Pottsville, Arkansas

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Pottsville is a town in Pope County, Arkansas, United States.

1 Geography
2 Demographics
3 Life
4 Businesses
5 External links

[edit] Geography

Pottsville is located at 35°14′56″N, 93°2′49″W (35.248856, -93.046820)^GR1. It is surrounded by Russellville to the west, Atkins to the east, and Crow Mountain to the north.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 19.5 km² (7.5 mi²). 19.5 km² (7.5 mi²) of it is land and 0.1 km² (0.04 mi²) of it (0.27%) is water.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^GR2 of 2000, there were 1,271 people, 475 households, and 372 families residing in the town. The population density was 65.3/km² (169.3/mi²). There were 500 housing units at an average density of 25.7/km² (66.6/mi²). The racial makeup of the town was 95.67% White, 0.79% Black or African American, 0.71% Native American, 0.79% Asian, 0.16% from other races, and 1.89% from two or more races. 0.55% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 475 households out of which 38.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 63.4% were married couples living together, 9.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 21.5% were non-families. 18.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.68 and the average family size was 3.02.

In the town the population was spread out with 26.8% under the age of 18, 7.6% from 18 to 24, 31.2% from 25 to 44, 22.5% from 45 to 64, and 11.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 100.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 99.8 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $32,841, and the median income for a family was $37,763. Males had a median income of $27,237 versus $18,625 for females. The per capita income for the town was $15,066. About 12.6% of families and 16.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 27.8% of those under age 18 and 10.0% of those age 65 or over.

A special census was taken during the summer of 2006. Its results show a great increase in the population since 2000. According to the Atkins Chronicle Pottsville's population is now 2,647.

[edit] Life

There are few large businesses in Pottsville with most or all being family or self-owned. Workers for large companies usually commute to larger cities like Russellville.

The major events in the year are Butterfield Days, celebrating the history of the town when the Butterfield stagecoach Route ran through the town. This directly caused the rise of the town when the Potts family set up a boarding house for travelers to rest, creating a place for people to stay, instead of continuing onward.

Also, the Pottsville High School football team and Black and Gold Brigade marching band provide entertainment at Friday night football games. Currently the band is at around 50 members strong, including the color guard and pit percussion. In 2004, they received their first Division I ratings at Charleston and Jessieville invitational marching contests. The football team has won a couple of games, notably against Paris and Lamar. Last year, the band received a Division II rating at Region Marching Competition in Fort Smith Northside, for Region 2. This year was more of a bust, only getting a composite III (composite for having a 2 in addition to the two 3s, instead of a 4 and two 3s). The general view on this is that the judges were biased towards larger bands having more than 100 members, but that is an opinion of many of the band members. There is also a cheerleading squad which is quite successful at their competitions and also help to galvanize the student body by cheering at games and holding pep rallies beforehand.

Basketball was the crowning sport in Pottsvile, before the recreation of a football team in 2002 (the first time for a Pottsville football team since 1921). The ultra-modern facilities at the High School have been in place for about seven years, replacing in most part the older gymnasium which is now at the Middle Grades and Elementary grounds. That gym itself was the replacement for the old rock gym which was torn down in 2000 to build an annex to the Middle Grades building. Urban legend said that the gym was haunted by various spectres, including but not limited to a suicidal basketball player who hanged herself from the rafters. These were probably inspired by the age and unique pine smell of the building, which is now lost to any person who hadn't been in the building previously.

Friday and Saturday nights in Pottsville are generally spent in Russellville or in Centerville. Russellville has many more places of amusement, obviously, because of its greater size, most notably WalMart and the Higher Grounds coffeeshop. Centerville is often chosen by the drag racing crew, for obvious reasons.

A large portion of people who are affiliated with Pottsville, though not inside the rather small city limits and thus not a portion of the population, reside on Crow Mountain. This is a hill that covers nearly as much area as the town of Pottsville itself and rises no more than about 250ft in any area. Landmarks include Galla Creek. While the majority of people living here were once of the Jones clan, times have caused diversification and thinning of that family, showing how the community has grown.