Dyess, Arkansas

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Dyess is a town in Mississippi County, Arkansas, United States. The population was 515 at the 2000 census. Dyess was founded in 1934. Johnny Cash's biography "Man in Black" describes Dyess as a planned community built as part of President Roosevelt's New Deal program, with streets laid out in a wheel pattern. According to Dyess History, the town, which is actually a colony, was a project called an Agricultural Cooperative Project. It was named after W.R. Dyess, who was the first Works Progress Administrator in the state of Arkansas. The town's administration had the main purpose of giving poor families a chance to start over with land they could work toward owning.

The original township had 500 individually owned and operated farms which were each 20 or 40 acres each. The colony was made up of 15,144 acres.

It is best known for being the boyhood home of singer and songwriter Johnny Cash. Johnny Cash grew up at 4791 West County Road 924, Dyess, AR. The house is now owned by William Stegall. Dyess was also the childhood home of other famous artists. Gene Williams, Tommy Cash, and Buddy Jewell all have roots in Dyess. Recently, a movie was made about the life and music of Johnny Cash. The movie, part of which was filmed in Dyess, starred Joaquin Phoenix, Reese Witherspoon, Ginnifer Goodwin, Robert Patrick, and Dallas Roberts.

In an effort to purchase the Old Administration Building in Dyess to make a memorial of Dyess History and Johnny Cash, the town sponsored the First Annual Dyess Days celebration. The mayor of the town is Larry Sims.

[edit] Geography

Dyess is located at 35°35′25″N, 90°12′52″W (35.590224, -90.214523)^GR1.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 2.5 km² (1.0 mi²), all land.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^GR2 of 2000, there were 515 people, 177 households, and 138 families residing in the town. The population density was 205.0/km² (528.5/mi²). There were 204 housing units at an average density of 81.2/km² (209.3/mi²). The racial makeup of the town was 90.10% White, 2.14% Black or African American, 0.19% Native American, 0.19% Asian, 6.99% from other races, and 0.39% from two or more races. 9.51% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 177 households out of which 49.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 62.1% were married couples living together, 13.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 21.5% were non-families. 19.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.91 and the average family size was 3.36.

In the town the population was spread out with 31.5% under the age of 18, 9.7% from 18 to 24, 34.8% from 25 to 44, 15.3% from 45 to 64, and 8.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 29 years. For every 100 females there were 91.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.8 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $25,000, and the median income for a family was $26,447. Males had a median income of $22,500 versus $18,229 for females. The per capita income for the town was $11,047. About 25.3% of families and 25.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 26.6% of those under age 18 and 37.7% of those age 65 or over.