Arkansas Trivia & Tidbits
Looking for Arkansas trivia? Try our list Arkansas little know facts, tidbits and trivia.
—Five-year-old Tre Merrit of Arkansas County (pop. 20,749) shot and killed a 445-pound black bear last December while hunting with his grandfather. The tyke, a descendant of Davy Crockett, was taught to shoot at age 2.
first appeared: 5/4/2008
—Mark Stanley of Bentonville (pop. 19,730) is building the state’s first tire-bale house. The perimeter foundation, load-bearing walls and insulation are made of 120 stacked tire bales. Each bale contains up to 100 used automobile tires, which are compressed into a block and secured with metal or plastic ties.
first appeared: 3/9/2008
—State employees who exercise regularly, don’t smoke, and eat fruits and vegetables can earn up to three paid days off each year as participants in the Arkansas Healthy Employee Lifestyle Program.
first appeared: 2/24/2008
—The Wilburn Brothers Show, a syndicated country music television program that aired from 1963 to 1974, gave early exposure to singers such as Tammy Wynette and Barbara Mandrell. Virgil Doyle Wilburn was born in 1930 and Thurman Theodore Wilburn was born in 1931, both in Hardy (pop. 578).
first appeared: 2/10/2008
—The state is home to three federal fish hatcheries: Mammoth Spring National Fish Hatchery at Mammoth Spring (pop. 1,147); Norfork National Fish Hatchery near Mountain Home (pop. 11,012); and Greers Ferry National Fish Hatchery near Heber Springs (pop. 6,432).
first appeared: 1/27/2008
—The state held its first alligator hunt during two weekends last September and issued permits to 40 hunters.
first appeared: 1/13/2008
—Two cities in the state—Fort Smith in the northwest and Lake Village (pop. 2,823) in the southeast—share the title of “Purple Martin Capital.”
first appeared: 12/30/2007
—The 71-acre Baker Prairie in Harrison (pop. 12,152) is all that is left of a once 5,000-acre tallgrass prairie in northwest Arkansas. Visitors can see native grasses, wildflowers and animals, including the prairie mole cricket, grasshopper sparrow and ornate box turtle.
first appeared: 12/2/2007
—Six-time NBA World Champion (1991, 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997 and 1998) Scottie Pippen was born in 1965 in Hamburg (pop. 3,039). The Chicago Bulls player also was a member of the U.S. basketball Olympic team that won gold medals in 1992 and 1996.
first appeared: 11/18/2007
—For the ninth consecutive year, Del Hampton of Fort Smith scratched, strutted and clucked his way to the National Cluck-Off championship at the Wayne (Neb.) Chicken Show in July.
first appeared: 11/4/2007
—In 1912, the Pine Bluff (pop. 55,085) chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution decided to present a “stand of colors” to the USS Arkansas, a new battleship, then discovered that Arkansas didn’t have a state flag. They launched a statewide design contest, and a flag design by Willie Hocker of Wabbaseka (pop. 323) was approved in 1913.
first appeared: 10/21/2007
—The birthplace of country music star Collin Raye, born in 1959 in De Queen (pop. 5,765), has been restored for a museum. Raye’s first of 15 No. 1 hits was Love, Me in 1991.
first appeared: 10/7/2007
––Queen Wilhelmina Lodge atop Rich Mountain near Mena (pop. 5,637) is the third lodge to be built on the site. Named after the queen of Holland, the first lodge opened in 1898, fell into disrepair and was replaced in 1963. The second lodge was destroyed by fire in 1973. The current “Castle in the Clouds” opened in 1975.
first appeared: 9/30/2007
—The highest upside-down inversion roller coaster in the world is at Magic Springs and Crystal Falls theme park and water park in Hot Springs (pop. 35,750), where the X-Coaster rockets riders 150 feet in the air, flips them upside down and sends them on a corkscrew roll at more than 65 mph.
first appeared: 9/9/2007
—The 4.25-carat vibrant yellow “Kahn Canary” diamond worn by former first lady Hillary Clinton at her husband’s presidential inaugural galas in 1993 and 1997 was found in 1977 at Crater of Diamonds State Park, a public diamond digging site, near Murfreesboro (pop. 1,764). Stan Kahn of Kahn Jewelers in Pine Bluff (pop. 55,085) owns the gem, which was found by George Stepp of Carthage (pop. 442).
first appeared: 8/26/2007
—A 1928 restored Esso Gas Station in Mena (pop. 5,637) houses a collection of muscle, classic, and antique cars, street rods, motorcycles, motor scooters, pedal cars, antique oil and gas signs, and other automotive memorabilia.
first appeared: 8/12/2007
—In 1847, according to local legend, the postmaster at Evening Shade (pop. 465) came up with the town’s romantic name because he was inspired by tall pine trees casting shadows on his mill.
first appeared: 7/29/2007
—At the 1968 Olympics, James Hines ran 100 meters in 9.95 seconds, a world record that he held until 1983. Hines was born in 1946 in Dumas (pop. 5,238).
first appeared: 7/15/2007
—Little Rock Central High School is the only operating high school in the nation to also be designated a National Historic Site. In 1957, the school became a crucial battleground in the struggle for civil rights when nine black students entered the previously all-white high school under federal troop protection.
first appeared: 7/1/2007
—In 1945, Dorothy Shaver was named president of Lord & Taylor department store on Fifth Avenue in New York City. Shaver, who became one of the leading female executives of the 1950s, was born in 1893 in Center Point in Howard County (pop. 14,300) and died in 1959.
first appeared: 6/17/2007
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