Tag: Arkansas Delta

  • Blackton (Monroe County)

    Blackton (Monroe County)

    Blackton is a small community in Monroe County, Arkansas that is located in Hindman Township.

  • Nick’s Barbecue

    Nick’s Barbecue

    Nick’s is located in the small Arkansas town of Carlisle in Lonoke County. The restaurant is easily accessible from Interstate 40 or Highway 70. It is usually busy and has a large parking lot for Big Trucks, so you know it’s got a good reputation. Growing up in the South means a love of barbecue…

  • The Hurley House Cafe

    The Hurley House Cafe

    The Hurley House Cafe is a small restaurant which serves up some big meals that can satisfy the hungriest appetites.

  • Louis Jordan “The King of the Jukebox”

    Louis Jordan “The King of the Jukebox”

    Louis Thomas Jordan was a talented singer who added comedy with over the top expressions to become world famous during the swing era and forward. He fronted his own band for over twenty years and had dozens of hits during the 40s and 50s. Because of his musical flair this singer had duets with such…

  • Tomato Gravy

    Tomato Gravy

    Although chocolate gravy is more associated with Arkansas, many people who grew up in the Delta know about another favorite topping, tomato gravy. Tomato gravy can trace its origins back to Appalachia, but was introduced into the Mississippi and Arkansas Delta as families moved west. This isn’t the kind of gravy used over pasta though.…

  • Iris DeMent

    Iris DeMent

    Iris DeMent has a unique sound all her own with a mixture of folk, country, bluegrass and gospel music. From songs about people and places to comedy, her music has carved its own place in America. Iris Dement was born at Paragould, Arkansas on January 5, 1961 as the youngest of fourteen children. Her parents,…

  • A Barber Has a Close Shave: The Sisks of Wynne.

    A Barber Has a Close Shave: The Sisks of Wynne.

    A family drama played out  Saturday, July 8, 1922 across two communities in Cross County, Arkansas that left a local barber with a close shave which was not of his choosing. This harrowing and wild event involved Edward Pierce Sisk and his wife Minnie. Edward was a barber living in Wynne along East Union Street.…

  • Pedro is Waiting

    Pedro is Waiting

    In a tucked away corner of Maple Hill Cemetery lies the Moore family plot.  You can tell the Moores were wealthy by the way their markers look. A number of people are buried here, surrounding a large memorial with the names of at least six members of the family engraved on the sides. Toward the…

  • Southland College

    Southland College

    Southland College was a beacon of light in the Arkansas Delta for thousands of African American families.  It was the first institution of higher learning for African Americans west of the Mississippi River. On April 8, 1864, Calvin and Alida Clark exited a southbound steamer at Helena.  They had been asked by the Indiana Freedmen’s…

  • The Hustlerettes and the Lula Hotel

    The Hustlerettes and the Lula Hotel

    Straub, Virginia Merrifield. Phillips County Historical Quarterly. Volume 19, Number 3 & 4. June and September 1981. Published by The Phillips County Historical Society. Helena, Arkansas. This story is taken directly from an article in the Phillips County Historical Quarterly that appeared in 1981. In a series of articles for the Helena-West Helena Twin City Tribune,…