| Texarkana USA | |
|---|---|
| — City — | |
| Texarkana Post Office, located in two states. | |
| Nickname(s): TXK, T-Town, TK | |
| Motto: A City So Great It Took Two States | |
| Coordinates: | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Arkansas, Texas |
| List of counties in the United States | Bowie County, Texas, Miller County, Arkansas |
| Government | |
| • Texarkana, Texas Mayor | Steve Mayo |
| • Texarkana, Arkansas Mayor | N. Wayne Smith |
| Elevation | 299 ft (91 m) |
| Population (2010) | |
| • Total | 143,027 |
| Time zone | Central (CST) (UTC-6) |
| • Summer (DST) | CDT (UTC-5) |
| ZIP codes | 75500-75599 (TX); 71854 (AR) |
| Area code(s) | Area code 903, 430 (TX) 870 (AR) |
| FIPS code | 48-72368[1] |
| GNIS feature ID | 1369752[2] |
The Texarkana, TX-Texarkana, AR Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), as defined by the United States Office of Management and Budget, is a two-county region anchored by the twin cities of Texarkana, Texas and Texarkana, Arkansas, and encompassing the surrounding communities in Bowie County, Texas and Miller County, Arkansas. As of the 2010 census, the MSA had a population of 143,027.[3]
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Texarkana was founded in 1873 on the junction of two railroads. The name is a portmanteau of TEXas, ARKansas, and nearby LouisiANA. 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.[4] Local lore suggests that, before Texas' annexation by the US, lawlessness ruled in the area that at times was claimed by various nations.
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. Later, Congressman John Morris Sheppard (D-TX) secured a postal order officially changing the name to "Texarkana, Arkansas-Texas".[4]
The Texarkana metropolitan area was first defined in 1960.[5] Then known as the Texarkana, TX–Texarkana, AR Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area, it consisted of Bowie County, Texas and Miller County, Arkansas. In 1963, the area was renamed the Texarkana, TX–AR Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area,[6] only to return to its original name in 1971.[7]
Little River County, Arkansas was added to the SMSA in 1973.[8] In 1983, the official name was shortened to the Texarkana, TX–Texarkana, AR Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is still in use.[9] That same year, Little River County was removed from the MSA. The two-county MSA had a population of 137,486 in 2000.
Some of the city’s most notable historical buildings are the Post Office, the Ace of Clubs House, The Perot, and the Regional Museum. One of the most famous houses in Texarkana is The Aces of Clubs House, shaped like a club on a playing card and supposedly inspired by a winning poker hand.
The Texarkana Symphony Orchestra was established in 2005, providing the community with several professional concerts of classical music every year. In 2007, the Texarkana Youth Symphony Orchestra was established, presenting spring and winter concerts.
As of the census[1] of 2000, there were 137,486 people, 72,695 households, and 55,524 families residing within the MSA. The racial makeup of the MSA was 53.49% White, 43.28% African American, 0.60% Native American, 0.41% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.94% from other races, and 1.24% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3.57% of the population.
The median income for a household in the MSA was $31,976, and the median income for a family was $38,887. Males had a median income of $32,482versus $21,408 for females. The per capita income for the MSA was $16,901.
| Employer | Local employees |
|---|---|
| Red River Army Depot & Tenants | 7200 |
| Christus St. Michael Health System | 1883 |
| Cooper Tire & Rubber | 1700 |
| Domtar | 1300 |
| Texarkana (TX) Independent School District | 1100 |
| Walmart | 967 |
| International Paper | 960 |
| Texarkana (AR) School District | 835 |
| Wadley Regional Medical Center | 778 |
| Southern Refrigerated Transport | 750 |
According to Forbes, Texarkana is predicted to increase 28.57% in GMP by 2012 making Texarkana the second fastest growing small metro area in the country. Texarkana is a regional hub for cities in southwest Arkansas, northeast Texas, northwest Louisiana, and southeast Oklahoma.
On May 23, 2011, the city of Texarkana, Texas, broke grounds to open a new convention center. The 20,000-square-foot (1,900 m2) Texarkana Convention Center will serve as a venue for weddings, non-profit events, and community celebrations with its 12,000-square-foot (1,100 m2) ballroom. It can accommodate 1,000 guests for a seated dinner, and it can be divided into multiple rooms for events of various sizes. The 5,000-square-foot (460 m2) outdoor patio area will provide additional space for large events. The adjoining Hilton Garden Inn will have approximately 150 rooms and a full service restaurant offering room service.
The City of Texarkana, Arkansas, wants to get wet and wild with $13 million and construct a waterpark. When completed it will cover 10 acres. A feasibility study for the park, to draw tourists and provide recreation for local residents, should be completed by the end of the year and financing decisions made in 2009. This waterpark will be seen as a catalyst for development including recreatioal, dining and hotel opportunities. People would be attracted from a five state region. Funding possibilities include private development and a bond covered through taxes. The city is gathering information from park designers and developers. The study is looking at the demand of a waterpark, the size of the service area, estimated gate admissions and annual revenue, optimal location and expense of construction, operation and maintenance. Financing could be decided late next year. The park would be a low water use facility and would have enough land to triple the parks size over the next 20 years. It would be located near the planned convention center. Crossroads Business Park near I-30 is being considered as a possible location. The park would be advertised in Shreveport, Little Rock and Dallas.
Coming to Texarkana will be the new four year campus of Texas A&M University-Texarkana and Southern Arkansas University Tech-Texarkana.
Texarkana consists of two separate municipal designations:
The 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 locals actually live in one state and work in the other.
Owing 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.[4]
Texarkana is on Interstate 30, located close to halfway between Dallas, Texas, and Little Rock, Arkansas. Other major routes in Texarkana include:
As of October 2010, multiple highway projects are in progress to expand area highways and relieve strain on the Richmond Rd. and Summerhill Rd. exits. Continuous access roads, expanded bridges, and a new I-30/US 59 interchange are under construction. I-49 is being extended from Shreveport, with a future extension planned to Kansas City in the US 71 corridor.
Owing 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. However, most of them are untrue.
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 back roads and "lovers' lanes". The only description of the killer was that he carried a handgun and wore a mask. The case was never solved and the spree ended with no suspects arrested.
A man by the name of Yuell Lee Swinney, who was 29 at the time, was arrested but released. He was later released from prison in 1974 after serving 28 years for the theft of a car and other crimes, but he was never convicted of any murders. He had been implicated by his wife who claimed she was present when he had committed the murders, yet her accounts of the incidents varied over several tellings. Swinney himself denied having any involvement—a denial he maintained until his death in 1993 at age 76 in a prison hospital (where he had been held for counterfeiting and other crimes). Many believe nevertheless that he was the murderer, including several of his prison inmates who claimed Swinney had confessed to them. His sister, Mildred Swinney-Sones, also believed he had committed the murders..
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 sheriffs' records of the case were discovered by investigative journalists to be mysteriously missing. No active files of the cases 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 to avoid scandal. Local lore maintains that he was more a supernatural force than a human being, and that he will return one day to resume his bloody deeds. Technically the case is still open, though as of 2006[update] it is considered cold. If the killer is still alive, considering when the crimes took place, he would likely have been born circa 1928 at the latest, which means he would be in his eighties today[update].
The swampy terrain of Boggy Creek, near Fouke, Arkansas, a small Miller County town southeast of Texarkana, is the reputed home of an anthropoid cryptid 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 1972. Two sequels, Return to Boggy Creek (1977) and The Barbaric Beast of Boggy Creek, Part II (1985) (AKA Boggy Creek II: And the Legend Continues; the "official" sequel made by the original film's director, Charles B. Pierce) followed with very little commercial success (although The Barbaric Beast of Boggy Creek, Part II was featured in the tenth season of Mystery Science Theater 3000). Locals commonly refer to this creature as the "Fouke Monster" and a number of persons have reported seeing the creature in various locations in and around Fouke. Most of the reported sightings have occurred during the hours of darkness, which has contributed to the lack of adequate descriptions of the creature itself.
John Goforth. Record Producer, Guitarist, Composer, Owner of Covered Bridge Records, Third Millennium Artists. Producer of the Stateline Music Fetival.
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