Odd Town Names

Odd Town Names

Most states have town names that seem very odd, especially to outsiders. After moving to Arkansas, it was with great delight that I discovered a book by Ernie Deane, Arkansas Place Names. If you can find that book, you will find a wealth of information about the town names of Arkansas.

Scan of old photo post card
Sign at Fifty-Six, Arkansas near Blanchard Springs

1. Ernie Deane’s out-of-print book Arkansas Place Names, 1986, is the source for much of the place names material.
2. Mr. Deane was a long time contributor to the Arkansas Gazette newspaper, including “The Arkansas Traveler” column.
3. He began collecting the origins of the names of Arkansas towns in the 1950’s, publishing many articles on the subject in the Arkansas Gazette before publishing Arkansas Place Names in 1986.
4. Mr. Deane was a native of Arkansas, a member of the University of Arkansas journalism faculty and former chairman of the Arkansas History Commission.

The origins of many of these towns’ names are apocryphal; learned by asking local residents how the name of their town was chosen. Many came from the name of the local post office. Some are mundane and some down right funny.

Delight (Pike County) Hometown of country singer Glen Campbell, Delight was given its name by W.H. Kirkham, owner of the land where the town was laid out. He said that the surroundings were so delightful that the town itself should be named Delight.

Ink (Polk County) One of the most interesting origins, the name was decided when residents took their instructions literally. After receiving approval for a post office, the local schoolteacher was asked to gather suggestions for names. Worried that answers written in pencil would not remain legible, she requested that suggestions be written in ink in the notes sent out to parents. Enough parents took her suggestion literally that Ink was the number one response and was adopted as the name of the post office.

Fifty-Six (Stone County) Visitors to Blanchard Springs Caverns may recognize the name of this small community. When the name was chosen, the community was in the fifty-sixth school district.

Push Mountain (Baxter County) The road over Push Mountain (Arkansas 341) is popular with motorcycle riders and sports car enthusiasts. According to locals the mountain got its name because, in order to get goods to the top of the mountain by horse and wagon, one would have to “push” them up the mountain.

Devil’s Den State Park (Washington County) A project of the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) in the 1930’s, the name for the park apparently originated with early white settlers. Many reported hearing the “roar of the devil” coming from two caves found in the area.

Toad Suck (Faulkner and Perry Counties) The name that probably raises the most eyebrows both due to its name and origins, Toad Suck derived its name from the ferry crossing on the Arkansas River. It is generally recognized that the name came from the locals and ferry riders who gathered on the bank of the river and sucked down their alcohol until they “swelled up like toads.” The area sponsors a “Toad Suck Daze” the first weekend of May every year to raise money for education. Visit http://toadsuck.org for more information.

Toad Suck Ferry

http://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/encyclopedia/media-detail.aspx?mediaID=7266

Terre Noir Creek (Clark County) Before English-speaking settlers moved west, much of the territory west of the Mississippi River was first explored by the French. Many places in Arkansas still retain their original French names. Terre Noir, meaning “black earth” is one such original name.

Bug Scuffle Church (Washington County) A truly odd name, the origin of this community name can make one smile. Gentlemen of the town who had accompanied their wives to church decided to remain outside, finding the preacher somewhat boring. While standing around “shooting the breeze,” they observed two beetles engaging in a tussle over a ball of manure and betting commenced on the outcome. By popular usage, the name Bug Scuffle Church was given to the place.

Calamine (Sharp County) If you have ever had poison ivy, you have probably used calamine lotion. The name of this town originated during the period when zinc and hemimorphite (aka calamine), a pink powder-like material made up of both zinc and a small amount of ferric oxide was discovered in the area. 

Pickles Gap (Faulkner County) The most popular version of how Pickle Gap, also Pickles Gap, got its name is attributed to an accident in which a barrel of pickles rolled off the back of a wagon and broke open on the site. 

Arkansas Ferries

If the video does not show on your device, here is the link on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFUGK6naifI

The pictures you see are scans of old postcards as well as pictures from the Encyclopedia of Arkansas and Baxter County Historical Society

Bounded on the east by the Mississippi River, with several major waterways- including the White River and the Arkansas River, running through it; the easiest method of moving goods and freight in Arkansas was by water. Before bridges, the best way to cross waterways too deep for teams of oxen or horses and wagons was to cross by ferry. 

1. Only one ferry is still operated by the AHTD (Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department). Known as the Peel Ferry it is operated during daylight hours only crossing Bull Shoals Lake on State Highway 125.
2. Ferries were the only means of crossing many rivers in Arkansas.
3. The White River had at least 75 known ferry crossings from the upper to the lower part of the river. 

Facsimile of a Ferry Rate card

As you can see by the ferry rate card, rates for ferry transport were set by local county governments. High water rates (due to flooding) could double. Ferry operators became quite skilled in using the currents of the river to move their cargo from one side of the river to the other, but high water from heavy rains could certainly make that job much more difficult.

Historically, most major rivers in Arkansas were crossed by ferry. As some of those rivers were dammed and lakes created, they were crossed by public ferries. Many early ferries were operated by private individuals who charged in accordance with state and local regulations for their services.

Ferry operators were required to be bonded and licensed by county courts. Bond was $500 and license fees were from ten to thirteen dollars.

Service charges collected by the operators were also mandated by the county courts. Rates were from 10 cents for a head of cattle to 75 cents for a wagon and 4 oxen or horses.

Many old ferry locations still bear the name of the ferry including, in Baxter County, Denton Ferry and Shipps Ferry. The crossing on Highway 14 over the Buffalo River is also still known as Dillard’s Ferry.

The Beaver Ferry was replaced by a one-lane suspension “swinging” bridge still in use today on Arkansas Highway 187.

The ferries on US Highway 62 and Arkansas State 101 just east of Mountain Home ran until 1983 when the bridges now there replaced them. To see a video of the last ferry ride visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anqgla2z7iY  

Sources:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RHKLjALXxzY&feature=relmfu

http://www.arkansas.com/attractions/detail.aspx?id=18735&r=Ozarks&city=Peel

Steamboats and Ferries on the White River: a Heritage Revisited ©1998 University of Arkansas Press by Huddleston, Dwayne; Rose, Sammie Cantrell; Wood, Pat Taylor

http://m.encyclopediaofarkansas.net/media/?type=Category&item=Water
http://www.baxtercountyhistory.org

Silver Mine Near Yellville?

This is a legend that has existed among the residents of Marion County, Arkansas, for many years. Legends are usually very hard to find an original source for, so it is interesting to see in print something one has only heard about. Attached to this legend has been another about the Yocham Silver Dollar that cannot be confirmed. The legend is such in Dillard/Davenport family history that a letter to Frank and Ted Dillard from “cuz” G.W. dated 3-21-41 mentions the silver mine. To quote “Frank what have you found with the MR(?) hope you and Baz can find the silver mine. Let me no if you realy locate anything.”

The article below was another of those "finds" I made that distracted me while doing research for my project.

The Mountain Echo

Wednesday, October 23, 1935

“Back years ago, it was said that an old Indian had made a statement that there was silver enough in sight of Yellville to shoe every farmer’s horse in the county- that his tribe once worked the mine and from it they could see all over the town of Yellville, but they finally filled up the mine and abandoned it.

Rev. Paul Jones heard this story when he was only a boy and never forgot it. A short time ago he sold his property in Yellville, and was looking for a small tract of land near the town where he could make a home. Mr. J.A. Lefevers owned a small tract of land near the town and offered to sell it to Mr. Jones. He went to look it over, and from the porch he could see all over the town, and near the house there was a sink hole or depression that looked as it had been an opening and filled up. He remembered the old Indian’s story, and doubtless visions of wealth rolled up before him. He bought the place and moved to it. A few days ago he leased a part of the land, embracing the sink hole to Messrs. Geo. Buntz, Frank Still and Geo. Smith and they are working it with good indications of ore.

Fine rosin Jack, running a high per cent of metallic zinc has been found on the land, and this, perhaps was what the Indians found and thought it was silver.

At any rate the place is well located and worth the money Mr. Jones paid for it for a home. Whatever ore he may find is only velvet.”

This scan of an antique postcard depicts a horse-drawn wagon on the bridge at Yellville- probably the one over Crooked Creek. Note the man laying on his back at the top of the bridge girders. There are four figures seated in the wagon, a man standing next to the wagon on the bridge and another man standing on the rail of the bridge. 

John Wilkes Booth- Stone County Clerk?

While doing research for my PowerPoint on Arkansas History, I was often distracted while reading through the microfilm copies of my local papers. I included some of those stories in my slideshow, since they qualified for my subject about unusual Arkansas history. 

The following story was published in the Baxter Bulletin, the paper for Mountain Home, Arkansas. It is interesting to note that conspiracy theories about the assassination of Abraham Lincoln probably started with his death and were repeated well into the early part of the 20th century.

The Baxter Bulletin

May 13, 1927

Believes Booth Escaped

Some Think Lincoln’s Assassin Was Clerk of Stone County

“Old Pioneers of Mountain View do not believe that Wilkes Booth was captured, slain and buried in the sea after the assassination of President Lincoln, but that he and Julius E. Andrews, first elective clerk of Stone County were one and the same person. Andrews appeared in Stone County in 1774 (1874?), as a mysterious unknown. He was well educated and admitted he was an actor. Running for the office of County Clerk, he was elected. Shortly after his election, William Goodman, a citizen of the county, who knew Booth, identified Andrews as Booth, and shortly after this, Andrews left, after defrauding the county of some $2,000 of scrip. Bob Ginn of Mountain View still has two pieces of the scrip which he issued.”

Reprinted from Baxter Bulletin May 13, 1927

Microfilm reel Baxter Bulletin #6, Feb. 12, 1926 (Vol. 25, #7)- May 3, 1932 (Vol.31, #23) Baxter County Library, Mountain Home, Arkansas 

Photo source: http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/lincolnconspiracy/booth.html

The Ozark Café

Ozark Café

There are many local eateries in the state of Arkansas, but how many have the claim to fame of being over 100 years old?

Established in 1909, the Ozark Café has made its home on the Jasper town square for more than a century. Visitors to the cafe cannot miss the local memorabilia on the tables, walls and even the ceiling. 

The eatery has expanded from one small building on the square to encompass almost one entire side of the square.

In the past, visitors would see locals seated at tables outside playing dominoes, a favorite past time in many small towns in the Ozarks. Visitors can still pull up a rocker or bench and “sit a spell” and enjoy the local scenery.

The drive to and from Jasper is scenic and makes the trip as worthwhile as the atmosphere and food served at the Ozark Café. 

For more information about the Ozark Café including its current menu please visit:

The Ozark Café online

Panoramic photo by Bonnie Dillard

Arcane Arkansas

Arcane Arkansas

Scan of vintage post card "New State Capitol, Little Rock, Ark."

Arcane- meaning known by few, obscure

I began this as a project for my college Arkansas History class. Not being a native, but having lived here all of my adult life, I found the most interesting aspects of Arkansas history to be those that are not usually found in history books. The history and folklore one learns by simply listening to local storytellers, historians and natives as well as by reading back issues of local newspapers on microfilm was far more appealing.

Most states have their own unique and even odd stories. Arkansas is no exception. From truly unique state and federal parks to interesting and even humorous town names and its own ghost stories, and legends, Arkansas has a unique and interesting history for those who want to look beyond the history books.

Arkansas is not only beautiful, it is diverse in terrain with mountains, prairies, delta, farming, and forest lands. Bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Ouachita Mountains to the west, the lands in between contain nearly all the natural resources a small nation would need to survive on its own.

Arkansas can list natural gas, oil, bauxite (for aluminum), timber, rice, soybeans, wheat, cotton, natural spring water, beef, pork, fish, chicken and turkey among its exports. 

In a reprint of The WPA Guide to 1930s Arkansas, the introduction by Elliott West mentions the fact that, not only was Arkansas the smallest state west of the Mississippi River, but also the most geographically diverse with four distinctive regions; the Ozark plateau, the Mississippi Alluvial plain, the Ouachita Mountains and the coastal plain of the southwestern part of the state. Even much larger, sprawling states do not have the state’s geographic diversity. With such a range of terrain, it is hard not to find an area of Arkansas to enjoy, whether one wants to live there or just visit.

An active participant in the American Civil War, members of the Arkansas militia fought for both Union and Confederate forces. Arkansas is participating in the four-year sesquicentennial commemoration of the conflict with a series of events.

The best part of the history of an area is often the things that most people don’t know because they are not in our history texts. Often folklore, with basis in fact, it is fun to read about what the locals know because they have lived in the area all their lives. I have attempted to separate fact from fiction even though the fiction is what drew me to the story in the first place. It is true that the facts can be stranger than fiction. 

I hope to bring to you stories that will not only inform but entertain. I found that this project has extended far beyond the research I originally did for an Arkansas History class into a full-blown obsession. 

The Old Cotter Bridge

R.M. Ruthven Rainbow Arch Bridge

aka "Cotter Bridge"

Declared Arkansas' first National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark in 1990, the bridge was built in 1930. replacing the ferry crossing that sometimes had as many as 100 cars waiting to pass. Designed by Marsh Engineering Company of Des Moines, Iowa- it is the only bridge designed by that company to be built in the state. Built at a cost of $500,000- the bridge was finished 6 months ahead of schedule using local labor for the construction. Upon its completion in 1930, the bridge was dedicated on November 11 and 12 in a ceremony attended by over 6000 visitors from seven of the nine states traversed by Highway 62. 

A toll bridge at first, residents had to be threatened with retracted funding to use the bridge as they continued to use the free ferry crossing to avoid paying the toll. In 1938, when Carl Bailey, former Cotter resident and Missouri-Pacific conductor was elected governor, one of his first acts was to repeal the tolls because residents continued to argue the toll since the bridge was the only way in and out of Cotter. The April 6, 1938 Mountain Echo newspaper “Governor Signs Toll Bridge Bill” article details the signing of the bill abolishing toll bridges. The final paragraph mentions the Cotter Bridge and “Many local people took advantage of this fact to drive across the bridge last Sunday.”

Cotter Ferry Crossing

Scan of old photo post card showing railroad trestle and bridge 

Resources:

North American Engineering Record, Cotter Bridge, HAER No. AR-15, Lola Bennett, Corinne Smith

Cotter, Arkansas by B.J Lawry 1997, published by Ozark Newsletter, Cotter, Arkansas

Microfilm reel #9 (Yellville) Mountain Echo- May 8, 1935 (Vol. 49, #5) – Sept. 17, 1941 (Vol. 56, #26) Marion County Library, Yellville, AR

http://www.baxtercountyhistory.org  

http://cotterarkansas.com