Texarkana

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For other uses, see Texarkana (disambiguation).

Texarkana (Texas-Arkansas) is a divided city in the southern United States with a combined population of 61,230, as of the 2000 United States Census. The name "Texarkana" is a portmanteau, as the city is named for its occupancy of two U.S. states, Texas and Arkansas, as well as its reasonable proximity to Louisiana (The point formed by the intersection of the three states' borders is actually 25 miles to the south).

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[edit] History

While the meaning of the name is clear, the actual origin is uncertain, and the name is believed to have been used prior to Texarkana's founding. One tradition tells of a Red River steamboat named The Texarkana, circa 1860. Another story mentions a storekeeper named Swindle in Red Land, Louisiana who concocted a drink called "Texarkana Bitters." A third account states that Col. Gus Knobel, a railroad surveyor coined the name[1]. Local lore suggests that prior to Texas' annexation by the US that the area north of the Sulphur River (and at times as far south as Cypress Creek or even the Sabine River) and and on the south or west Side of the Red River as far west as the current Arkansas-Oklahoma border there were territory disputes between Americans, Mexicans, or others (French, Spanish, even the English.) Because of these disputes, lawlessness ruled in the area that at times was claimed by all three (TEX-ARK-ANa). Because of the area's name, the city on the border between Texas and Arkansas was given the label.

In 1876, Texarkana, Texas, was granted a charter under an act of the Texas legislature, and a Texarkana, Texas, post office operated from 1886 to 1892. At some point after that, Congressman John Morris Sheppard secured a postal order officially changing the name to "Texarkana, Arkansas-Texas"[1].


[edit] Geography

For demographic information, see Texarkana, Arkansas and Texarkana, Texas.

Texarkana consists of two separate municipal designations:

The iconic boulevard State Line Avenue follows the Texas-Arkansas state line throughout much of Texarkana. The two "sides" of Texarkana are separate only from a political standpoint. Thousands of Texarkanans actually live in one state and work in the other.

Texarkana's Federal Building/Post Office is located in the median between northbound and southbound traffic on State Line Avenue.
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Texarkana's Federal Building/Post Office is located in the median between northbound and southbound traffic on State Line Avenue[2].

Due to its divided political nature, Texarkana has two mayors and two sets of city officials; however, the two sides share a federal building, courthouse, jail, post office, labor office, chamber of commerce, water utility, and several other offices[1].

[edit] Roads

Texarkana is on Interstate 30, located close to halfway between Dallas, Texas, and Little Rock, Arkansas. Other major routes in Texarkana include:

[edit] Local lore

Due perhaps to its nature as a divided city and its remoteness from large urban areas, Texarkana has long been known as a hotbed for ghost stories, mysteries, and other colorful local lore.

[edit] The Phantom Killer

Main article: The Phantom Killer

In 1946, Texarkana was the site of one of America's first widely-publicized serial murders, in which five people were killed and several others injured by an unknown assailant. Dubbed the "Texarkana Moonlight Murders" by news media, the violence focused on couples occupying popular "make-out" spots in and around the town, such as backroads and "lovers' lanes." The only description of the killer was that he wore a plain pillowcase over his head, with eyeholes cut out. The case was never solved and the spree ended with no suspects arrested.

A man by the name of Youell Swinney, who was 29 at the time, was arrested and charged with the murders shortly after they occurred. He was later released from prison in 1974 after serving 28 years for the murders, when a judge acknowledged his appeal that he had not received a fair trial. He had been implicated by his wife who claimed she was present when he committed the murders, yet her various accounts varied each time she told them. Swinney himself denied having any involvement, which he maintained until his death in 1993 at age 76. Still, many believe he was the murderer, including several of his prison inmates who claimed Swinney had confessed to them[citation needed].

These events inspired the film The Town That Dreaded Sundown, released in 1977, written and directed by Charles B. Pierce, and starring Ben Johnson, Dawn Wells, and Pierce himself. Some of the facts of the original case were fictionalized or altered for the film, including victims' names.

In recent years, most area police and sheriff's records of the case were discovered by investigative journalists to be mysteriously missing. No active files on the case are currently being maintained by area law-enforcement agencies. Some locals believe that the Phantom Killer died long ago. Some claim that he was a member of the local upper class aristocracy, which collaborated to keep his identity quiet in order to avoid scandal. Others say that he was more a supernatural force than a human being (e.g., Jack the Ripper), and that he will return again some day to resume his bloody deeds[citation needed]. Technically, the case is still open, though as of 2006 it is considered cold.


[edit] Swamp monster

The swampy terrain of Boggy Creek, near Fouke, Arkansas, a small Miller County town southeast of Texarkana, is the reputed home of an anthropoid monster similar in appearance and behavior to the Pacific Northwest's Bigfoot and Sasquatch, and to the Skunk Ape of Florida legend. A film dramatizing these stories, entitled The Legend of Boggy Creek, was released in 1973. Two sequels, Boggy Creek II and Return to Boggy Creek, followed with little commercial success, although Boggy Creek II was featured in the tenth season of Mystery Science Theater 3000.

[edit] Texarkana in Popular Culture

Movies

Songs

Books

[edit] Notable people From Texarkana

See also: Category:People from Texarkana

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ a b c The Handbook of Texas Online, Texarkana, TX. Texas State Historical Association, University of Texas.
  2. ^ Google Maps, Texarkana.

[edit] External links

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