Arkansas Trivia & Tidbits - Page 16

Looking for Arkansas trivia? Try our list Arkansas little know facts, tidbits and trivia.

Brooks Robinson Jr., a retired Baltimore Oriole considered to be the league’s best third baseman ever, was born in Little Rock in 1937.

first appeared: 6/3/2001

Pea Ridge National Military Park, near Pea Ridge (pop. 2,021), is one of the country’s best preserved Civil War battlefields. The park also includes part of the Trail of Tears.

first appeared: 5/27/2001

Arkansas is known for its vast chalk deposits. In 1969, the Arkansas Geological Commission and the U. S. Bureau of Mines calculated chalk reserves of 700 million tons in Sevier and Howard counties.

first appeared: 5/20/2001

The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette in Little Rock is the oldest continuously published newspaper west of the Mississippi River. The Arkansas Gazette first was published in 1819. It and the Arkansas Democrat merged in 1991.

first appeared: 5/13/2001

Barling (pop. 4,078), founded in 1811 by settler Aaron Barling, originally was known as Spring Hill. In 1887, townspeople changed the name after discovering another Arkansas town was called Spring Hill.

first appeared: 5/6/2001

Faulkner County (pop. 77,500) was formed in 1873 from parts of Pulaski and Conway counties. It was named after Col. Sanford C. Faulkner, a fiddler and a teller of tall tales.

first appeared: 4/29/2001

U.S. Sen. John L. McClellan of Sheridan (pop. 3,098) was responsible for the $1.2 billion Arkansas River Navigation Project, which made the river navigable to oceangoing vessels as far upstream as Tulsa. McClellan died in 1977.

first appeared: 4/22/2001

George Kell, a Baseball Hall of Fame third baseman for the Detroit Tigers, was born in Swifton (pop. 830). He won the American League batting title in 1949 and later became a sportscaster. His lifetime .306 average ranks only behind Pie Traynor and George Brett among all third basemen.

first appeared: 4/15/2001

Visitors to the post office in Texarkana (pop. 23,100) can stand in two states at once. The office straddles State Line Avenue with half the building in Texas and half in Arkansas.

first appeared: 4/8/2001

Joseph T. Robinson, one of the U.S. Congress’ great leaders and the first Arkansan on a national ticket, was born near Lonoke (pop. 4,022) in 1872 . He served as a congressman, governor, U.S. senator, and Senate minority leader.

first appeared: 4/1/2001

Mifflin W. Gibbs became America’s first African-American jurist in 1873 in Little Rock when he was elected city judge.

first appeared: 3/25/2001

Blanchard Springs Caverns, located near Mountain Home (pop. 9,027), is the only cave system in the country developed and operated by the U.S. Forest Service.

first appeared: 3/18/2001

Celebrated opera conductor Sarah Caldwell, raised in Fayetteville, not only founded the Opera Company of Boston in the late 1950s, but in 1976 became the first woman to conduct at the Metropolitan Opera in New York.

first appeared: 3/11/2001

Gen. Douglas MacArthur was born in 1880 in the Tower Building of the Little Rock Arsenal while his father was its commandant. MacArthur became a five-star U.S. Army general and supreme commander of the Allied Forces in the Southwest Pacific during World War II.

first appeared: 3/4/2001

Kemmons Wilson, of Osceola (pop. 9,165), founded and opened the first Holiday Inn in 1952 in Memphis. One year later he founded Holiday Inns of America and served as chairman and chief executive officer until 1979.

first appeared: 2/25/2001

Paul “Bear” Bryant, who was raised in Fordyce (pop. 4,729) and served as head coach of the University of Alabama’s Crimson Tide football team from 1958-1983, is the winningest college football coach, with 323 victories and six national championships.

first appeared: 2/18/2001

Mount Ida (pop. 775) is known as the “Quartz Crystal Capital of the World.” Rock hounds of all types are welcome to come dig up the shiny mineral from any of several mines.

first appeared: 2/11/2001

Davidsonville, established in 1815, had the state’s first post office (1817) and courthouse (1818). The town no longer exists, but parts of it are preserved as Old Davidsonville State Park.

first appeared: 2/4/2001

Batesville (pop. 9,600), established in 1822, has existed under three names: Napoleon, Poke Creek, and finally Batesville in honor of Judge James Woodson Bates, the first Territorial Delegate to Congress.

first appeared: 1/28/2001

Logoly State Park, established in 1974, is Arkansas’ first environmental education state park where interpreters present workshops on ecological topics.

first appeared: 1/21/2001

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