Atkins, Arkansas
Encyclopedia
Atkins is a city in Pope County, Arkansas
Arkansas
Arkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...

, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. The population was 2,878 at the 2000 census
United States Census, 2000
The Twenty-second United States Census, known as Census 2000 and conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States on April 1, 2000, to be 281,421,906, an increase of 13.2% over the 248,709,873 persons enumerated during the 1990 Census...

. It is part of the Russellville
Russellville, Arkansas
Russellville is the county seat and largest city in Pope County, Arkansas, United States, with a population of 27,920, according to the 2010 Census. It is home to Arkansas Tech University and Arkansas Nuclear One, Arkansas' only nuclear power plant...

 Micropolitan Statistical Area
Russellville micropolitan area
The Russellville Micropolitan Statistical Area, as defined by the United States Census Bureau, is an area consisting of two counties in the U.S...

.

Geography

Atkins is located at 35°14′37"N 92°56′18"W (35.243485, -92.938212).

According to the United States Census Bureau
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...

, the city has a total area of 6.1 square miles (15.8 km²), all of it land. Many Atkins residents commute to nearby Russellville, Arkansas
Russellville, Arkansas
Russellville is the county seat and largest city in Pope County, Arkansas, United States, with a population of 27,920, according to the 2010 Census. It is home to Arkansas Tech University and Arkansas Nuclear One, Arkansas' only nuclear power plant...

 for work, school, and recreation due to its close location.

Demographics

As of the census
Census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...

of 2000, there were 2,878 people, 1,117 households, and 817 families residing in the city. The population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...

 was 469.8 people per square mile (181.3/km²). There were 1,210 housing units at an average density of 197.5 per square mile (76.2/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 97.05% White
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...

, 0.87% Black
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...

 or African American
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...

, 0.69% Native American
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...

, 0.17% Asian
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...

, 0.31% from other races
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...

, and 0.90% from two or more races. 0.90% of the population were Hispanic
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...

 or Latino
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...

 of any race.

There were 1,117 households out of which 34.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.8% were married couples
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...

 living together, 12.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.8% were non-families. 23.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.50 and the average family size was 2.95.

In the city the population was spread out with 25.5% under the age of 18, 7.8% from 18 to 24, 27.6% from 25 to 44, 21.9% from 45 to 64, and 17.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 85.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 84.7 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $30,339, and the median income for a family was $38,309. Males had a median income of $27,470 versus $17,462 for females. The per capita income
Per capita income
Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...

 for the city was $15,979. About 11.1% of families and 13.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 16.6% of those under age 18 and 19.8% of those age 65 or over.

History

Following the Civil War, Arkansas underwent a brief period of industrialization as capitalists, mostly from the North, took advantage of the opportunities to foster commercial growth in the devastated Southern states. One of these ventures was the Little Rock and Fort Smith Railroad. As the surveyed route followed the northern side of the Arkansas River
Arkansas River
The Arkansas River is a major tributary of the Mississippi River. The Arkansas generally flows to the east and southeast as it traverses the U.S. states of Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. The river's initial basin starts in the Western United States in Colorado, specifically the Arkansas...

 from Little Rock toward points westward, funds ran out at Perry Station (Pope County), which was about four miles west of present-day Blackwell (Conway County). A Boston, Massachusetts, businessman named Elisha Atkins invested enough money to continue construction in 1872; a town was platted at the next major crossroads and christened Atkins.

Benjamin Towler Embry built the first home in Atkins, which is still inhabited, in 1872. A year later, Ephraim Alexander Darr established the first business in the new town when he opened a general store, fronting the south side of the tracks. Appointed as the first postmaster in 1873, Darr also operated an informal bank, where he kept people’s money in his vault, until 1895, when he and other local businessmen founded the Bank of Atkins, which has evolved into a branch of Liberty Bank
Liberty Bank
Liberty Bank is headquartered in the heart of downtown Middletown, Connecticut, but is located throughout Middlesex County and at shoreline locations...

. In the last quarter of the nineteenth century, many people moved to Atkins from the once prosperous antebellum town of Galley Rock, also known as Galla Rock, which sat seven miles southwest of Atkins on the northern banks of the Arkansas River.

After Atkins had approximately 300 residents, D. M. Mourning and Ben T. Embry petitioned for incorporation. Atkins was incorporated on November 3, 1876, with James Franklin Darr elected as the first mayor and Mourning serving as the first city clerk. The railroad also lured many German immigrants who moved to the area in the 1870s and 1880s, organizing the Catholic church and adding a sizable number of skilled laborers, craftsmen, and businessmen to the population. Perhaps most notable among these immigrants was Paul Reiss, a merchant who spoke English well and assisted the other Germans in acclimating to their new home.In November 1894, George L. Parker established the Atkins Chronicle, a weekly newspaper. It has operated continuously, making it the oldest business in town. Atkins developed into a trade center and a cotton market for an area including parts of Pope, Searcy, Van Buren, and Conway counties, as well as northeastern Yell County, where people had access to two ferries on the Arkansas River. Atkins was twice considered as a site for a county seat, once in 1887 and again in 1911, but voters rejected the measures.

After growing through the first quarter of the twentieth century, Atkins suffered some economic setbacks. Following an extremely wet winter and spring, the Flood of 1927 struck in April and May, depositing as much as four feet of sand in the Arkansas River bottoms and forcing some of the small farmers to abandon their land. That same year, Governor John Martineau launched his ambitious plan to improve Arkansas’s roadways with a modern highway system. Although prominent local citizens promoted a bridge across the Arkansas River southwest of Atkins, the Arkansas Highway Commission opted for the nearly completed Highway 7 bridge between Dardanelle and Russellville
Russellville, Arkansas
Russellville is the county seat and largest city in Pope County, Arkansas, United States, with a population of 27,920, according to the 2010 Census. It is home to Arkansas Tech University and Arkansas Nuclear One, Arkansas' only nuclear power plant...

. Within a generation, both ferries operating on the river southwest of Atkins ceased to exist, all but severing the town’s ties to the Arkansas River.

The Drought of 1930–31 hit Arkansas hard, given the area’s dependency on agriculture. Several families in and around Atkins faced the threat of starvation, and the Red Cross responded twice in early 1931, delivering food, clothes, and other necessities to those in need. There were signs of progress, however. Road crews paved Highway 64 in the spring of 1931, making it the first paved road in town. After the New Deal came into effect, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) sponsored five projects in Atkins, building the legion hall, the city jail, the waterworks pump house, and a gymnasium and agriculture building for the school.

In 1945, the Goldsmith Pickle Company invested $75,000 to build a pickle plant in town; townspeople raised an additional $15,000 to build and equip the plant. What became the Atkins Pickle Company sustained the local economy for more than half a century. The poultry industry has played a role as well. Many people around town built broiler houses to serve a number of poultry-processing plants, one of which went into operation in the vacant pickle plant in 2004.

Interstate 40 added vitality to Atkins when the section of the interstate through Pope County opened in September 1968, giving Atkins access where the thoroughfare traverses State Highway 105. Since then, the business district has drifted northward as a number of local businesses relocated and a few nationally known franchises moved in.
On the afternoon of February 5, 2008
2008 Super Tuesday tornado outbreak
The 2008 Super Tuesday tornado outbreak was a deadly tornado outbreak which affected the Southern United States and the lower Ohio Valley on February 5 and 6, 2008. The event began on Super Tuesday, while 24 U.S. states were holding primary elections and caucuses to select the presidential...

, an F-4 tornado ripped a path a quarter of a mile wide through the southern and eastern edges of Atkins, killing five residents of Atkins, as well as two more in Conway County who had ties to Atkins, and injuring approximately twenty in Atkins. (The total toll in Arkansas was twelve dead and at least 190 injured.) With wind speeds between 180 and 200 miles per hour, the tornado destroyed nearly forty homes, many businesses, and one church, and damaged many other structures. The Chronicle called it the worst natural disaster ever to hit Atkins, but with the assistance of volunteers and various agencies, the town has been steadily recovering.

Education

The school system is almost as old as the town. A two-story schoolhouse was built a block west of the business district in 1875 to educate the local youth through the eighth grade. The district organized a high school in 1893. Neil H. Bell modernized the high school in the 1920s and 1930s, offering courses in business, home economics, and agriculture. In August 1999, students, teachers, and staff moved into a new high school, which was funded by a voter-approved bond measure, and voters supported a millage increase in 2008 to construct an elementary and middle school complex, slated to open in 2010.

Tourism

Atkins has long been identified as the pickle capital of Arkansas, although the pickle industry is only a part of its heritage now. The city grew up along the railroad, served as a center for river traffic, and is now situated along a major interstate. Nearby Lake Atkins is a popular fishing destination.

In 1956, Lake Atkins was created from Galla and Horsehead creeks as a recreation area, covering 752 acres and offering fishermen an abundance of bream, crappie, catfish, and largemouth bass.

Picklefest, first observed in 1992, celebrates the pickle heritage of Atkins annually on the third weekend in May.

Notable residents

  • Ellis Kinder
    Ellis Kinder
    Ellis Raymond Kinder , also nicknamed "Old Folks", was a Major League Baseball right-handed pitcher who played for the St. Louis Browns , Boston Red Sox , St. Louis Cardinals and Chicago White Sox...

    , born in Atkins, major league baseball
    Major League Baseball
    Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...

     player
  • Wilson Matthews
    Wilson Matthews
    Wilson David Matthews was an American football coach. He became a high school coaching legend in the state of Arkansas after winning 10 state championships and producing a 33-win streak in 11 years at Little Rock Central High School. He later became an assistant to Frank Broyles at the University...

    , born in Atkins, former University of Arkansas
    University of Arkansas
    The University of Arkansas is a public, co-educational, land-grant, space-grant, research university. It is classified by the Carnegie Foundation as a research university with very high research activity. It is the flagship campus of the University of Arkansas System and is located in...

     assistant football coach
  • Norris Church Mailer
    Norris Church Mailer
    Norris Church Mailer was the widow of American novelist, Norman Mailer, and author of the memoir, A Ticket to the Circus, and of several novels.Before her relationship with Mailer, she married Larry Norris, gave birth to son Matthew in 1972, and was divorced in 1975...

    , born in Atkins, writer
  • Marisa Willis, resides in Atkins, fiction author and graphics designer.
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