FORT SMITH, ARKANSAS

'Fort Smith' is a city that lies on the Arkansas-Oklahoma state border, situated at the junction of the Arkansas and Poteau Rivers, also known as Belle Point. The city began as a western frontier military post in 1817 and would later become well-known for its role in the settling of the "Wild West" and its law enforcement heritage. The city is one of two county seats of Sebastian County. It is also the principal city of the Fort Smith Arkansas-Oklahoma Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses the counties of Crawford, Franklin, and Sebastian in Arkansas, and Le Flore and Sequoyah in Oklahoma.
According to 2006 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the city is 83,461, Annual Estimates of the Population for All Incorporated Places in Arkansas making it the state's second most populous behind state capital Little Rock. There are two public high schools in the city of Fort Smith, Northside High School (Grizzlies) and Southside High School (Rebels). The University of Arkansas at Fort Smith is the city's only state supported institution of higher learning. However, Webster University and John Brown University each have a satellite campus located in the city.
Fort Smith has a sister city relationship with Cisterna, Italy, site of the World War II Battle of Cisterna fought by the United States Army Rangers commanded by Fort Smith native William O. Darby.
As of 2007, Fort Smith was selected by the US Department of the Interior to be the location of the new US Marshal Service National Museum.

Contents

History

Geography and Climate

Economic Base

Transportation

Demographics

Other information

People associated with Fort Smith

References

External links

History

Fort Smith was founded in 1817 as a military settlement to patrol the neighboring Indian Territory. The fort was abandoned in 1824 but a town founded by John Rogers had formed alongside the fort by that time. In 1838 the fort was re-occupied and expanded. In 1871 the fort was again abandoned. However, the town continued to thrive despite the absence of the fort.
Two of Fort Smith's most notable historic figures were Judge Isaac Parker and William Henry Harrison Clayton.
In 1874, William Henry Harrison Clayton was appointed United States Attorney for the Western District of Arkansas by President Ulysses S. Grant. Fort Smith was a bustling community full of brothels, saloons and outlaws across the river from Indian Territory. William Clayton realized that a strong judge would be necessary to bring law and order to the region. He knew of a strong judge in Isaac Parker. There was a problem, Judge Parker had been appointed Chief Justice of Utah Territory and confirmed by the US Senate. With the help of President Grant and US Senator Powell Clayton, former governor of Arkansas, William Clayton was able to undo that appointment and redirect Judge Parker to Fort Smith.

Judge Isaac Parker served as US District Judge from 1875-1896. He was nicknamed the "Hanging Judge" because in his first term after assuming his post he tried eighteen people for murder, convicted fifteen of them, sentenced eight of those to die, and hanged six of them on one day. Over the course of his career in Fort Smith, Parker sentenced 160 people to hang, of those 79 actually were executed on the gallows. Judge Parker represented the only real law the rough and tumble frontier border town had at the time. His courthouse is now a National Historic Site where "More men were put to death by the U.S. Government... than in any other place in American history."
[1]
William Clayton was appointed US Attorney by four different presidents and later served as Chief Justice of Indian Territory. He was instrumental in achieving statehood for Oklahoma and together with Territorial Governor Frank Frantz, carried the Oklahoma Constitution to President Teddy Roosevelt. Governor Frantz and Judge Clayton both lost their territorial positions when Oklahoma was admitted to the Union.

Geography and Climate

Fort Smith is located at (35.368691, -94.398737).
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 137.1 km² (52.9 mi²). 130.4 km² (50.3 mi²) of it is land and 6.7 km² (2.6 mi²) of it (4.89%) is water.
Fort Smith enjoys a temperate climate with generally mild winters and hot, humid summers. Winter daytime highs average near 50 degrees while summer highs often top 90 degrees. Fort Smith is situated near an area known as Tornado Alley in the central United States. The city has been struck by three major tornadoes which occurred in the years of 1898, 1927 and 1996.

Monthly Normal and Record High and Low Temperatures
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Rec High °F	81	86	94	95	98	105	111	110	109	96	86	82
Norm High °F	48.1	54.8	64.2	73.2	80	87.7	92.9	92.6	84.9	75	61.4	50.9
Norm Low °F	27.8	32.6	40.9	49	58.9	67.2	71.4	70.3	62.9	50.5	39.5	31.1
Rec Low °F	-10	-9	7	22	35	47	50	51	33	22	8	-5
Precip (in)	2.37	2.59	3.94	3.91	5.29	4.28	3.19	2.56	3.61	3.94	4.8	3.39
''Source: USTravelWeather.com [2]''

Economic Base

Fort Smith has long been a regional manufacturing center, with major plants located in the city operated by Whirlpool Corporation, Rheem, Trane, Georgia-Pacific, Gerber, Planters Peanuts and others. In recent years, following national trends, the city has seen a decline in manufacturing jobs as production lines are shifted overseas.
Fort Smith is home to several corporations including Baldor Electric Company, Arkansas Best Corporation, Golden Ventures (one of the largest nursing home health care providers in the nation) and poultry company OK Foods.
Fort Smith is also home to regional medical centers in Sparks Regional Medical Center and St. Edward Mercy Medical Center.

Transportation

Fort Smith is a major transportation hub for the surrounding region. It sits at the crossroads of two major interstate highways, is surrounded on three sides by the Arkansas River and is the home of a regional airport.
Fort Smith is served by Fort Smith Regional Airport(FSM). FSM has scheduled passenger flights to Dallas, Memphis and Atlanta. An Air National Guard unit is also located at FSM.
The city is located on the Arkansas River, part of the McClellan-Kerr Navigation System and is served by the Port of Fort Smith.
The city sits just southwest of the intersection of Interstate 40 and future Interstate 49 (currently Interstate 540). U.S. Highway 71 and U.S. Highway 64 also run through the community.
Inside the city, a public bus service named Fort Smith Transit operates several routes. A trolley bus operates in the downtown area, providing transportation between the Belle Grove Historic District and the Fort Smith National Historic Site. Jefferson Lines bus service also links Fort Smith to other communities.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 80,268 people, 32,398 households, and 20,637 families residing in the city. The population density was 615.5/km² (1,594.2/mi²). There were 35,341 housing units at an average density of 271.0/km² (701.9/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 76.99% White, 8.65% Black or African American, 1.69% Native American, 4.59% Asian (predominantly Vietnamese and Lao), 0.05% Pacific Islander, 5.03% from other races, and 2.99% from two or more races. 8.78% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 7.10% reported speaking Spanish at home, while 3.38% speak Vietnamese and Lao [3].
There are 32,398 households, of which 30.8% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 47.1% were married couples living together, 12.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.3% are classified as non-families by the United States Census Bureau.
Of 32,398 households, 1,388 are unmarried partner households: 1,259 heterosexual, 84 same-sex male, and 45 same-sex female households. (Note: Stigmatization of homosexuality may prevent same-sex couples from reporting themselves as such on the US Census.) 30.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.42 and the average family size was 3.03.
In the city the population was spread out with 25.4% under the age of 18, 9.8% from 18 to 24, 29.3% from 25 to 44, 21.8% from 45 to 64, and 13.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 94.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.0 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $32,157, and the median income for a family was $41,012. Males had a median income of $29,799 versus $22,276 for females. The per capita income for the city was $18,994. About 12.1% of families and 15.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 22.2% of those under age 18 and 9.6% of those age 65 or over.

Other information

★ The University of Arkansas, Fort Smith Campus.

★ Fort Smith Regional Airport, having the F.A.A. designation of F.S.M.

★ The historic downtown suffered major damage due to a tornado on April 21, 1996. Reconstruction went on over a span of five years (and in some cases, longer).

★ During its days as a fort, Zachary Taylor was commander for a brief time.

★ Fort Smith Riverfront Hotel, popularly named "Miss Laura's" as the local brothel, became the city's Visitors Center in 1992. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, reportedly the only brothel so designated.

★ Fort Smith National Historic Site is downtown near the confluence of the Poteau and Arkansas rivers.

★ The Fort Smith Classic is a golf tournament on the Nationwide Tour, the developmental tour of the PGA Tour. It is held every year at Hardscrabble Golf Club.

People associated with Fort Smith

★ Fort Smith is the native city of the 'Stouffer brothers', creators of the famous "Wild America" TV series.

★ Carolyn Pollan of Fort Smith is the longest serving Republican and the longest serving woman member of the Arkansas House of Representatives. She represented Sebastian County from 1975-1999.

★ Rudy Ray Moore, aka "Dolemite" was born in Fort Smith in 1937.

★ The Fort Smith Hiram Walker plant is the only facility outside of Mexico that bottles and distributes Kahlúa.[4]

★ 2005 1st round NFL Draft pick Matt Jones spent his senior year in 'Fort Smith' at Northside High School, where he was a star athlete. He was drafted by the Jacksonville Jaguars, and helped them reach the 2005 NFL Playoffs.

★ The city's main street, Rogers Avenue, is named for John Rogers, the founder of the civilian town of Fort Smith. Rogers Avenue is a part of Highway 22.

★ World War II hero William O. Darby was from Fort Smith. His Rangers' liberation of Cisterna, Italy lead to Cisterna becoming Fort Smith's official sister city. Darby Junior High School is named in his honor.

★ The NBA's Memphis (formerly Vancouver) Grizzlies' franchise first ever draft pick, Bryant Reeves, was born in Fort Smith.

★ Legendary NFL running back Priest Holmes, who played for Baltimore Ravens and Kansas City Chiefs in his career, and set a now-broken NFL record for touchdowns in a single season in 2003, was born in Fort Smith.

★ Ron Brewer (born September 16, 1955, in Fort Smith, Arkansas) is an American former professional basketball player.

★ Clifton R. Breckinridge lived in Fort Smith.

References

1. http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/104619/top_news_stories_in_fort_smith_arkansas.html

External links

★ City of Fort Smith

★ The University of Arkansas, Fort Smith

★ History of Fort Smith's Jewish community (from the Institute of Southern Jewish Life)

★ Collection of photographs and articles about the 1996 tornado

★ Fort Smith Regional Airport

★ Fort Smith National Historic Site

★ The ''Southwest Times Record'', the regional newspaper based in Fort Smith

★ ''Entertainment Fort Smith Magazine'', a monthly city/regional magazine based in Fort Smith

★ Fort Smith National Historic Site