded by and named after the founder of Wal-Mart, Sam Walton. The College has its own special tuition (as of the 2007-2008 academic year, the tuition was $22.27 more than the other colleges) and its own Career Development Center. The Sam Walton College of Business is among the top 25 undergraduate business schools and ranked in the top fifty graduate business schools in the nation according to the Wall Street Journal, graduates make in excess of $43,000 in their first job after college.
Fulbright Peace Fountain, erected in 2000.The J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences is the University of Arkansas' college for students with interest in the liberal arts. It is named for former University President and United States Senator J. William Fulbright. The College has 19 different academic departments. Fulbright College's Creative Writing and Translation programs rank among the top in the Nation.
In 2005, Fulbright College held the majority of majors at the University of Arkansas.
College for Continuing Education,
Education & Health Professions,
The College of Education and Health Professions is the University_of_Arkansas college for students studying Education and Kinesiology. It is the newest department in the university, founded in 2005. It is yet to be named.
Bell Engineering CenterCollege of Engineering,
The College of Engineering is the University of Arkansas' college for engineering students. Although officially becoming a separate division in 1913, The University of Arkansas (or Arkansas Industrial University as it was known) focused early on engineering. The Industrial Engineering program ranked 26th in the nation, and the Engineering program as a whole finished 59th, and is one of the "best values" for Arkansas students nationally.
There are eight different undergraduate degree programs, with 31 graduate degree programs, currently offered.
Graduate School,
Six Pioneers historical marker.
Honors College,
The Honors College at the University of Arkansas enhances the learning of students by sharing unique learning experiences with participants. Around 15% of Arkansas undergraduates participate in Honors. Although Honors students are assisted with applying for prestigious post-graduate honors and fellowships, students also benefit from smaller classes, a more hands-on approach, as well as priority scheduling. The dean of the University of Arkansas Honors College is currently Bob McMath, former vice-provost of Georgia Tech. The Honors College serves all undergraduate majors.
In April of 2002, the Walton Family Charitable Support Foundation donated $300 million to the University of Arkansas. The donation was the largest in the history of public education. After the donation, the Honors College announced its goal to enroll 2,000 Honors College undergraduates by the year 2010. This goal was met three years early. The University of Arkansas also set records for students in a freshman class, total enrollment, and minority enrollment in 2007.
School of Human Environmental Sciences,
Walter Lemke School of Journalism,
University of Arkansas School of Law,
The University of Arkansas School of Law was established in 1924 at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, Arkansas. The founder and first dean was Julian S. Waterman, alumnus of the University of Chicago Law School. The School of Law is public and offers Juris Doctorate degrees, as well as Master of Law (L.L.M) degrees, including the only national LLM program for agricultural law.
Presently, the law school has approximately 445 students.
Ozark HallEleanor Mann School of Nursing, Ozark Hall, home of the School of Nursing, with the Senior Walk in the foreground.
The Eleanor Mann School of Nursing at the University of Arkansas offers both graduate and undergraduate nursing programs. Over the past years from 2008, 100% of graduates found employment after degree completion.
Degrees
Two degrees are offered by the School of Nursing, the Bachelor of Science in Nursing, and a cohort-based Master of Science in Nursing Online Clinical Program, which will take a full-time student 2½ years to complete
Clinton School of Public Service,
The Clinton School of Public Service is a branch of the University of Arkansas System and is the newest of the presidential schools. It is located on the grounds of the Clinton Presidential Center in Little Rock. The school is housed in a former Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad station built in 1899.
Former Senator & Governor David Pryor was named as the school's first Dean. He stepped down from his position as dean in February 2006 but retained the title and active position of Founding Dean. James L. "Skip" Rutherford was appointed to succeed David Pryor (Rutherford's mentor) when he was named Dean on April 12, 2006.
The Clinton School is a graduate school offering its students a Master of Public Service degree. The mission of the school is to "to educate and prepare individuals for public service, incorporating a strategic vision, an authentic voice, and a commitment to the common good." The program is unique within the Presidential Schools for its emphasis on practical courses, which include a practicum, summer internship, and capstone project. The school is further singular for its emphasis on leadership for social change, preparing students to become leaders in the public, private, and non-profit sectors, as well as create bridges amongst those sectors. The Clinton School emphasizes equity, as opposed to the emphasis of efficiency in public administration schools and effectiveness in public policy schools.
University of Arkansas School of Social Work,
The School of Social Work at the University of Arkansas offers education in various fields of social work.
Degrees
The Baccalaureate Social Work (BSW) program has been offered since 1940, one of the oldest undergraduate social work programs in the United States. The Master Social Work program is also available for graduate Social Work students.
Social Work Research Center
The Social Work Research Center was established in 2001, and studies poverty in Arkansas. Results are published and brought to the attention of federal and state politicians.
The University of Arkansas is also the home for the Southeastern Conference Academic Consortium (SECAC), where the twelve member schools of the Southeastern Conferences pool resources to assist each other academically.,
Sam Walton College of Business
The Sam M. Walton College of Business is funded by and named after the founder of Wal-Mart, it has its own special tuition (as of the 2007-2008 academic year, the tuition was $22.27 more than the other colleges and its own Career Development Center. The Sam Walton College of Business is among the top 25 undergraduate business schools and ranked in the top fifty graduate business schools in the nation according to the Wall Street Journal, and Bachelor's graduates make in excess of $43,000 in their first job after college.
Hogcall.com"Calling the Hogs"
Fans of the University of Arkansas have been "Calling the Hogs" since the 1920s. This tradition, which refers to the school's most popular cheer at sporting events, is said to have begun when a group of farmers attending a game began issuing hog calls to encourage a lagging Razorback football team. The encouragement worked and the attending crowd took notice of the farmers' calling. By the next game, a group of men had organized to cry "Wooo, Pig, Sooie". Since then, this rallying cry has grown to become a traditional school yell that is performed at most home sporting events, and is one of the best-known Razorback traditions outside of the University. The length of Woo is a matter of contention. Traditionalists will call for a full eight-second Woo. Calling the hogs is always accompanied by hand gestures. Fans raise both hands in the air and wave their fingers during the "Wooo." They then pump them down on the "Pig" and raise the right hand back up on the "Sooie."
"Calling the Hogs" Lyrics
Woooooooooo, Pig ! Sooie!
Woooooooooo, Pig ! Sooie!
Woooooooooo, Pig ! Sooie!
Razorbacks!
Alma Mater
The current version of the University of Arkansas Alma Mater was written in 1909 by Brodie Payne, an alumnus of the University of Arkansas. He submitted his song to an ongoing competition that was trying to find a song for the university and won first prize. Henry D. Tovey, who was the director of the Glee Club at that time, set the song to music. In 1931, the University College Song Association in New York reviewed a collection of 500 college tunes, and the University of Arkansas Alma Mater was judged to be one of the twenty-five best college songs of the United States.
It is a student custom to point towards Old Main at the end of the verse when the words "we sing unto you" are sung.
Alma Mater
Pure as the dawn on the brow of thy beauty
Watches thy soul from the mountains of God
Over the Fates of thy children departed
Far from the land where their footsteps have trod.
Beacon of hope in the ways dreary lighted;
Pride of our hearts that are loyal and true;
From those who adore unto one who adores us—
Mother of Mothers, we sing unto you.
We, with our faces turned high to the Eastward,
Proud of our place in the vanguard of Truth,
Will sing unto thee a new song of thanksgiving—
Honor to God and the Springtime of Youth.
Shout of the victor or tear of the vanquished;
Sunshine or tempest thy heart is e'er true;
Pride of the Hills and the white-laden Lowlands—
Mother of Mothers, we kneel unto you.
Ever the Legions of Sin will assail us,
Ever the Battle in Cities afar;
Still in the depths will thy Spirit eternal
Beckon us on like a piloting Star.
Down in dim years do thy dead children call thee,
Wafted to Sleep while the Springtime was new;
We, of the Present, thy hope of the Future—
Mother of Mothers, we pray unto you.
Fight Song
Houston NuttThe current version of the University of Arkansas Fight Song was written in the late 1920s. The fight song is usually played at all home Razorback sporting events. Former head football coach Houston Nutt established a tradition of singing (along with the Arkansas players) the fight song to the student section following every home and away football game win.
Arkansas Fight Song Lyrics
Hit that line! Hit that line! Keep on going,
Move that ball right down the field!
Give a cheer. Rah! Rah! Never fear. Rah! Rah!
Arkansas will never yield!
On your toes, Razorbacks, to the finish,
Carry on with all your might!
For it's A-R-K-A-N-S-A-S for Arkansas!
Fight! Fight! Fi-i-i-ght!
Bikes Blues and BBQ (an annual event,
Bikes, Blues, and BBQ is an annual motorcycle rally that takes place in Fayetteville, Arkansas. The event generally takes place during the last weekend in September and usually goes from Wednesday through the weekend. (However, in 2007, the event ran from October 3 to October 6, but will return to the last weekend in September during 2008.) The center of the rally is downtown, and more specifically "Dickson Street" (which is famous in the Northwest Arkansas area), just a few blocks from the University of Arkansas campus, and near the Walton Arts Center. The event begins every year with a ride into the city through the Ozark Mountains. The event supports a large number of local charities, raising over $100,000 for area charities in 2006 and 2007, and over $500,000 since 2000.
In both 2006 and 2007, the event had an estimated attendance of between 300,000 and 400,000, from all 50 states and several other countries. (up from about 300,000 in 2005, and about 200,000 in 2004) Exact statistics are not known, because there is no entrance fee, and it is an "open" rally downtown. The rally has been stated as the fastest growing motorcycle rally in the world, beginning only in the year 2000.
In addition to the rally, there are many bands that play, a parade, bike show, a bike giveaway, lots of barbecue, the Bikes Blues and BBQ Babes contest, as well as many other official and unofficial events. The rally has been said by many to be second only to Sturgis.
Walton Arts Center, Main Entrance to the Walton Arts Center,
The Walton Arts Center is Arkansas' largest performing arts center. It is located in Fayetteville, Arkansas near the campus of the University of Arkansas, and serves as a cultural center for the Northwest Arkansas area. The building was opened in 1992 in large part because of funds donated by the Walton family (of Wal-Mart). The center is host to many musicals, plays, and other artistic and educational events throughout the year.
History
The idea for the Walton Arts Center started in the 1980s with a donation from Sam Walton to the University of Arkansas for the creation of a performance space. After talks with the city of Fayetteville who were also looking for a multi-purpose space for conferences and special events. After a consensus was met, the corner of Dickson Street and North School Avenue was chosen for being approximately halfway between downtown Fayetteville and the University. Finally in 1986 the Walton Arts Center Council was formed with the task of the construction of the facility.
Fayetteville High SchoolFayetteville High School is a public high school located in Fayetteville, Arkansas. The school is administered by the Fayetteville Public Schools system.
History
The school was first opened in 1908, and its current building was built in 1950, with further renovations made in the 1980s. The current building, built adjacent to the University of Arkansas and just off of a major street, is also located on the Trail of Tears. The only evidence of this are two signs at the road side—one of them a government sign, the other a sign erected by the University. Additional renovations and a new wing on the east side of the building were completed in time for the 1993-94 school year, while further renovations to meet Title IX compliance were done to the secondary gym and locker room around 2001. To meet growing demand for classroom space, the high school took over unused space in what used to be Bates Elementary, which was a building just down the hill. The school also has one of the best TV studios in the country, from which they air the Bulldog Show on Channel 14.
The school was also the first school in Arkansas to voluntarily desegregate, and on September 11, 1954, African American students first attended the high school. The school's marching band was selected to go to the Tournament of Roses Parade for 2006, only the second time an Arkansas band has attended.
Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium,
Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium is the home of the Arkansas Razorbacks football team of the University of Arkansas, which is located in Fayetteville, Arkansas, USA. The actual field the Razorbacks play on is now named Frank Broyles field. The field was dedicated to Frank Broyles on Nov. 3, 2007.
Razorback Stadium is nestled in the Ozarks.In the year 2001, the stadium was expanded to a 72,000 seat capacity from its previous capacity of 51,000 seats, before being expanded to 76,000 in the 2006 season from the addition of top bleachers. In addition to the additional seating, several improvements were made. A new scoreboard was installed with the largest Smartvision LED screen (often incorrectly referred to as a Jumbotron; it is nicknamed the "PigScreen") incorporated into it. Also, luxury boxes, expanded food court, revitalized locker rooms, and the Bob and Marilyn Bogle Academic Center were all part of the improvements that were made. The Frank Broyles Athletics Center, home to the Razorback Athletic Department and named after Frank Broyles, is located at the north end of the Stadium; the Center was built in 1975 and renovated in 1994 and also features the Jerry Jones/Jim Lindsey Hall of Champions, a museum to University of Arkansas sports.
Razorback Stadium LogoThe stadium is not the only "home" of the Razorback football team. Some of the "home" games (usually 2 or 3 each season) are played in War Memorial Stadium which is located in Little Rock, Arkansas, approximately 190 miles (305 km) (by interstate) from the University of Arkansas main campus in Fayetteville, Arkansas. After somewhat of a statewide controversy (some people wanted all the games played in Donald W. Reynolds Razorback stadium, while some people wanted games to continue being split with War Memorial Stadium), in 2001 an agreement was signed with War Memorial Stadium to allow "home" games to be played at War Memorial for the next 15 seasons.
Randall Tyson Track Center
The Walton Family
The Walton Family is arguably the richest family in the world (the dispersed fortunes of the Rockefellers and the like being unknown to the public), their wealth inherited from Bud and Sam Walton, founders of the world's largest retailer, Wal-Mart. The five most prominent members (Jim, John (d.2005), Rob, Alice, and Helen (d.2007)) have consistently been in the top ten of the Forbes 400 since 2001, although Helen dropped to #11 in 2006, probably due at least in part to her extensive philanthropy. Christy Walton took her husband John's place after his death in 2005.
Collectively, the Waltons control over 39% of the company, and are worth approximately $19.2 billion each, for a combined total of $81.8 billion (as of March 2008).. After Helen Walton passed away in April, 2007, her fortune will pass to charity over the next few years.
Notable natives and residents
Ronnie Brewer, Utah Jazz player,Ronnie Brewer (born March 20, 1985, in Portland, Oregon) is an American professional basketball player for the Utah Jazz, who selected him with the 14th pick of the 2006 NBA Draft. Brewer played collegiately at the University of Arkansas, where his father Ron Brewer was a star in the late 1970s. Brewer is known for having an unorthodox shooting technique, the result of a childhood water slide injury.
Veronica Campbell-Brown, Jamaican Olympic multiple medalist sprinter,
Veronica Campbell-Brown (born May 15, 1982) is a track and field sprint athlete, competing internationally for Jamaica.[1] A five-time Olympic medalist, she is the reigning Olympic 200 m and World 100 m champion. At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, she ran the 200 meters in 21.74 seconds, the seventh fastest time ever, and became the second woman in history to win the Olympic 200 meters twice and successfully defend her title, after Bärbel Wöckel of Germany did so at the 1976 and 1980 Olympics.
Mike Conley, Sr., Olympic gold and silver medal winning triple jumper,
Michael Alex Conley, Sr. (born October 5, 1962, in Chicago, Illinois) is a former American track & field athlete who competed primarily in the triple jump and the long jump. He is a gold and silver Olympic medalist and world champion in the triple jump.
Mike Conley, Jr., NBA player with Memphis Grizzlies,
Michael "Mike" Alex Conley, Jr. (born October 11, 1987, in Fayetteville, Arkansas) is an American professional basketball player for the Memphis Grizzlies of the National Basketball Association.
Conley is the son of Olympic gold and silver medalist triple jumper Mike Conley, Sr. and the nephew of former Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Steve Conley.
Conley attended Lawrence North High School in Indianapolis, Indiana, where he played with friend and future Ohio State teammate Greg Oden.
Alistair Ian Cragg, Irish Olympic distance runner,
Alistair Ian Cragg is an international track and field athlete who was born in Johannesburg on 13 June 1980, and brought up in South Africa and has since lived in England and Fayetteville, Arkansas where he attended the University of Arkansas. He races for Ireland and competes most often over 3,000 and 5,000 metres.
John Daly, winner of two PGA major titles,
John Patrick Daly (born April 28, 1966) is an American professional golfer on the PGA Tour.
Daly is known primarily for his "zero to hero" victory in the 1991 PGA Championship, his driving distance off the tee (earning him the nickname "Long John"), his non-country club appearance and attitude, and his rough-and-tumble personal life. Daly remains one of the most popular and intriguing figures on the Tour, despite his recent lack of success.
Bill Fagerbakke, award-winning actor,
William "Bill" Fagerbakke (born October 4, 1957 in Fontana, California) is an American actor. Fagerbakke, who stands at 6'6" (1.98 meters), played football and appeared on television in such roles as Assistant Coach "Dauber" Dybinski on Coach, in movies, including Funny Farm, and several on-and-off Broadway stage shows[citation needed]. He had a role as the mentally retarded Tom Cullen in the 1994 mini-series Stephen King's The Stand. In 1999, he had a recurring role on HBO's original series Oz as Officer Karl Metzger.
However, Fagerbakke is best known as the voice of Patrick Star on the SpongeBob SquarePants animated series and Flush Peacock in the films and series Scamper
In 2007, he made a cameo appearance on the show Heroes as Steve Gustavson in the episodes "Run" and "Unexpected." Amongst his peers, Fagerbakke is known as a very serious method actor and has received critical acclaim as a thespian by the Screen Actors Guild and Juilliard School of Performing Arts for his roles as Shylock in Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice, Torvald in Ibsen's A Doll's House, and most notably Dauber in Coach. Fagerbakke was involved in several controversial plot lines in Coach, including 'Dauber's Blow-Out' (Season 1, Episode 13) airing on June 7,1989 which involved a zany mixup.
J. William Fulbright, U.S. Senator,
James William Fulbright (April 9, 1905 – February 9, 1995) was a United States Senator representing Arkansas from 1945 to 1975.
Fulbright was a Southern Democrat and a staunch multilateralist, supported the creation of the United Nations and opposed the House Un-American Activities Committee. He is remembered for his efforts to establish an international exchange program, which thereafter bore his name, the Fulbright Fellowships. Fulbright was the longest serving chairman in the history of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Tyson Gay, world's top 100 and 200 meter sprinter, Gay at the AT&T USA Track and Field Championships in Indianapolis.
Tyson Gay (born August 9, 1982 in Lexington, Kentucky) is an American sprinter who won gold medals at the 100 meters, 200 meters and 4 x 100 metres relay at the 2007 World Championships in Athletics in Osaka, Japan. He is the third fastest athlete in the history of the 100 and 200 metre races, with times of 9.77 and 19.62 seconds respectively.
Ellen Gilchrist, novelist,
Ellen Gilchrist (born February 20, 1935) is an American novelist, short story writer, and poet.
Donald Harington, author,
Donald Harington (1935- ) is an American author. All but the first of his novels (The Cherry Pit, 1965) either take place in or have an important connection to "Stay More," a fictional Ozark Mountains town based somewhat on Drakes Creek, Arkansas, where Harington spent summers as a child.
Harington was born and raised in Little Rock. He lost nearly all of his hearing at age 12 due to meningitis. This did not prevent him from picking up and remembering the vocabulary and modes of expression among the Ozark denizens, nor in conducting his teaching career as an adult.
Though he intended to be a novelist from a very early age, his course of study and his teaching career were in art and art history. He taught art history in New York, New England, and South Dakota before returning to the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, his alma mater, where he taught for 22 years before his retirement on 1May 2008. He still lives in Fayetteville.
Harington's current and past novels are available from The Toby Press in a uniform edition, with cover illustrations by Wendell Minor.
Ronnie Hawkins, legendary rockabilly musician,
Ronald "Ronnie" Hawkins (born 10 January 1935, Huntsville, Arkansas, United States) is a pioneering rock and roll musician and cousin to fellow rockabilly pioneer Dale Hawkins. Known as "Rompin' Ronnie" Hawkins or "The Hawk," he was a key player in the 1960s rock scene in Toronto and for the next 40 years, performed all over North America, recording more than twenty-five albums. His best-known hits are "Forty Days" and "Mary Lou" (about the song narrator's experiences with a gold digging woman), both were major hits for him in 1959.
At the age of nine, his family moved to nearby Fayetteville. After graduating from high school, he studied physical education at the University of Arkansas where he formed his first band, The Hawks, touring with them throughout Arkansas, Oklahoma and Missouri. Hawkins also owned and operated the Rockwood Club in Fayetteville where some of Rock music's earliest pioneers came to play including Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, Roy Orbison and Conway Twitty. Hawkins came to Canada in 1958. His first gig was at the Brass Rail Tavern (on Conway Twittys advice) in London, Ontario where he became an overnight success. It was a result of Hawkins success in London that he decided to move to Canada permanently. His career spans over five decades and 25 records. His hits include, “Forty Days”, “Mary Lou”, and “Hey Bo Diddley”.
George Johnson, science writer and author,
George Johnson (born January 20, 1952, in Fayetteville, Arkansas) is a science writer and author working from Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Currently he is one of the co-hosts (with science writer John Horgan) of "Science Saturday", a weekly discussion related to science topics on the website BloggingHeads.tv.
On Thursday, May 7, 2008, Johnson appeared on the Stephen Colbert show to promote his new book, entitled "The Ten Most Beautiful Experiments". During his appearance, Johnson convinced Colbert to touch the spark produced by one of the electricity experiments. Colbert shocked his hand yelling obscenities that were bleeped out but appeared to be fine after the incident.
Thorncrown ChapelE. Fay Jones, architect, Jones' Thorncrown Chapel
E. Fay Jones, (born 31 January 1921, died 31 August 2004) was a noted American architect and designer. He was an apprentice of Frank Lloyd Wright.
Frank Lloyd WrightE. Fay Jones, (first name Euine which is pronounced U-wan and is an old Welsh form of John), was born in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, on 31 January 1921. Jones became the only surviving child in his family after losing both of his sisters at an early age. His family moved to Little Rock, Arkansas, and later to El Dorado, Arkansas. Jones was a longtime member of the Boy Scouts of America and earned the rank of Eagle Scout.
The famous view of Fallingwater
Jones' interest in architecture began with the design of treehouses in high school and seeing a short film about Frank Lloyd Wright. Jones hoped to earn an appointment to the United States Naval Academy and took engineering classes at the University of Arkansas to improve his chances. Jones' hopes were dashed when his congressman was defeated for reelection and was unable to offer an appointment.
At the outbreak of World War II Jones joined the United States Navy and served in the Pacific theater of operations as a naval aviator piloting torpedo and dive bombers.
After the war Jones studied at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, Arkansas and at Rice University in Houston, Texas. Jones encountered Frank Lloyd Wright in Houston, Texas and the two had an immediate rapport. Jones was teaching at the University of Oklahoma and Wright came to the university for a lecture. Wright invited Jones to his winter workshop Taliesin West near Scottsdale, Arizona. Later, Wright invited Jones's entire family to his home and design institute Taliesin in Spring Green, Wisconsin. Jones returned to both sites numerous times as both friend and apprentice and became a Taliesin Fellow. Jones was a great admirer of Wright but had no overwhelming desire to be personally famous and soon established a private practice in the Ozark Mountains of northwest Arkansas, where he also joined the faculty of department of architecture at the University of Arkansas, later serving as the first dean of the UA School of Architecture.
Jones was a quiet and unassuming architect who preferred the quiet isolation of the Arkansas mountains to the urban landscape. Jones ignored architectural trends and instead focused on his own organic aesthetic with materials found in the Ozarks and familiar traditional forms from his home region. Jones work focused primarily on the intimate rather than the grandiose. Jones most renowned works are chapels and private homes rather than skyscrapers.
Fay's CollageJones used Frank Lloyd Wright's principles and created buildings that had a distinct Wrightean feel to them. Jones' most famous buildings are the Thorncrown Chapel in Eureka Springs, Arkansas, the Mildred B. Cooper Memorial Chapel in Bella Vista, Arkansas, and the Pinecote Pavilion at the Crosby Arboretum in Picayune, Mississippi. These buildings are simple and transcendental creations of wood. Thorncrown Chapel was selected as the fourth most favored building in a poll of the membership of the American Institute of Architects. Thorncrown was also selected as the best American building built since 1980.
Taliesin West, Frank Lloyd Wright's Winter HomeIn January 2006, Jones' Butterfly House in Fayetteville, Arkansas was being pursued for conversion into a synagogue, serving as a new home for the congregation of Temple Shalom of Northwest Arkansas. Neighbors who were concerned about increased traffic using the house for religious services would create demanded a hearing by the City Council. This prompted the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty to warn Fayetteville in a legal opinion letter that if it denied the congregation its' conditional use permit to use the house as a place of worship, it would be violating the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA). The letter argued that the Butterfly House was well-suited for use as a synagogue and that traffic concerns fell far short of the overwhelming threshold required to burden religious expression.(1) The issue was put to rest later that spring, when the members of Temple Shalom decided that Butterfly House was not adequate for its purposes and voted by a generous margin to no longer pursue the purchase of the house and to seek a new location that better served the needs of the Jewish community.
In addition to his remarkable buildings, Jones is also known for creating unique designs for furniture and everyday objects Such as the Fulbright Peace Fountain located at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville main campus.
Jones is recalled as a gentle and unassuming man for whom a harsh word was completely out of character. His partner, Maurice Jennings, stated that he had worked with Jones for 25 years without an instance of emotional conflict.
Mildred B. Cooper Memorial ChapelJones was a recipient of the American Institute of Architects Gold Medal in 1990. He was accepted as a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects in 1979 and as a Fellow of the American Academy of Rome in 1980.
In 1999 a retrospective of his work was produced for the Old State House Museum in Little Rock, Arkansas and is available as a traveling exhibition from the museum. The University of Arkansas also published a driving tour of many of his residences and buildings in Northwest Arkansas.
Inside of ChapelOn 31 August 2004 Jones died at his home in Fayetteville at the age of 83, survived by his wife and two daughters.
Matt Jones, wide receiver for the Jacksonville Jaguars,
Matthew Jones (born April 22, 1983 in Fort Smith, Arkansas) is an American football wide receiver for the Jacksonville Jaguars of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Jaguars 21st overall in the 2005 NFL Draft. He played college football at Arkansas.
McFadden during his tenure at Arkansas
Darren McFadden, 2006 & 2007 Heisman Trophy runner-up, Oakland Raiders running back,
Darren McFadden (born August 27, 1987 in North Little Rock, Arkansas) is an American football running back for the Oakland Raiders of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Raiders fourth overall in the 2008 NFL Draft after playing college football at Arkansas.
McFadden, known by his friends as D-Dawg, was a two-time All-American tailback for the University of Arkansas. McFadden became the first sophomore to win the Doak Walker Award in 2006, and joined Ricky Williams as only the second two-time winner after taking home the award again in 2007. McFadden also won the 2007 Walter Camp Award as the nation's best player and was also the runner-up for the Heisman Trophy two years in a row in 2006 and 2007 and is the only two time runner up in history.
Tom Pagnozzi, former professional baseball catcher,
Thomas Alan Pagnozzi (born July 30, 1962 in Tucson, Arizona) is a former Major League Baseball player for the St. Louis Cardinals. Primarily a catcher, Pagnozzi also made 40 appearances at first base and seven appearances at third base during his 12-season career, which spanned from 1987 to 1998. Initially a backup catcher and utility player for the Cardinals, in 1990 Pagnozzi impressed Cardinals manager Joe Torre enough to move Todd Zeile, then the Cardinals' hot catching prospect, to third base to make room for him. Pagnozzi remained the Cardinals' regular catcher until 1996. While Pagnozzi had moderate power and was considered an RBI threat, he was primarily regarded for his defense, for which he won gold gloves in 1991, 1992, and 1994. Pagnozzi also made the National League All-Star team in 1992.
Pagnozzi retired in 1998 at the age of 36, after being released by the Cardinals in August, with a career batting average of .253 with 44 home runs and 320 RBI. He also played in the Puerto Rican Winter League with the Mayaguez Indians from 1986 to 1990.
Tom played collegiately for Arkansas.
Tom now makes his home in Fayetteville, AR; giving extensively to the youth of the community, as well as the community as a whole.
David Pryor, Arkansas governor and U.S. senator,
David Hampton Pryor (born August 29, 1934) was a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives and United States Senator from the State of Arkansas. Pryor also served as Governor of Arkansas from 1975 to 1979 and was a member of the Arkansas House of Representatives from 1960 to 1966.
Mark Pryor, U.S. Senator,Mark Lunsford Pryor (born January 10, 1963) is a Democratic politician in Arkansas. He is the state's junior U.S. Senator.
Billy Ray SmithBilly Ray Smith, former San Diego Chargers linebacker (1983-1992), and current radio co-host of The Scott and BR Show on XX Sports Radio,
Billy Ray Smith, Jr. (born August 10, 1961 in Fayetteville, Arkansas) is a former National Football League linebacker for the San Diego Chargers (1983-1992). Prior to that, he was a two-time consensus All-American selection for the University of Arkansas.
Wallace SpearmanWallace Spearmon, professional sprinter, ranked 3rd in the world by Track and Field News in 200 meters for 2006,
Wallace Spearmon, Jr., (born December 24, 1984) in Chicago, Illinois, USA is a sprint athlete. Spearmon is a graduate of Fayetteville High School and currently attends the University of Arkansas, where he competed collegiately for two seasons before turning pro.
While at Arkansas, he won the 200 meter dash (200m) NCAA Outdoor title in 2004 and 2005 as well as the NCAA Indoor 200m title in 2005. In August 2005, he won the silver medal in the 200m at the 2005 World Championships in Athletics and in August 2007, he won the bronze medal at the 2007 World Championships.
His personal best in the 200m is 19.65 seconds, the fifth fastest time ever. Only world record holder Usain Bolt (19.30), Michael Johnson (19.32), his training partner Tyson Gay (19.62), and Xavier Carter (19.63) have run faster. Despite the fact that he normally runs a "slower" first half of his 200m races and goes on to pass people down the stretch, his 100m personal best is 9.96. He set that mark running in Shanghai on September 28 2007, beating 100m world champion Tyson Gay.
Spearmon won the 200m at the USA outdoor athletics championships in 2006 and finished second in 2007.
Spearmon initially finished in the bronze medal position in the 200m in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, but was disqualified for stepping out of his lane. The second place finisher, Churandy Martina of the Netherlands Antilles, was also disqualified, giving Americans Shawn Crawford and Walter Dix the silver and bronze medals, respectively.
2 Columbus Circle, New York City (since modified)
Edward Durell Stone, architect,
Edward Durell Stone (March 9, 1902 Fayetteville, Arkansas - August 6, 1978 New York City, New York) was an American modernist twentieth century architect.
Stone was born in Fayetteville, Arkansas, a small college town in the northwest corner of the State. His family had been early settlers of the area, and were owners of a prosperous dry goods store. One of his childhood friends was J. William Fulbright, the future United States Senator from Arkansas, and Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Stone and Fulbright remained friends for the rest of their lives. Stone attended the University of Arkansas, where he was encouraged by an art teacher to develop an interest in architecture. His older brother, James Hicks Stone, was already a practicing architect in Boston, Massachusetts, and James encouraged his younger brother to join him there. While in Boston, Stone attended Harvard University, The Boston Architectural Center and MIT, but he never received a degree.
While studying in Massachusetts, he won the prestigious Rotch Travelling Fellowship (now called the Rotch Travelling Scholarship), which afforded him the opportunity to travel throughout Europe and North Africa on a two year stipend. During his travels, Stone maintained sketchbooks and produced exquisite watercolor drawings in the Beaux-Arts style which were ultimately submitted to the Rotch Committee. Other winners of the Fellowship include the architects, Ralph Walker (of Vorhees, Gmelin and Walker), Louis Skidmore (of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill), Wallace K. Harrison (of Harrison and Abramovitz) and Gordon Bunshaft (also of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill).
Bud Walton ArenaBud Walton, Wal-Mart co-founder,
James Lawrence “Bud” Walton (December 20, 1921 – March 21, 1995) was the younger brother of Sam Walton and cofounder of Wal-Mart.
Born in 1921, Walton went to Hickman High School in Columbia, Missouri and to the Wentworth Military Academy in Lexington, Missouri. During World War II, he served as a Navy pilot. Like his brother, he went subsequently into the retail business working in the Ben Franklin Stores franchise system. His first store was opened in Versailles, Missouri. In 1962, he and Sam Walton co-founded Wal-Mart. He died on March 21, 1995 in Miami, Florida after surgery for an aneurysm.
Bud Walton had been married to Audrey Walton and they had two daughters, Ann Walton Kroenke, and Nancy Walton Laurie.
The Bud Walton Arena on the campus of the University of Arkansas is named after him.
The arena is named after James "Bud" Walton, cofounder of Wal-Mart, who donated a large portion of the funds needed to build the arena. Walton purportedly gave 15 million, or around half of the construction cost. [1] Construction of the arena took only 18 months, a short time considering the size of the undertaking.
He worked on a farm in his younger years.
John Edward Williams, novelist and poet,
John Edward Williams (1922 - 1994) was a writer best known for his novels Stoner and Augustus.
Born on August 29, 1922, in Clarksville, Texas, near the Red River east of Paris, Texas and brought up in Texas. After holding various positions with newspapers and radio stations in the Southwest, Williams enlisted in the USAF early in 1942, spending two and a half years as a sergeant in India and Burma. Several years after the war, Williams enrolled in the University of Denver, where he received his B.A. in 1949 and an M.A. in 1950. During this period, his first novel, Nothing But the Night, was published (1948), and his first volume of poems, The Broken Landscape, appeared the following year. In the fall of 1950, Williams went to the University of Missouri, where he taught and received a Ph.D. in 1954. In the fall of 1955, Williams took over the directorship of the creative writing program at the University of Denver. Williams's second novel, Butcher's Crossing, was published by Macmillan in 1960, followed by English Renaissance Poetry, an anthology published in 1963 by Doubleday which he edited and for which he wrote the introduction. His second book of poems, The Necessary Lie, appeared in 1965 and was published by Verb Publications. In 1965 he became editor of University of Denver Quarterly (later Denver Quarterly) until 1970. In 1965, Williams's third novel, Stoner, was published by Viking Press. It has been recently been re-issued by The New York Review of Books. His fourth novel, Augustus, was published by Viking Press in 1973 and won the prestigious National Book Award in 1973 and remains in print.
After retiring from the University of Denver in 1986, Williams moved with his wife, Nancy, to Fayetteville, Arkansas, where he resided until he died of respiratory failure on March 3, 1994. A fifth novel, The Sleep of Reason, was left unfinished at the time of his death.
Lucinda WilliamsLucinda Williams, Grammy Award-winning songwriter and daughter of Miller Williams,
Lucinda Williams (born January 26, 1953) is an American rock, folk, and country music singer and songwriter. She recorded her first albums in 1978 and 1980 in a traditional country and blues style and received very little attention from radio, the media or the public. In 1988, she released her self-titled album, Lucinda Williams. This release featured "Passionate Kisses" a song later recorded by Mary Chapin Carpenter which garnered Lucinda her first Grammy (Best Country Song, 1994). Known for working slowly, only one other album was recorded and released in the next several years (Sweet Old World in 1992) before her greatest success came in 1998 with Car Wheels On A Gravel Road. This album presented a broader scope of songs that fused rock, blues, country and Americana into a more unique style that still managed to remain consistent and commercial in sound. It went gold and earned Lucinda another Grammy while being universally acclaimed by critics. Since Car Wheels, she has released a string of albums that have also been critically acclaimed, though none have sold in the numbers of her 1998 breakthrough. She is a three-time Grammy Award winner and was also named "America's best songwriter" by TIME magazine in 2002.
Miller Williams, poet,
Miller Williams (born April 8, 1930) is an American contemporary poet, as well as a translator and editor. He has authored over twenty-five books and won several awards for his poetry. His accomplishments have been chronicled in Arkansas Biography. However, he is perhaps best known for reading a poem at President Clinton's 1997 inauguration.
Williams was born in Hoxie, Arkansas. He was educated in Arkansas, earning his bachelor's degree in biology from Arkansas State University, before completing a M.S. at the University of Arkansas in 1952. He taught in several universities in various capacities, first as a professor of biology and then of English literature. He is currently a professor emeritus of literature at the University of Arkansas. His best-known poem is "The Shrinking Lonesome Sestina," which displays the complicated form beautifully.
Miller received the 1963-64 Amy Lowell Poetry Travelling Scholarship, and he won the 1991 Poets' Prize for his collection Living on the Surface.
He is the father of Lucinda Williams, a three-time Grammy Award winning country music, folk, and rock singer, named "America's best songwriter" by TIME magazine in 2002.
Donald Roller, PaintingDonald Roller Wilson, artist,
Donald Roller Wilson (born November 23, 1938) is an artist who uses some unique items in his paintings, such as dogs and cats, chimpanzees, dill pickles, wooden matches, olives, asparagus stalks, and even cigarettes. He paints in oils, in a very polished, super-realistic style, using the same techniques used by the Old Masters. He was born in Houston, Texas and is based in Fayetteville, Arkansas. According to the New York Times, "Donald Roller Wilson's goofy, hallucinogenic, Old Master-style painting of monkeys, dogs and cats dressed up in antique costumes may be kitsch, but it's high-quality kitsch, like good beach reading."
Donald Roller Wilson is a painter who describes his work as a "by-product of his thoughts." According to him, he spends his "days and nights pondering the meaning of life, the state of the universe, and the Home Shopping Network. . . .More than anything, my work deals with pointlessness. It takes all the arrogance out of everything you do when you know that God is so much bigger than you are. And yet everything you are and do and see is filled with God: the grass, the asphalt, and the people fighting over Aqua Net at Wal-Mart. . . .You can make a profound intellectual statement just by basing your efforts on silliness."
Fayetteville Female Seminary in Washington County, founded in 1839 by Sophia Sawyer and Sarah Ridge, widow of Cherokee leader John Ridge; circa 1852.
Courtesy of the Butler Center for Arkansas Studies, Central Arkansas Library System
Fayetteville, one of the largest cities in the state, is located in the Ozark Mountains and has been the seat of county government since formation by the state legislature. From the early pioneers to modern-day residents, Fayetteville’s citizens have been dedicated to the enhancement of the cultural, educational, and economic growth of the area and state.
The Fayetteville Angels, part of the Arkansas-Missouri League, during the regular season; 1939.
Courtesy of the Shiloh Museum of Ozark History/Washington County Historical Society (P-4262)
Louisiana Purchase through Early Statehood
The first settlers in Fayetteville were George McGarrah and his sons James, John, and William. Around 1828, they settled near the spring in an area that was to become the Masonic Addition to Fayetteville, the eastern part of which is at the base of Mount Sequoyah. James Leeper, a Revolutionary War veteran, was the second settler in Fayetteville. His son Matthew was appointed receiver of the Land Office by President Andrew Jackson. The Leepers owned all the land on the south side of Mount Sequoyah to the White River, as well as lots around the Fayetteville square. Matthew was married to Lucy Washington, and David Walker was married to her sister Jane Lewis Washington, representing the linking of two politically influential families in Fayetteville.
Washington County Courthouse in Fayetteville; 1867.
Courtesy of the Shiloh Museum of Ozark History/Washington County Historical Society (P-52)
Washington County was established in 1828 out of Lovely County, which had existed for a year. The town of Washington Courthouse was the county seat, but the name was changed to Fayetteville in 1829 when a post office was established. Postmaster General William T. Barry ordered the change because of confusion with the name of Washington (Hempstead County). Two commissioners locating the county seat came from Fayetteville, Tennessee, and urged Barry to name it after that community.
First Arkansas Light Artillery Battery in Fayetteville (Washington County); 1863.
Courtesy of the Shiloh Museum of Ozark History/Washington County Historical Society (S-82-192)
On February 27, 1835, President Jackson issued a patent for 160 acres forming the original settlement. Upon a petition by more than two-thirds of the taxpayers, the county court granted their incorporation request in 1841. In 1859, the legislature granted a city charter.
Washington County Courthouse in Fayetteville.
Photo by John Gill, courtesy of the photographer
Archibald Yell of Tennessee was named judge of the Superior Court of Arkansas Territory in 1835. He built a home, an office, and a guesthouse in Fayetteville on an estate he named Waxhaw in honor of Jackson’s South Carolina birthplace. Only his office remains, and it was moved in 1992 to the Washington County Historical Society grounds. It is one of the oldest structures in the state.
Federal Courthouse in Fayetteville (Washington County).
Photo by John Gill, courtesy of the photographer
When Arkansas became a state in 1836, Yell was elected the first U.S. representative. He was the second governor, serving from 1840 to 1844. He served again in the House, until July 1, 1846, when he resigned to fight in the Mexican War. Fayetteville and Washington County sent more than 100 volunteers to fight in the war, many serving in Yell’s regiment.
The first newspaper, The Fayetteville Witness, was published in 1840 by C. F. Towns.
In the years leading to the Civil War, Fayetteville and the county gained a reputation as the state’s cultural and educational center. The Fayetteville Female Academy, founded under the guidance of Robert Mecklin, was incorporated on October 26, 1836, and was the second school chartered by the state. Sophia Sawyer established the Fayetteville Female Seminary and began teaching on July 1, 1839, with fourteen Cherokee girls as pupils. The next year, she had fifty-one pupils. Robert Graham started an academy in 1850, chartered as Arkansas College of Fayetteville on December 14, 1852. The first bachelor’s degrees in the state were granted by the college, and the college was given the power to confer doctoral degrees. On December 16, 1858, the state chartered the Fayetteville Female Institute, headed by T. B. Van Horne.
Groundbreaking for the Walton Arts Center in Fayetteville (Washington County); May 19, 1990.
Courtesy of the Shiloh Museum of Ozark History/Northwest Arkansas Times (SN5-19-90)
Civil War through Reconstruction
With the advent of the Civil War, Washington County elected four men with Unionist sympathies to represent them at the state’s secession convention; three were from Fayetteville. The convention met on March 5, 1861, selecting Judge David Walker of Fayetteville as chairman. After debates, members voted on March 16 against secession, 39–35.
Memorial Day at the Confederate Cemetery in Fayetteville (Washington County); June 3, 1942.
Courtesy of the Shiloh Museum of Ozark History / Washington County Historical Society Collection (P-482)
After the bombardment of Fort Sumter, Walker issued a call on April 27, 1861, to reconvene the convention on May 6. At this meeting, the vote was 64–5 to secede. Walker called on the five dissenters to change their votes to make it unanimous. All did except Isaac Murphy of Madison County, formerly a Fayetteville teacher.
The Zerbe Air Sedan in Fayetteville (Washington County); circa 1919.
Courtesy of the Ozark Military Museum
Fayetteville was little affected by military activity until February 1862, when Confederate troops moving south destroyed their arsenal in the Van Horne school building, burning and looting much of the town rather than letting any materials fall into the hands of Union forces.
Aerial view of the University of Arkansas (UA) in Fayetteville (Washington County); circa 1940s.
Courtesy of Special Collections, University of Arkansas Libraries, Fayetteville
During the war, the town was alternately possessed by both sides. Although there were skirmishes, the Action at Fayetteville on April 18, 1863, was the only major conflict. Union Colonel Marcus LaRue Harrison made his headquarters in what had been Judge Jonas Tebbetts’s home at College and Dickson streets. Confederate General William L. Cabell tried to retake the town, with the battle centering on the Tebbetts home. The effort failed. The battle-scarred house, known today as the Headquarters House, still stands as a museum and the headquarters of the Washington County Historical Society.
First buildings at the University of Arkansas (UA) in Fayetteville (Washington County); 1872.
Courtesy of Special Collections, University of Arkansas Libraries, Fayetteville
During the Civil War, there was no local government except that of the military. In 1868, local government was reestablished under the legislative charter of 1859, and Harrison was elected mayor. Due to dissatisfaction with his administration, the citizens petitioned the legislature for dissolution of the 1859 charter, which was granted. On August 24, 1870, an order by the county court was placed in the record establishing the local government under a general statute.
Modern-day photo of the Headquarters House Museum.
Courtesy of Lonnie Strange
Economic recovery began with the rebuilding of a town in complete ruin except for a few residences. Banking in the state was illegal from 1846 to 1868 due to the disastrous failure of the privately owned Real Estate Bank and the state-owned Arkansas State Bank. The Stark Bank opened in Fayetteville in November 1872, becoming the William McIlroy Bank on January 2, 1876; now Arvest Bank, it is the state’s oldest bank.
Entrance to the Headquarters House Museum.
Courtesy of Lonnie Strange
Post Reconstruction through the Gilded Age
The Morrill Act, passed by Congress during the war, provided land grants to each state to establish agricultural and mechanical colleges. Upon reentering the Union, Arkansas became eligible for the grants. Washington County proposed a $100,000 bond issue, and Fayetteville offered another $30,000, including individual land donations, to build a college. Fayetteville’s proposal was selected, and Arkansas Industrial University opened on January 22, 1872. In 1899, the legislature changed the name to the University of Arkansas (UA).
Stirman House, also known as the Futrall House on North College Street in Fayetteville (Washington County), prior to its demolition; 1970. This was long the home of John C. Futrall, president of the University of Arkansas (UA) in Fayetteville.
Photo by Ernie Deane, courtesy of the Arkansas History Commission
Transportation continued to be by wagon, stagecoach, horse, and buggy for the rest of the nineteenth century, except for rail service furnished primarily by the St. Louis & San Francisco Railway Co. (SLSF), built over a period of fourteen years. The Pacific & Great Eastern Railroad Co., incorporated on October 23, 1884, built a line to Wyman twelve miles east of Fayetteville. The line was doomed when the SLSF built a branch line to St. Paul and Pettigrew in Madison County. The St. Paul branch provided a great amount of hardwood for processing into railroad ties, furniture, handles, and various other wood products. About 1900, construction started on a railroad to the west, known as the Ozark & Cherokee Central Railway. It was first completed to Westville, Oklahoma, and later extended to Tahlequah and Muskogee, Oklahoma. The line was later purchased by the SLSF. For many years, the railroads were a major boost to the economic growth of Fayetteville, providing a faster and more efficient method of moving commodities in and out of the area, as well as passenger service to distant destinations.
Washington County civic leader Jonas Tebbetts (right) with an unidentified Civil War officer; date unknown. Due to his Unionist loyalties, Tebbetts was arrested on charges of treason and briefly imprisoned.
Courtesy of the Arkansas History Commission
The town’s economy after the war centered on timber, apples, tomatoes, and other fruits and vegetables that were processed, packed, and shipped out. Production of wood products and of bricks made from native clay met the growing need for construction of houses and public buildings.
Lafayette Gregg’s home in Fayetteville (Washington County).
Photo by Ernie Deane, courtesy of the Arkansas History Commission
Early Twentieth Century
At the beginning of the Spanish-American War in 1898, favorite sons and university students volunteered for service. The Mexican border conflict followed, and on June 16, 1916, Company B, Arkansas National Guard, received orders to mobilize. The unit returned on March 15, 1917, less than a month before the United States declared war on Germany (April 6, 1917) and entered World War I.
Sarah Bird Northup Ridge House on West Center Street in Fayetteville (Washington County); 2008.
Photo by Mike Keckhaver
Registration for the draft began June 5, 1917. Company B, which later became Battery B, 142nd Field Artillery, received orders to mobilize on August 5, 1917. On June 15, 1918, the UA grounds became a training camp starting with 153 men and growing to 300. Citizens who stayed behind became involved in the war effort by working with benevolent organizations and pooling their resources as part of the United War Work Fund.
Walton Arts Center in Fayetteville (Washington County); 2008.
Photo by Mike Keckhaver
In the early twentieth century, attempts were made to move the university or parts of it to a more central location in Arkansas. The primary argument was the distance for students in other areas of the state. Attempts made in the legislative sessions of 1909, 1915, and 1921 all failed.
Headquarters House Museum in Fayetteville (Washington County); 2008.
Photo by Mike Keckhaver
Advances in communication and transportation eased the remoteness of Fayetteville. The first telegraph wire came through Fayetteville in 1860, strung from Jefferson City, Missouri, to Fort Smith (Sebastian County). In 1886, E. C. Boudinot and W. C. Davenport formed the Washington County Telephone Company, starting the first telephone exchange. When wireless telegraphing became a reality, UA erected a 125-foot wooden tower for sending coded messages. Students of electricity used the telegraph from 1900 to 1905. In 1924, the university erected a wireless apparatus and began broadcasting as KFMQ radio, later changed to KUOA; it is recognized as one of the oldest radio stations in the world. UA sold KUOA to a commercial company in 1933 who in turn sold it to John Brown University in Siloam Springs (Benton County).
Law office of Archibald Yell following its 1992 relocation to the grounds of the Headquarters House Museum in Fayetteville (Washington County); 2008.
Photo by Mike Keckhaver
Glenn L. Martin piloted the first airplane flight in the county on September 1, 1911, at the county fair on the site that became the University Indoor Tennis Facility. The automobile first met with ridicule and was sometimes referred to as the “Devil’s machine,” though it later proved to be an economic boon. Railroads began to lose business as trucking expanded and served points not near a railroad. Fayetteville’s first efforts to apply hard surfaces to streets began in 1917. In the next ten years, twenty-five miles were paved at a cost of $500,000. Trucks first made short deliveries and pickups only in dry weather. In time, regularly scheduled truck lines went to Huntsville (Madison County), Springdale (Washington County), and Winslow (Washington County).
World War II through the Faubus Era
Arkansas Air Museum in Fayetteville (Washington County); 2008.
Photo by Mike Keckhaver
Airplanes used small landing strips until 1929, when land was purchased for $5,000 to build the first permanent airport. From 1942 to 1944, the field was used to train pilots and instructors for World War II. Programs were operated in conjunction with UA. More than 2,400 students in the 305th College Training Detachment received pilot training from March 1, 1943, to June 30, 1944.
Official gubernatorial portrait of Archibald Yell, second governor of Arkansas (1840–1844).
Courtesy of the Arkansas Secretary of State's Office and the Old State House Museum
Dramatic growth in production beginning in the 1930s would make poultry the main agriculture product by the 1950s. With the exception of grapes, production of most other agriculture products declined or showed little increase. This led to a change from canning to other forms of processing.
Modern Era
In 1970, Fayetteville began developing an industrial park to centralize and diversify industries. In the twenty-first century, Fayetteville has nine elementary schools, two middle schools, two junior high schools, and one high school. The public school system operates the Technical Center, Adult and Community Education Center, Environmental Center, Migrant Program Center, and Youth Apprenticeship program.
Sheet music for “The Fayetteville Polka”; 1856.
Courtesy of Special Collections, University of Arkansas Libraries, Fayetteville
Among products made or processed in the area are poultry, dairy, electrical equipment, hand tools, automotive equipment, and printed business forms. Fayetteville is a center for banking and finance, real estate, insurance, building industry, and retail and wholesale trades.
Attractions
Among the local attractions are UA and its Razorback athletic events, the Walton Arts Center, Tebbetts House, National Cemetery, Confederate Cemetery, Washington-Willow Street Historical District, Arkansas Air Museum, Ozark Military Museum, and Fayetteville Public Library, which completed a new building in 2004. Washington General Hospital in Fayetteville serves the area.
Official gubernatorial portrait of Charles Hillman Brough, twenty-fifth governor of Arkansas (1917–1921).
Courtesy of the Arkansas Secretary of State's Office
Fayetteville has produced many people of national and world fame, some of whom over several generations are the noted black poet George Ballard, Governor Charles Hillman Brough, opera singer Mabel Patricia Chapman (a.k.a. Patricia Ryan), Congressman Hugh Anderson Dinsmore, Senator William J. Fulbright, Senator Carl R. Gray, and architect E. Fay Jones, among many others.
Washington County
Washington County is in the northwest corner of Arkansas in the Ozark Mountains. It was established on October 17, 1828, formed from Lovely County, which was part of Indian Territory. Washington County has grown from small settlements of farms, mills, and orchards into one of the most affluent and prosperous counties in the state. The University of Arkansas (UA) in Fayetteville remains the flagship of the University of Arkansas system. Tyson Foods, Incorporated is headquartered in nearby Springdale and has become a leading provider of jobs in the region. Given the broad range of manufacturing, industrial, and retail businesses, the population of Springdale is quite diverse, including a large Hispanic community as well as many Marshall Islanders.
Downtown Prairie Grove (Washington County); circa 1940.
Courtesy of George and Martha Suggs
Pre-European Exploration
Paleoindian peoples appear to have reached northwest Arkansas 8000 BC to 1000 BC. These Indians manufactured a distinctive lanceolate spear point and used a stone-working technology developed by upper Paleolithic groups from Europe and northern Asia. Collectively, these artifacts are called Clovis points, which were components of a sophisticated weapon system consisting of a multi-piece dart and throwing stick that increased the velocity with which the dart could be thrown. Clovis materials have been found in present-day Washington County, though in limited quantities, likely due to the rugged terrain of the Ozark Mountain region being a poor place for settlement.
The Southern Mercantile Store in Prairie Grove (Washington County); circa 1915.
Courtesy of Randy and Cheryl West
European Exploration and Settlement
The Mississippian Period refers collectively to the cultural developments throughout the mid-South from approximately AD 900 to 1600, the date of the expedition of Hernando de Soto. The written accounts of the de Soto expedition, combined with recent archaeological studies, have demonstrated that there was an upsurge in population, a rise in agricultural development, and the development of large communities throughout the Ozarks. Agricultural yields improved with the development of tilling implements like large hoe blades; axe blades also became more numerous as European contact increased. The clearing of forested areas to obtain new farming lands would become commonplace for not only Native American Indians but white settlers as well. The soil of the future Washington County supported a diverse yield of crops, such as corn, beans, and squash.
Prairie Grove (Washington County) doctors T. W. Blackburn, J. H. Brewster, and E. G. McCormick; circa 1885.
Courtesy of Susan Parks-Spencer
However, many areas of the county could not support intensive, long-term agriculture by such primitive means. The environmental consequences of population stagnation and the overextension of the soil, combined with drought conditions and the transmission of European diseases, all were key underlying factors that kept the Native American population in the area relatively low throughout the early European involvement and settlement.
Maguiretown (Washington County) store and lodge, all that remains of a historic community that existed from 1843 until the early twentieth century; circa late 1980s.
Louisiana Purchase through Early Statehood
The Osage and Cherokee were two of the main tribes living in what is now Washington County. In 1813, war broke out between the two tribes because the Cherokee were forced by encroaching white settlers to move farther west into the Osage’s traditional tribal lands. William L. Lovely was assigned as the agent to the Western Cherokee by the U.S. government and sought to settle the dispute between the two warring tribes and the white settlers. In 1816, Lovely made the “Lovely Purchase” through an unauthorized sale of land from the Osage. The actual western border of the Cherokee land, which included portions of Washington County, was vague and remained unsurveyed until 1825.
Post office at Farmington (Washington County); 1916.
Courtesy of the Shiloh Museum of Ozark History/Janell Bailey Collection (S-2003-2-799)
On October 13, 1827, the Arkansas territorial legislature acted to create Lovely County. Present-day Washington County was within the borders of this county. The seat of Lovely County was established at Nicksville, Oklahoma. Many early settlers to Washington County came to the area after the establishment of Lovely County. The county was formed after the Cherokee were removed and the area was deemed safe for white settlement. History records the names of several white pioneer families who settled in what is now Washington County, among them Alexander, McGarrah, and Simpson. The first white families came to Washington County about a year before the Arkansas territorial legislature opened the area to white settlement, thus making trespassers of the new pioneers. These squatters lived on their homesteads, anticipating quick federal intervention to gain the land from the Cherokees, making it possible for permanent white settlement. The land formally became available to white settlement in 1828. There was a settlement at Cane Hill by 1827, and by the 1830s, villages appeared at Shiloh (now Springdale) and Fayetteville. Lovely County was abolished by October 14, 1828, most of it ending up, when the border was drawn, in Indian Territory (modern-day Oklahoma). From much of what was left in Arkansas Territory, Washington County was formally created three days later.
Depot at Lincoln (Washington County), possibly the first Frisco train to come through the town; circa 1890.
Courtesy of the Shiloh Museum of Ozark History/Hallie Miller Collection (S-89-31-4)
Revivals or “camp meetings” of Baptists, Methodists, Episcopalians, and Cumberland Presbyterians played an important role in the county’s history. They provided spiritual and educational services to the settlers; they also afforded a social setting for the early pioneers. Many of these meetings were held in simple brush arbors built in the woods, and at least six camp meeting sites can still be found in Washington County that pre-date the Civil War. Black congregations also worshiped and held their own religious services before the Civil War. Religious meetings were held near Cane Hill, Lincoln, Fayetteville, and surrounding communities.
J. M. Karnes store at West Fork (Washington County); circa early 1900s.
Courtesy of the Shiloh Museum of Ozark History/Robert G. Winn Collection (S-84-2-168)
Throughout the 1830s and 1840s, Washington County started to attract more affluent citizens. This is probably due to the good climate and availability of inexpensive land. Archibald Yell may be the most famous man from early Washington County. In the 1830s, President Andrew Jackson appointed him a circuit court judge in the region. Yell built his home, Waxhaw, in Fayetteville and practiced law in and around Fayetteville. In 1836, he was Arkansas’s first congressman, and in 1840, he became Arkansas’s second governor. He is buried in Fayetteville, having been killed in the war with Mexico. His law office is still preserved and maintained by the Washington County Historical Society.
Main Street in Cane Hill (Washington County); September 1907.
Courtesy of the Shiloh Museum of Ozark History/Washington County Historical Society (P-1322)
Education
The early settlers of Washington County placed great value on education, as evidenced by the many schools that dotted the county. The Cane Hill School was founded in 1835 for young men who planned to enter the ministry. The school first met in a log cabin but grew into Cane Hill College by 1850. In 1836, the Fayetteville Female Seminary was established for prominent young women of the city.
Swinging bridge over the White River at West Fork (Washington County); circa 1907.
Courtesy of the Shiloh Museum of Ozark History/Wayne Martin Collection (S-99-32-522)
The University of Arkansas, originally known as Arkansas Industrial University, formally opened on January 22, 1872. The university started with eight students, a dozen books, acting president Noah P. Gates, and one teacher, Charles H. Leverett. By the end of the year, enrollment had reached 101 students from towns throughout the county and the state.
Civil War through Reconstruction
On February 18, 1861, the citizens of Washington County were asked to vote for or against a state convention that would consider secession. They rejected the proposal to secede by almost a three-to-one margin. Unionist sentiment rang strong in the county—Jonas M. Tebbets, one-time member of the Arkansas state legislature and attorney for the Fayetteville branch of the State Bank, was briefly imprisoned for his Unionist views at Fort Smith (Sebastian County) in May of 1861, following Arkansas’s secession, which was approved by a majority of other counties throughout the state. At the May statewide convention on the issue of secession, delegates from Washington County voted to remain loyal to the Union.
The White River bridge at Elkins (Washington County); circa 1920s.
Courtesy of the Shiloh Museum of Ozark History/Gary King & Reba Ferris Lawson Collection (S-98-73-227)
During the Civil War, Washington County represented a coveted prize for both sides. It was only a day’s ride into Unionist Missouri, where both the Union and Confederate soldiers might find aid and support. The two great battles fought in northwest Arkansas—Pea Ridge on March 6–8, 1862, and Prairie Grove on December 7, 1862—involved attempts by Confederates to solidify their control over the area and seize control of southern Missouri. The Federal forces won both engagements and were thus able to keep Missouri in the Union.
Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) work crew at Devil's Den State Park in Washington County; 1934.
Courtesy of the Shiloh Museum of Ozark History/Billye Jean Scroggins Bell Collection (S-95-6-52)
Washington County, like so many counties in the state, provided troops to both Union and Confederate armies. Confederate general Ben McCulloch issued a call for troops that resulted in several hundred enlistments from Fayetteville. Peter Mankins Jr. of the Middle Fork Valley raised a company of eighty-four men and personally equipped sixty-four for the Confederate force. Washington County and the surrounding territories also fielded two cavalry regiments, two infantry regiments, and one artillery corps for the Union army. Washington County and the surrounding area fielded roughly 500 to 800 men for the Union force and approximately 2,000 for the Confederacy.
Limestone caverns that were later used for cold storage in Zero Mountain in Johnson (Washington County); 1929.
Courtesy of Special Collections, University of Arkansas Libraries, Fayetteville
The Action at Fayetteville on April 18, 1863, demonstrated the dichotomy of the Civil War. The First Arkansas Cavalry (Confederate) engaged the First Arkansas Cavalry (Union) force around 9:00 a.m. The Rebels enacted a desperate charge against the Union flank only to meet a tumultuous crossfire. The Federal troops had amassed a sizeable amount of ordinance upon College Avenue. The Confederates slowly withdrew when it became apparent that they would be unable to advance. They left approximately seventy-five men killed, wounded, or missing.
Lichlyter News Company and post office in Springdale (Washington County); circa 1905.
Courtesy of the Butler Center for Arkansas Studies, Central Arkansas Library System
Three weeks after the Action at Fayetteville, the Union forces withdrew to Springfield, Missouri, and the Rebels were able to occupy peacefully the town that they had failed to seize by arms. The town changed hands several times throughout the war. After the war, men returned to find schools burned, fields in disarray, orchards destroyed, and fences and barns razed for firewood. Fayetteville, as well as the entire county, lost a great deal in trade, commerce, men, and material throughout the bloody conflict.
Street scene in Winslow (Washington County); 1935.
Courtesy of Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division
By the beginning of 1866, shops began to reopen, and life seemed to improve. The stage from Springfield, Missouri, resumed operation, and the mills were rebuilt at Rhea, Clear Creek, and Cane Hill. Cane Hill College was rebuilt and opened in 1868 by its long-serving president, Fontaine R. Earle. The first public school for freed slaves, the Mission School, opened in 1866. It was formed by a former Union cavalry officer, Lafayette Gregg, and was supervised by Ebenezer E. Henderson, who was initially deeply resented by many of the white citizens of the county. The school was the first post–Civil War school for black students in the county. Students were also taught informally elsewhere in the region by black teachers in churches and houses.
Sharecropper’s family in Washington County; circa 1935.
Courtesy of the National Archives and Records Administration
Post-Reconstruction through Early Twentieth Century
From the 1870s to the 1900s, the county population increased steadily, as did farm yields. In 1870, the population was 17,266; by 1900, it grew to more than 34,000. Arable land also greatly increased as it was cleared. By 1870, there were only 73,145acres under cultivation. The average acreage increased to almost 238,000 by 1900. Apples, grapes, strawberries, corn, and assorted livestock provided the fundamental agricultural base throughout the twentieth century.
Winslow (Washington County) street scene; 1962.
Photo by Ernie Deane, courtesy of the Arkansas History Commission
Fruit production also became a strong source of revenue for the county’s farmers by the close of the nineteenth century. Apples had long been a basic crop for Washington County. As early as 1852, area farmers sent crates of their “striped Ben” apples across the Boston Mountains to sell at ports along the Arkansas River. Orchard production remained small until after the Civil War. Agriculture received a great boost with the completion of the St. Louis, Arkansas, and Texas Railway line. It was completed in 1882 and provided a quick, reliable mode of transportation for commerce. Washington County’s apple harvest was the highest in the state in 1890, with 211,685 bushels; by 1900, production had nearly tripled to 614,924. The Western Arkansas Fruit Growers and Shippers Cooperative Association, which organized in Springdale in 1888, provided a surge in growing, producing and marketing activities to the booming orchard industry.
Building that housed the Winslow American, a newspaper in Winslow (Washington County). The building was turned into a museum (now closed) in 1961, the year this photograph was taken.
Photo by Ernie Deane, courtesy of the Arkansas History Commission
By 1900, Washington County was exporting fence posts, hardwood lumber, railroad ties, spokes, and posts throughout the nation. The large-scale clearing of land, mostly in the southern portion of the county, afforded new opportunities for settlers to farm and grow fruit, thus creating a thriving canning and evaporating business.
Brentwood Depot in (Washington County) with a waiting-room sign for “White Passengers” (see insert); 1894. From left: Will I. Patterson and Willie Barron.
Courtesy of the Shiloh Museum of Ozark History/Mrs. L. Fine Collection (S-97-115)
The fruit business peaked then waned in the late 1920s and early 1930s. Poor soil fertility and less cultivated acreage appeared to be the key underlying factors in the reduction in fruit production. The timber boom left a vast amount of open arable land. Farming was attempted on the denuded land, especially fruit and vegetable production, but erosion quickly removed the top soil and made farming impractical.
World War II through Modern Era
The Aaron Poultry and Egg Company created the county’s first modern poultry processing farm in 1914 at an old mill building on Dickson Street in Fayetteville. In 1916, the Aaron Company decided not to build a permanent plant in Fayetteville, but Jay Fulbright, the father of U.S. Senator J. William Fulbright, along with other investors built a processing plant on West Avenue in Fayetteville. The company improved local stock both in egg production and the quality of roosters. Chickens slaughtered in the Fayetteville plant were shipped to markets throughout the nation. The plant grew and changed owners and was eventually acquired by the Campbell Soup Company in 1955.
Feed mills dot the landscape up and down U.S. Highway 71. This major thoroughfare cuts through the downtowns of Fayetteville and Springdale, the county’s two largest cities. There are several large poultry processing plants that employ over 1,000 workers each. The two largest are Campbell Soup of Fayetteville and Tyson Foods in Springdale, both located off Highway 71. Tyson Foods and George’s remain Washington County’s top poultry producers. They are still owned and operated by the same families that formed the businesses.
Beginning in 1988 and continuing throughout the twentieth century, Washington County has had the highest agricultural income of any county in Arkansas, employing over 50,000 agribusiness laborers. While nearly seventy percent of the county’s population lives in incorporated cities and towns, over half the county’s acreage is used for agricultural and recreational pursuits. Since Reconstruction, agriculture in Washington County has remained essentially unchanged, focusing on the raising of broilers, cattle, turkeys and hogs. In addition, the county has significant commercial output of apples, grapes, strawberries, blueberries, and peaches. Despite having extensive agribusiness endeavors, Washington County remains a leader in education and industry, as reflected by the thousands of professionals employed by the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, the Campbell Soup Company, and Tyson Industries.