Arkansas State Capitol Bronze Doors

QUESTION: I drive by the Capitol on my way home from work every day and I can’t help but admire its incredibly shiny front doors. What can you tell me about them? Thanks, Crosstown traffic

SCUTTLEBUTT: According to Richard Adcock, keeper of Arkansas’ State Capitol Doors, when President George W. Bush’s labor secretary Elaine Chao came to town she raved about them. She said that she wished our doors [U.S. Capitol] could look that shiny and good.

SKINNY: First let me say that Crosstown Traffic happens to be one of my favorite Jimi Hendrix tunes. I’d wager you like the song too.

According to the Secretary of State’s self guided tour,  the six east front entrance doors are made of bronze and are 10 feet tall, four inches thick and were purchased in 1910 from Tiffany’s in New York for $10,000.

Richard Adcock, Keeper of the Doors

Although I was unable to find detailed information about the purchase of the bronze doors I learned that Tiffany & Co. reached far beyond jewelry and glass. Charles Tiffany founded what would become one of the most prestigious companies of fine things in the world. But it was his son, Louis Comfort Tiffany that I believe would have had his hand in making the bronze doors that grace our Capitol today.

The Morse Museum in Winter Park, Florida houses one of the most comprehensive exhibits of Tiffany. In their leaflet Quest for Beauty, Louis Comfort Tiffany’s Life and Art they note that this Tiffany was a painter, decorator, architect, photographer, a designer of pottery, furniture, enamels and jewelry, in addition to glass lamps, windows, mosaics and vases. It was this Tiffany who opened the Tiffany Studios noted for among other things its bronze and metal work. He was commissioned by a number notables such as Mark Twain where he was asked to decorate his residence in Hartford, Connecticut, and President Chester A. Arthur to decorate the Blue Room, East Room, a corridor and the State Dining Room of The White House.

CHECK THIS OUT:

The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York has a gallery in The American Wing devoted to the arts of Louis C. Tiffany. Find out more here.

CHECK THIS OUT:

Here is a tour of Arkansas’ State Capitol. Enjoy!

Cockerel, Photo by RobW

QUESTION: Hey Plainclothesman, I’ve been burning to ask you this….over the holidays…Thanksgiving to be exact, I waited til Thanksgiving morning to go shopping. The only fresh bird Kroger had left was a Capon, which I later learned was a neutered Rooster. Thank goodness I chose Salmon! Anyway, a friend of my Mom’s told me that  it actually tastes pretty good. Go figure. What can you tell me about Capon? Have you had it? Is it good?

Signed,

Capon For Thanksgiving 2010.

SCUTTLEBUTT: A well informed Arkansan who has lived in this state well over 50 years told Mrs. Plainclothesman that Governor Winthrop Rockefeller introduced Capon to Arkansas and had it imported here from New York.

Capon, Photo by Sifu Renka

SKINNY: Well CFT 2010, I had not heard of Capon until your question but must say I can’t wait to experience it. As you’ve noted, CFT 2010 Capon is a neutered Rooster.

According to Harvey and Ellen Ussery of The Modern Homestead, “Caponizing has been practiced for thousands of years, by the Romans for example, as well as the ancient Chinese.” In their article, “Caponizing: Reviving a lost art,”  they state “as with castration of mammals, e.g., bull calves, the removal of testosterone-producing glands yields an animal that has better weight gain, is docile, and remains tender up to the day of slaughter.”

Our friends at Wikipedia tell us that “The Lex Faunia of 162 BCE forbade fattening hens as a way of conserving grain. In order to get around this the Romans castrated roosters, which resulted in a doubling of size.^“

Although I haven’t had Capon I believe your Mom’s friend is right…Capon appears to be a gourmand’s delight. Now as far as the scuttlebutt I could not find anything to connect Arkansas’ beloved Governor Rockefeller and Capon. However I did find this about Arkansas’ 27th governor, Thomas Jefferson Terral. Here’s an excerpt from a 1990 Arkansas Democrat Gazette article that shares Governor Terral’s interest and satisfaction with the tasty Capon.

“JOHN COOK OF North Little Rock joins those who are remembering incidents reported from the administration of Arkansas Gov. Tom Terrall. As somebody’s dinner guest, the governor was much taken with some fowl that was served. ” What is this?” he asked appreciatively. The host said, ” Governor, that’s capon.” Governor Terrall ate some more. ” Well, it’s delicious.” The chief executive was still remembering dinner when the evening ended and goodbyes were being said. “That meal was most enjoyable. If it’s possible, I would like very much to have a setting of those capon eggs.”

CHECK THIS OUT: How to castrate a rooster by a master at Sunshine Farms.

CHECK THIS OUT: Click here for Nasco’s Caponizing Kit.

CHECK THIS OUT: A beautiful Chinese caligraphy vignette of the cockerel

Photo by Melissa Tucker

I asked Guy Lancaster, editor of the Encyclopedia of Arkansas History and Culture why he was so interested in Sundown towns.  Sundown towns started in the late 19^th century and were places in Arkansas and our nation that blacks were not welcome after dark.  In fact the Encyclopedia of Arkansas History and Culture notes that sundown towns didn’t reach their peak until the 1970’s.

“Many people will tell you that the reason there were no blacks in various places throughout Arkansas was simply because blacks didn’t want to be there,” says Mr. Lancaster.  He believes that if we understand that we created sundown towns then we might be more mindful of the ways in which we develop our communities in the future.

Surely, making good use of our history has got to be one of the salient themes spackled in the walls of the new Arkansas Studies Institute in downtown Little Rock.  The institute along with other Arkansas historical troves, open to the public, like the Arkansas History Commission, The Mosaic Templars Cultural Center, and Philander Smith College Library to name a few are devoted to both recording and making Arkansas history accessible.  In fact the Encyclopedia of Arkansas History and Culture is available online.

I like to think of myself as a history detective and I love researching the proverbial who, what, where, when, why and how especially when the answers to those questions take me back a generation or more.  Recently, I was asked to find out what African-American life was like in 1904 Little Rock for an Emmy Award winning playwright based in Los Angeles.

I was charged with finding out what the social scene was like at the time.  What were the funeral traditions, foods, natural aesthetics like trees and vegetables that would be planted in a 1904 Little Rock backyard garden?  What were the names of interesting works of fiction and nonfiction from Arkansans writing at the time?

The greatest boon for me in working on this research project was discovering the very special places and people who document and freely share our collective history.  I learned that although 39 years had passed since the 13^th amendment to the Constitution was enacted purportedly ending slavery, Little Rock and many other communities throughout the country were creating laws to segregate blacks from whites.  The lynching of African Americans was rampant and widespread and sundown towns were growing in number and becoming a fixed fact among us.

Nevertheless, the rhythmic quake of ragtime, ushered in by Arkansan, Scott Joplin was taking shape and making its way up north.  In 1904, Little Rock had three black colleges Shorter, Arkansas Baptist and Philander Smith.

Downtown’s West Ninth Street had African American businesses like The Children’s Drug Store, a pharmacy owned by African American Frank Barbour Coffin, who was also a published poet and The Mosaic Templars of America, an organization that provided financial, medical and social aid to African Americans in Arkansas and throughout the nation.  Known for its mutual aid, insurance and self help programs, The Mosaic Templars also established a nursing school.

Like Atlanta’s Auburn Avenue and Harlem’s 125^th Street, African American beauty salons, pool halls, butchers and restaurants were all found downtown on Little Rock’s West Ninth Street.

A recent transplant to Little Rock from Atlanta, Georgia this research project availed me the opportunity to learn something of the rich and vibrant history of this great unassuming place called “The Natural State.”  But all you budding history detectives don’t need an out of state playwright to get you started…all you need is a question like why are there so many ranch styled houses in Little Rock? or who was Daisy Bates? or when and where was the first Christian Science church erected in Arkansas? or how did hot tamales become the Arkansan comfort food of choice, next to barbecue and where are they now?

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*This article first appeared in The Sync Weekly, April 1, 2009

QUESTION: I was at Whole Foods Market the other day looking for a tasty prepared hot treat for dinner. Don’t do this all the time, but I love Whole Foods and have just got to have it. My eyes fell on what the clerk told me were Tamales.  The clerk says Tamales is a state food of Arkansas. Is that true? Thanks, Whole Foods Always

SCUTTLEBUTT:  A delta man, maybe from Marianna or possibly Helena told the plainclothesman at the King Biscuit Blues Festival aka Arkansas Blues and Heritage Festival that Tamales is big business. He says you don’t see ‘em around as much as you used to back in the 50’s, 60’s, even 70’s. The delta man said someone in his family, an uncle he believes, had a knock out Tamales recipe. Everyone loved his uncle’s Tamales.  He loved making ‘em, but would share his recipe with no one. “You’d need a thousand dollars or so and just maybe you’d get that recipe from him,” says the delta man.

SKINNY:  Little Rock has an impressive organic-locally grown food movement. Whole Foods Market shares this cause and like you WFA, I enjoy their tasty prepared hot treats too. Check out Whole Foods Market Little Rock online for calendar of events, recipes, and so much more.

Now I don’t know if Arkansas actually has a state food. The Dutch Oven is the state’s cooking vessel and rice is the state grain.  As far as Tamales are concerned they are not recorded as a state food but have been a staple here for quite some time.  According to the folks who bring us the great Encyclopedia of Arkansas.net, “The St. Columbia family in Helena-West Helena (Phillips County) has been making and selling hot tamales since the late nineteenth century.” Today the family continues the tradition by selling Pasquale’s Hot Tamales online.  The St. Columbia family hail from Italy and have an interesting story.  Check out their website.

The folks at Encyclopedia of Arkansas.net tell us that most historians are convinced Tamales were brought to Arkansas, specifically the Delta by area Latino migrant laborers who worked in cotton fields up and down the Mississippi River in the 1920s and 1930s.

CHECK THIS OUT:

www.tamaletrail.com

The Hot Tamale Trail is an oral history of folks from the Delta talking about this food.  The first entry, Ervin’s Hot Tamales, is notable (well they are all great) because the grandmother shares how her husband got the recipe from a guy in Arkansas for over $1000.

AND CHECK THIS OUT: To learn how to make Delta styled tamales click here!

CHECK THIS OUT TOO: On The Power of Tamale: Authentic Christmas Tamales – Food Network, a Mexican-American family shares their special tamale recipe. This clip is part of The Power of Food show on the Food Network.

Vimy Ridge Memorial by Jimmerman Fish

QUESTION: I live on Vimy Ridge Road in Saline County, near Benton to be exact and am wondering if the name of the street has any Civil War significance. We’ve got a Civil War marker in the neighborhood and I was just wondering…?  Thanks, Mel.

SCUTTLEBUTT: None to speak of…..

SKINNY: “Settled by  a number of Germans who came to Saline County by way of Pennsylvania in the 1880’s, the community that is now known as Vimy Ridge was called Germania up until the first World war,” according to Michelle Wallace, contributing writer for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

Vimy Ridge was a World War I battlefront. Our friends at Wikipedia informed the plainclothesman that “The Battle of Vimy Ridge was a military engagement which took place April 9-12, 1917. Historians attribute the success of the Canadian Corps in capturing the ridge to a mixture of technical and tactical innovation, meticulous planning, powerful artillery support, and extensive training, as well as the failure of the German Sixth Army to properly apply the German defensive doctrine.”

According to Wallace (Saline County’s Vimy Ridge residents rename town after World War I battle, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, 2/5/06), “The battle of Vimy Ridge was deemed a success for the Allied Forces and the Germans in Otter Township, Saline County, saw fit to rename the Germania community in honor of the occasion.”

CHECK THIS OUT: As far as the Civil War goes Mel, here’s an interesting excerpt from “The History of Benton,” that I found at (http://www.benton.ar.gov/):

“In 1860, on the eve of the American Civil War the population of Arkansas had grown to 435,450 (including 111,115 slaves and 11,481 slave owners).  In 1860, Saline County’s population was 6,640 (including 749 slaves), and the population of Saline Township was 1,076 (not including slaves).  The relatively small number of slaves in the county was due in part to the poor soils that restrained the development of plantation agriculture.

The majority of Arkansas’ 1860 convention delegates represented areas where slave ownership was prevalent.  Hence, when President Lincoln called for 75,000 troops to put down the rebellion on May 6^th, and Virginia along with Robert E. Lee joined the Confederacy, it is not surprising that Arkansas chose secession rather than fight against other slave states.  During the Civil War (1861-1865), Saline County provided several regiments (i.e., 15 full companies) of Confederate troops.  However, this did not prevent the fall of Little Rock to Union forces in 1863.  Subsequently, Benton was occupied by as many as 4 regiments of Union troops.  They were based at Fort Bussy, which was located near the current-day intersection of Carpenter and Military Roads, where Walgreen’s Drug Store now sits.  Built in the 1850s, the Shoppach House near Main Street and Military Road, is the oldest structure in Benton and was occupied by Union troops during the Civil War.  During 1863 and 1864, there were several skirmishes between Union and Confederate troops near Benton (e.g., Battle of Hurricane Creek on Old Military/Stagecoach Road).  Also in 1864, Union forces based in Little Rock and led by Major General Steele encountered mud and rain at Benton during a nearly disastrous military campaign to drive Confederate forces from southwest Arkansas.”

For the rest of this article and more on the history of Benton go to: www.benton.ar.gov/about/benton_history.doc

CHECK THIS OUT:The Arkansas Civil War Sesquicentennial Commission commemorates the 150th anniversary of the Civil War in Arkansas by sanctioning events, encouraging research and education programs related to Civil War Arkansas, and preserving the sites that witnessed the Civil War in Arkansas. The Civil War Sesquicentennial will be celebrated between 2011 and 2015.  Check out the website and take part in these upcoming events (you can even suggest an event of your own).

National Park Service

CHECK THIS OUT: The National Park Service has an awesome map marking the civil war battle sites in Arkansas.

Thanks, Rockin’ Arky

SCUTTLEBUTT: None to speak of….

Hot Springs Village

SKINNY: Rockin’ Arky, did you spend July 4th at Hot Springs Village? I did. It happened to be my first visit to HSV. It is big, really big, but wouldn’t you say that it is quite unassuming too.

Yes, there are lakes upon lakes and the golf course or golf courses go on for days it seems but then it’s got all those trees and places, idyllic natural places, spaces, undeveloped and left alone. I enjoyed that most of all.

According to privatecommunities.com, HSV is the largest private gated community in the United States of America. HSV is hailed as “a stunning 26,000 acre self-contained community featuring an award winning tennis center and nine amazing golf courses, including the four of the top ranked courses in Arkansas by Golf Digest magazine.”

HSV dedicates 25% of its land to green space. According to its website people are moving to the Village because of security. HSV has its own police and fire department, EMT emergency ambulance service, water, sewer and road maintenance departments. HSV is only accessible through five security gates. Homes are still being built and sold at HSV and they encourage folks to call toll free 800.483.7990 to make a reservation for a tour.

“At a press conference during a meeting of the Arkansas Industrial Development Commission on January 21, 1970, company president John A. Cooper, Jr. announced plans for the immediate development of Hot Springs Village.” According to History of Hot Springs Village: 1970-2000, “the project was up and running at an incredibly rapid pace.”

Check out History of Hot Springs Village to learn more of the Native Americans who lived in this part of Garland County and subsequent Spanish and French occupiers.

The Encyclopedia of Arkansas notes three different types of housing units other than individual private lots available at HSV. “Townhomes were constructed in the western end, neighborhoods are distributed throughout the village, and timeshares are located in one section of the village known as Los Lagos.” Furthermore, it states “Prices for houses and townhouses range from $40,000 to $510,000, with a median price of $145,000.

CHECK THIS OUT: HSV’s 40th Anniversary in 2010…be there!

CHECK THIS OUT: Here’s a little ditty to make you grin. Enjoy!

Flag of Liberia

SKINNY: Well Paolo, I don’t know if there is such a thing or place called Argenta, Liberia, but I thought you’d like to know that Victoria Tolbert, the wife of the former President of Liberia, President William Tolbert was from Argenta, Arkansas. According to Kenneth C. Barnes, author of Journey of Hope: The Back to Africa Movement in the 1880’s, “Mrs. Tolbert was the daughter of Isaac David who at the age of five emigrated with his family from Argenta (now North Little Rock, Arkansas)” to Liberia.

Barnes is the Chair of the History Department at the University of Central Arkansas in Conway. He chronicled the “Back to Africa Movement” for the Encyclopedia of Arkansas and says: “It was the most fascinating topic I’ve ever worked on and I was sad when it was over.”

The Tolberts were products of the Back to Africa Movement. Barnes notes for the Encyclopedia of Arkansas that: “The Back-to-Africa Movement mobilized thousands of African-American Arkansans who wished to leave the state for the Republic of Liberia in the late 1800s. Approximately 650 emigrants left from Arkansas, more than from any other American state, in the 1880s and 1890s, the last phase of organized group migration of black Americans to Liberia.” The Plainclothesman asked Barnes why he thought the largest number of emigrants from the United States to Liberia came from Arkansas.  Here’s what he shared:

• The person who most served as a cheerleader for the Back to Africa Movement in the black community on a national level was Henry McNeal Turner, a bishop of the AME Church.  He lived in Atlanta, but his Episcopal district was Arkansas, Mississippi, and Indian Territory (today’s Oklahoma.)  As such, he came yearly to Arkansas to preside over annual church meetings at different locations, e.g. Little Rock, Batesville, Pine Bluff, Newport, Morrilton, and other towns, and always he preached enthusiastically about migration to Africa.  His presence in Arkansas was a factor.
• A less obvious factor was how rapidly the pendulum swung in Arkansas from being a relatively good environment for people of color to a location of some of the worst oppression in the South.  In the 1870s and early to mid 1880s Arkansas’ black population grew more rapidly than any other southern state as land was cheaper, wages higher, and relatively more opportunities politically and economically for black people than areas of the deep South. A complicated set of circumstances in the 1880s made black voters holding the balance of power in elections and white Democrats responded with a harsh clampdown that took away voting rights and ushered in Jim Crow discrimination in the harshest of forms between 1888 and 1892.  So very quickly Arkansas went from a desirable place for black people to a mirror image of Mississippi and South Carolina style oppression.  Many of these black newcomers who had come to Arkansas with high hopes gave up on the South and in fact America and determined to leave for Africa.
• A third factor is the organic, somewhat epidemic nature of the Back to Africa Movement. I often call it Liberia fever, for you could see it spreading from community to community almost like a virus.  It was an emotional even somewhat of a religious movement that fed off of its own momentum.

This is just a summary of Barnes’ arguments, for more detail check out the entry “Back to Africa Movement” in the Encyclopedia of Arkansas and buy Journey of Hope: The Back to Africa Movement in the 1880s.

CHECK THIS OUT: “Learning to Love Africa” – Monique Maddy speaks at Google. Upon graduating from Harvard Business School, Maddy, born in Liberia and educated in Britain and the U.S., relocates to Tanzania to execute a start-up business providing telephone service. With the excitement attendant to starting a new company and the soul-searching of a young woman on a mission, Maddy brings personal experience and a different perspective on the troubled history of conquest and colonization of Africa, including the resettlement of American slaves in Liberia. Having worked for the UN, Maddy also brings a perspective on capitalism versus the benevolent efforts of world organizations. She contrasts their ineffectiveness with the entrepreneurial heritage of the Mandigo….

Hollinsworth Grove Public Housing

QUESTION: I was driving through town, cruising by the Clinton School of Public Service and Heifer International. I hit 6th street, took a left and ended up in the East Little Rock neighborhood. I kept driving down 6th street and stumbled upon this huge eerie development that made me feel like I was in the movie 28 days later. All the windows in this development which was made up of six or seven rather large units were blown out. You could see old mattresses and papers strewn about…it seemed as if the people had to run for their lives or something. I drove to 9th street, made a left and saw single family houses that looked the same. Really spooky. I’ve asked friends but no one seems to know what happened much less what this place is or was… What can you find out? Thanks, Liz.

28 Days later from zombiehunters.org

SCUTTLEBUTT: Liz, I’ve always had a place in my heart for horror flicks where the chased or hunted act as if they are being chased and hunted…..ahhh, -good acting. Well, I loved 28 days later too. I found it quite unsettling. The plot summary goes something like this; “…In a top secret British lab, peace activists release a monkey infected with a highly powerful and contagious test virus…28 days later, the infection has gone from monkey to the majority of the UK…London is deserted, litter-strewn and grim, and it seems the entire world has disappeared. The truth, however, is even more horrifying – a devastating psychological virus has been unleashed on the world, turning the population into blood-crazed psychopaths driven only to kill and destroy the uninfected. A bitter struggle to get out of the city with fellow survivors to a military encampment at Manchester follows – but there, their troubles are just beginning…”

You’re right Liz, this part of Little Rock could have been taken right out of that movie. Here’s what I learned.

Vacant East Little Rock Homes

SKINNY: The large vacant complex on 6th, Picron and 9th Streets is the 57 year old Hollinsworth Grove Public Housing complex. This 165 unit apartment complex was once described as being located in the thriving east Little Rock area. Andy Davis reported in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, “LR housing project on way out,” that the Little Rock Housing Authority received approval from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to sell or demolish the 57 year old complex, which has become increasingly isolated as Little Rock National Airport, Adams Field, has bought up surrounding property to accommodate a runway expansion and reduce complaints about noise.” The article noted that the “Little Rock Housing Authority distributed notices giving residents 90 days to move out. Each family got a Section 8 voucher to live in a private apartment of their choosing.” Davis reported that “the airport has been buying property in the area since 2004. It has acquired all 177 parcels it needs to extend the runway and 138 of the 209 parcels affected by excessive noise.”

CHECK THIS OUT: Bert Butler, East Little Rock Facilitator for the Neighborhood Alert Center told the plainclothesman that this neighborhood is in transition. “Everything in this neighborhood will be relating to the airport and aircraft industry,” says Butler. This community is said to be one of the poorest in the city. Butler has worked in this area for 10 years and says “this is a forgotten part of the city.”

On August 4, 2009, Bert Butler and the East Little Rock Neighborhood Alert Center will be hosting a city wide national night out. There will be free food and door prizes. The East Little Rock Neighborhood Alert Center is located at 2500 East 6th Street, Little Rock, AR 72202. The aim of the Neighborhood Alert Centers is to build trust in city services and staff, broadcast a sense of unified neighborhood intolerance for drug and criminal activity, deny drug dealers and customers access to open space in the neighborhood, remove the sense of impunity street market dealers feel, clean up the neighborhoods, and create a climate of achievement and reclaim neighborhood power. Contact the East Little Rock Neighborhood Alert Center at (501) 374-4166 or bbutler@littlerock.org for more information.

Funnel Cakes, photo by C.D. Harrison

QUESTION: Dear Plainclothesman, I was at Riverfest 2009 and had a blast. I love funnel cakes but only eat them once a year…at Riverfest. I have always thought they came from Arkansas, but my friend says that’s not true. Who’s right?

Yours truly,

Doughfried

Funnel Cake, photo by Ollie Crafoord

SCUTTLEBUTT: Doughfried, you are not alone. Mrs. Plainclothesman also eats funnel cakes on occasion and happened to be at Riverfest 2009 too. As we passed by Flossie’s Funnel Cakes stand, she stood atop the “little Rock” itself  and proclaimed, “Funnel Cakes are from Arkansas!” Mrs. Plainclothesman believes nearly everything in the world originated or had its beginnings in Arkansas or the individuals that had a part in creating anything and everything in the world came from Arkansas. Does that sound like you Doughfried? Well, Mrs. Plainclothesman has certainly hipped me to many notable firsts and things created in Arkansas. For instance, did you know that the Big Dam Bridge “is the longest pedestrian/bicycle bridge ever build, and the only bridge ever built into a dam?” Check out www.bigdambridge.com. Here’s another…did you know that 1600 acre Burns Park in North Little Rock is one of the nation’s largest municipal parks? Well, to answer your question, I asked the folks at Flossie’s, Arkansas’ Funnel Cake connection, about the origins of this tasty festival staple.

SKINNY: In a email, Flossie’s Alex Waddle-Murphy shared this with the plainclothesman about the origins of Funnel Cakes. “Funnel cakes were originated more than 200 years ago by Dutch farm families in the Pennsylvania Dutch region of the United States. They were served at social events and as midday and evening snacks. They are very light and airy with a delightful crunchiness. Although Funnel Cakes did not originate in Arkansas we like to believe Flossie’s put Funnel Cakes on the map in Arkansas. Flossie’s was incorporated in 1976 and have been bringing the Dutch favorite to local Arkansas events for over 30 years. Our customers are loyal and like your wife, Mrs. Plainclothesman, swear by Flossie’s. We like to say follow the smell of the fresh Funnel Cakes being poured and look for the line and you’ll find Flossie’s Famous Funnel Cake.”

CHECK THIS OUT: You can now enjoy Flossie’s Funnel Cakes in your own home with their carry home mix, hardware ring and funnel kit. Visit them online at www.flossiesfunnelcakes.com or call them at 501.623.8389 for more information on bringing home the Flossie’s Funnel Cake experience.

Thanks,

West Memphis is the place to be

SCUTTLEBUTT: WMITPTB are you wondering if West Memphis is really Memphis? Did you know that West Memphis is considered a part of the Memphis metropolitan area? That’s what our friendly elves at Wikipedia tell us. Apparently, West Memphis is experiencing a bit of an economic boon. According to it’s economic development site, “The city’s central location and superior access to highway, river and air transport have made it a high-performing location for companies that distribute both OEM supplies and consumer products.” Questions about borders and state lines have gone on since the beginning of time. WMITPTB, you aren’t the first one to ask for clarification on where the state line is between Arkansas and Tennessee. Here’s what I found out.

SKINNY: According to the Encyclopedia of Arkansas; “The Mississippi River has never been static as the eastern boundary of Arkansas. With each flood and earthquake, the boundary changes, sometimes radically. A legal principle known as avulsion holds that when a sudden change takes land from one side of the river and places it on the other, the adjoining state does not gain land. The current map of Arkansas, therefore, reflects dozens of areas of Arkansas that are now east of the Mississippi River and are accessible by land only from Tennessee or Mississippi. Because of changes in the Mississippi River, Congress authorized Arkansas and Tennessee in 1909 to settle the boundary by agreement. But it still changes, and at least nine Supreme Court decisions have settled controversies relating to Arkansas’s eastern boundary. Except for parcels lying in other states, the eastern boundary now is the middle of the main channel of the Mississippi—the boundary established in 1836, when Arkansas was admitted into the Union.”

CHECK THIS OUT: Speaking of earthquakes, did you know that Arkansas is on the active New Madrid Fault line? In researching the New Madrid Fault for the Encyclopedia of Arkansas, Arkansas State University’s award winning writer and author, Dr. Nancy Hendricks said that “the thing that was the most surprising and the most cause for concern was the fact that the New Madrid zone in which we all live averages 20 minor events a month that register at least 1.0 on the Richter scale and about once a year there occurs a tremor of up to 3.0 and it goes up exponentially from there…about once every 10 years a quake of 5.0 or greater.”