Arkansas Trivia & Tidbits - Page 4

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

—The state has two towns—De Witt (pop. 3,552) and Clinton (pop. 2,283)—named for former New York Gov. DeWitt Clinton, whose fame spread across the land because he was a leader in building the Erie Canal.

first appeared: 4/22/2007

—On Saturdays from May to mid-October, people gather for “front porch music” in Mount Ida (pop. 981). The free bluegrass, country and gospel jam sessions and concerts are held on a stage known as Montgomery County’s Front Porch on the courthouse square.

first appeared: 4/8/2007

—In 2004, wind chime artist Ranaga Farbiarz built what was reported to be the world’s largest tuned musical wind chime, with the longest of the six aluminum musical tubes measuring 20 feet, at Celestial Windz Harmonic Bizaar in Eureka Springs (pop. 2,278).

first appeared: 3/25/2007

—Sawyer Stone, 13, of Hot Springs (pop. 35,750), and his grandfather Dave Reeder of Fort Smith won the 2006 Great Race, a 4,000-mile trip across America in a vintage vehicle—a 1916 Hudson. The pair split the $100,000 prize, and Stone, the navigator, rolled into history as the race’s youngest winner.

first appeared: 3/11/2007

—Instead of signing a guest book at That Bookstore in Blytheville (pop. 18,272), visiting authors sign a collection of wooden folding chairs. The bookstore opened in 1976 and is a well-known landmark, specializing in works by Southern authors and about Southern culture.

first appeared: 2/27/2007

—Established in 1836, Benton County and its county seat of Bentonville (pop. 19,730) are named in honor of U.S. Sen. Thomas Hart Benton of Missouri, who played a key role in Arkansas’ admission into the Union.

first appeared: 2/11/2007

—A herd of about 450 elk makes its home along the Buffalo National River, and the story of the elks’ near disappearance and recovery is told at the Ponca Elk Education Center in Ponca.

first appeared: 1/28/2007

Billed as the nation’s longest bridge built for foot and bicycle traffic, the Big Dam Bridge spans the Arkansas River and links Little Rock and North Little Rock. The $12.5 million bridge is 3,463 feet long and rises 65 feet above the navigation channel.

first appeared: 1/14/2007

—Forty-acre Lake Bennett, set within Woolly Hollow State Park in Greenbrier (pop. 3,042), was developed by the Works Progress Administration and Civilian Conservation Corps in 1935. The lake is the nation’s first watershed project built for the purpose of studying the effects of water runoff, silt and erosion control on a specific watershed.

first appeared: 12/17/2006

—At 6,700 acres, Lake Conway in Faulkner County is the nation’s largest manmade lake built by a state game and fish commission. Construction began in 1948, and the fishing lake is stocked with bass, bream, catfish and crappie.

first appeared: 12/3/2006

—The world record brown trout—a whopping 40 pounds, 4 ounces—was hooked in 1992 by Howard “Rip” Collins in the Little Red River near his home in Heber Springs (pop. 6,432).

first appeared: 11/19/2006

—The Hot Springs (pop. 35,750) Mountain Tower offers stunning 360-degree views of the surrounding countryside, including the Ouachita Mountains. The 216-foot tower was built in 1983 and is the third such structure to oversee the mountain. The first, built in 1877, was destroyed by lightning, and the second proved unstable and was torn down.

first appeared: 11/5/2006

—Mayhaw jelly is a regional favorite, made from the tart fruit of mayhaw trees, which grow in streams, river bottoms and swamplands of the South. El Dorado (pop. 21,530) and Colquitt, Ga., which proclaims itself the mayhaw capital of the world, honor the fruit with festivals.

first appeared: 10/22/2006

—Turkey hunter Zoe Caywood of Hindsville (pop. 75) scored a “world slam” in 2001, taking all six species of wild turkeys that inhabit North America. She did it the hard way—with an old-fashioned 12-gauge flintlock shotgun.

first appeared: 10/8/2006

You’ll need hiking boots to see the state’s tallest waterfall, Hemmed-In Hollow Falls, on the Buffalo National River in the Ponca Wilderness Area in Newton County (pop. 8,608). The falls drop more than 200 feet and can be reached by trail, but not by car.

first appeared: 9/24/2006

Most airline fare is slim pickings, but you can eat catfish and frog legs in a Boeing 737 at the Walnut Ridge (pop. 4,925) Regional Airport. Donna Robertson converted a retired Southwest Airlines plane into a dining room at her Parachute Inn Restaurant. Coats can be stored in the overhead bins.

first appeared: 9/10/2006

Professional meteorite hunter Steve Arnold of Kingston in Madison County (pop. 14,243) unearthed a 1,400-pound meteorite, classified as a pallasite, last October in Kiowa County, Kan. The "million-dollar rock" has crystals embedded in an iron-nickel alloy.

first appeared: 8/27/2006

Between 2,500 and 3,000 steaks sizzle on the square in Magnolia (pop. 10,858) during the annual World Championship Steak Cook Off, where secret marinades, specially designed grills and succulent steaks produce a $2,500 first-place winner.

first appeared: 8/13/2006

Kelsey Lea, 12, of Conway (pop. 43,167), blew away the competition to win the 2004 Dubble Bubble National Bubble Blowing Contest and a $10,000 U.S. Savings Bond. Her winning bubble measured 18 and 1/2 inches in diameter. She also won the international blowout.

first appeared: 7/30/2006

In 2001, the state honored Daisy Gatson Bates with a state holiday, the first African-American woman to achieve the honor. Bates helped organize and inspire the nine African-American students who integrated Central High School in 1957 in Little Rock.

first appeared: 7/16/2006

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