Texarkana, Arkansas facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Texarkana, Arkansas
City
City of Texarkana
From top, left to right: Downtown, Augustus M. Garrison House, Texarkana City Hall, Texarkana state line
Seal
Nickname(s):  The Arkansas Side, T-town, TXK
Motto(s):  Twice as Nice
Location of Texarkana in Miller County, Arkansas.
Texarkana, Arkansas Location in the United States Show map of the United States Texarkana, Arkansas Location in Arkansas Show map of Arkansas
Country	United States
State	Arkansas
County	Miller
Incorporated	August 10, 1880
Government
• Type	Council-Manager
Area
• Total	42.21 sq mi (109.31 km2)
• Land	41.98 sq mi (108.72 km2)
• Water	0.23 sq mi (0.59 km2)
Elevation	361 ft (110 m)
Population  (2020)
• Total	29,387
• Density	700.06/sq mi (270.30/km2)
Time zone	UTC−6 (Central (CST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC−5 (CDT)
ZIP code	71854
Area code(s)	870
FIPS code	05-68810
GNIS feature ID	0078542

Texarkana is a city in the U.S. state of Arkansas and the county seat of Miller County, on the southwest border of the state. The city is located across the state line from its twin city of Texarkana, Texas. The city was founded at a railroad intersection on December 8, 1873, and was incorporated in Arkansas on August 10, 1880. Texarkana (together with its Texas counterpart) is the principal city of the Texarkana metropolitan area, which is ranked 274th in terms of population in the United States with 150,098 in 2016, according to the United States Census Bureau.

Located within the Ark-La-Tex subregion of Southwest Arkansas, Texarkana is located in the Piney Woods, an oak-hickory forest that dominates the flat Gulf Coastal Plain. Texarkana's economy is based on agriculture. In addition, the city is a trading center, at crossroads of three major Interstate highways: Interstate 30 (I-30), I-49, and the future I-69. Outdoor tourism, such as fishing at Lake Millwood and related activities, are also important in the region. The Red River Army Depot & Tenants comprise the largest single employer in the city.

The Texarkana Arkansas School District is the largest public school district on the Arkansas side. The city is home to Texarkana College (on the Texas side of town), and a branch campus of the University of Arkansas Community College at Hope (UACCH).

Geography

Texarkana, Arkansas, is located at 33°25′59″N 94°1′14″W / 33.43306°N 94.02056°W / 33.43306; -94.02056 (33.433075, -94.020514). According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 41.9 square miles (108.4 km²). 41.7 square miles (107.9 km²) of it is land and 0.19 square miles (0.5 km²) of it (0.43%) is water.

Climate

The climate in this area is characterized by hot, humid summers and generally mild to cool winters. According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Texarkana has a humid subtropical climate, abbreviated "Cfa" on climate maps.

Demographics

2020 census

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 29,387 people, 11,404 households, and 7,348 families residing in the city.

2016

As of the census of 2016, there were 30,283 people, 13,565 households, and 7,040 families residing in the city. The population density was 830.5 people per square mile (320.6/km²). There were 11,721 housing units at an average density of 368.1 per square mile (142.1/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 65.93% White, 31.00% Black or African American, 0.48% Native American, 0.50% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.61% from other races, and 1.46% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.78% of the population.

There were 13,565 households, out of which 32.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 45.3% were married couples living together, 18.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.2% were non-families. 28.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.45 and the average family size was 2.99.

In the city, the population was spread out, with 25.9% under the age of 18, 10.1% from 18 to 24, 28.5% from 25 to 44, 21.5% from 45 to 64, and 14.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females, there were 92.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.0 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $31,343, and the median income for a family was $38,292 . Males had a median income of $35,204 versus $21,731 for females. The per capita income for the city was $17,130. About 17.2% of families and 21.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 33.0% of those under age 18 and 15.7% of those age 65 or above.

Pop culture

• Texarkana is referenced in the song "Cotton Fields" by the American folk and blues musician Lead Belly and later recorded by several notable country rock artists, including The Highwaymen, Buck Owens, The Beach Boys and Creedence Clearwater Revival. Lead Belly (Huddie Ledbetter), was born on a cotton plantation near Linden, Texas, about 40 miles southwest of Texarkana, and later worked on a plantation near De Kalb, Texas, about 35 miles west of Texarkana.
• Brenda Lee's 1959 song "Let's Jump the Broomstick" references the city with the lyric "Goin' to Alabama back from Texarkana, Goin' all around the world".
• Texarkana is one of the places visited by the red car in The Brave Little Toaster during the song "Worthless"
• Tesla's 1991 song "Call It What You Want" contains the lyric "All I am is all I'll ever be, and that's just a boy from Texarkana." As the lead singer of the band is actually from Texarkana, this lyric is notably autobiographical.
• "Texarkana" is a 1991 song by R.E.M.. The track appears on the band's seventh studio album, Out of Time.
• Other popular songs that name-check the city include "I've Been Everywhere" by Hank Snow, later covered by Johnny Cash; "Texas Swing" by Clay Walker from his 2001 album Say No More; "Gimme Gimme Good Lovin'" by Crazy Elephant; "24 Hours at a Time" by the Marshall Tucker Band; "Texarkana Baby" by Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys, covered by Tennessee Ernie Ford; and two songs by Joe Ely, "Fingernails" and "I'm Gonna Strangle You Shorty."
• In the 1977 movie Smokey and the Bandit, The Bandit (Burt Reynolds and the Snowman Jerry Reed) are making a run from Atlanta to Texarkana to get a load of beer. Jerry Reed's 1977 hit song "East Bound and Down" from the soundtrack refers to the city in the lyric "The boys are thirsty in Atlanta and there's beer in Texarkana," regarding the lack of availability of Coors beer east of Texas at that time. (In fact, Texarkana, Texas, is dry and the alcohol distributor is actually in Texarkana, Arkansas.)
• In Season 5, Episode 5 "Southbound and Down" of the FX TV show Archer, Archer and the crew from ISIS encounter a hostile biker gang in Texarkana while on their way to Austin, Texas.
• In a 2013 episode of American Pickers on The History Channel, Frank and Mike visited several spots in Texarkana.
• In the movie Zombieland, Woody Harrelson refers to the relationship with his new zombie-killing companion, Jesse Eisenberg, that he figures it will last "all the way to Texarkana".
• Used as setting for the 1976 movie The Town That Dreaded Sundown, which was loosely based on a series of murders that occurred in the town in the spring of 1946.
• In the novel A Canticle for Leibowitz, centuries after a nuclear war that reduces world civilization to a second dark age, Texarkana rises as the capital of a burgeoning empire that expands across the former United States and becomes known as the Atlantic Confederacy.
• In 2016, a video of a speech defending LGBT rights by a Texarkana minister went viral online.

Education

Public education for elementary and secondary school students is provided by two school districts:

• Texarkana Arkansas School District, which leads to graduating from Arkansas High School. The high school mascot is the Razorback, which was eventually selected for use by the University of Arkansas in exchange for used athletic equipment—a practice that no longer occurs.
• A very small portion of the city is within the Genoa Central School District, which leads to graduation from Genoa Central High School. The high school mascot is the Dragon with green and white serving as the school colors.

Private education opportunities include:

• Trinity Christian School, a Baptist school serving prekindergarten through grade 12

In 2012, Texarkana became home to a branch of the University of Arkansas Hope-Texarkana (UAHT), a community college based in Hope, Arkansas, and in 2015 UAHT began partnering with the University of Arkansas Little Rock, to offer bachelor's-degree programs through UALR Texarkana, based on the UAHT Texarkana campus.

Notable people

• Buster Benton, blues singer-guitarist
• Ben M. Bogard, founder in 1924 of the American Baptist Association; while living in Texarkana, Arkansas, in 1914 he founded The Baptist Commoner denominational newspaper, later in 1917 combined as The Baptist and Commoner
• Mike Cherry, New York Giants football, Murray State quarterback
• Willie Davis, player with Green Bay Packers in the NFL and Super Bowl champion
• Martin Delray, country music singer
• Wayne Dowd, Arkansas State Senator and lawyer
• Wilhelm L. Friedell, U.S. Navy Rear Admiral, Navy Cross recipient, and submariner
• Prissy Hickerson, former member of Arkansas Highway Commission for which Loop 245 is named "Hickerson Highway"; current member of Arkansas House of Representatives from Miller County
• Mike Huckabee, governor; pastored Beech Street First Baptist Church, 1986-1992
• Parnelli Jones, 1963 Indianapolis 500 champion
• Scott Joplin, composer and pianist of ragtime music
• Jeff Keith, lead singer of rock band Tesla
• Dana Kimmell, actress
• A. Lynn Lowe, farmer and former Arkansas Republican Party state chairman and 1978 gubernatorial nominee against Bill Clinton
• Jimmy Means, NASCAR driver and owner.
• Dustin Moseley, Major League Baseball player with the San Diego Padres in the MLB
• Conlon Nancarrow, composer who specialized in works for the player piano
• Charles B. Pierce, director and movie producer of The Legend of Boggy Creek and The Town That Dreaded Sundown
• Don Rogers, football player with Cleveland Browns in the NFL
• Mike Ross, Former U.S. Representative and 2014 Arkansas gubernatorial nominee
• Max Sandlin, Former U.S. Representative from Texas, and husband of former Congresswoman Stephanie Herseth Sandlin from SD's At-large congressional district
• Rod Smith, football player with Denver Broncos in the NFL two time Super Bowl Champion
• Jasper Taylor, early jazz drummer, recorded with Jelly Roll Morton, Freddy Keppard, many others
• Jerry Turner, former Major League Baseball outfielder
• Dennis Woodberry, player with Washington Redskins in the NFL and one-time Super Bowl champion

Images for kids

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  Municipal Auditorium is located in the City Hall complex in Texarkana, Arkansas.

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  Highland Church of Christ at 1705 Highland Street in Texarkana, Arkansas

See also

In Spanish: Texarkana (Arkansas) para niños