Altheimer is a city in Plum Bayou Township,

Jefferson County, Arkansas Jefferson County, Arkansas is a county located in the U.S. state of Arkansas in the area known as the Arkansas Delta that extends west of the Mississippi River. Jefferson County consists of five cities, two towns, and 20 townships. The county ...

. It is situated on the

Union Pacific Railway The Union Pacific Railroad , legally Union Pacific Railroad Company and often called simply Union Pacific, is a freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Paci ...

, northeast of Pine Bluff. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 984, down from 1,192 at the 2000 census. As of 2018 the estimated population was 829.

Geography

Altheimer is part of the Timberlands Region, an area rich in natural resources that was discovered by pioneers from the eastern states in the early 19th century. Deer hunting, bass fishing, timber and oil are plentiful in this area."Your New Hometown: The Timberlands."
''Arkansas.com.'' Retrieved January 15, 2016. Altheimer is in northeastern Jefferson County, northeast of Pine Bluff, the

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US st ...

. U.S. Route 63/ 79 runs along the northwestern edge of the city, leading southwest to Pine Bluff and northeast to

Humphrey Humphrey is both a masculine given name and a surname. An earlier form, not attested since Medieval times, was Hunfrid. Notable people with the name include: People with the given name Medieval period :''Ordered chronologically'' *Hunfrid of P ...

Little Rock ( The "Little Rock") , government_type = Council-manager , leader_title = Mayor , leader_name = Frank Scott Jr. , leader_party = D , leader_title2 = Council , leader_name2 ...

, the state capital, is to the northwest by road. According to the

U.S. Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...

, Altheimer has a total area of , of which are land and , or 3.22%, are water. Flat Bayou winds through the center of the city, flowing north toward Wabbaseka Bayou, which in turn flows southeast via a succession of names to the

Arkansas River The Arkansas River is a major tributary of the Mississippi River. It generally flows to the east and southeast as it traverses the U.S. states of Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. The river's source basin lies in the western United Stat ...

History

The city was named for brothers Joseph and Louis Altheimer, two Pine Bluff merchants. Louis, who was born in

Eberstadt Eberstadt () is a municipality in the district of Heilbronn, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is best known for its winegrowing and its yearly international high jump meeting (the Internationales Hochsprung-Meeting Eberstadt The Internationales ...

in 1850, read stories by German adventurer Frederick Gerstacker telling of the rich natural resources in Arkansas, and left for America as a teenager, eventually settling in Pine Bluff. Louis brought his brother Joseph with him to the land that would eventually bear their name. Joseph's son, Benjamin, became a successful attorney, establishing the prominent Chicago law firm of Altheimer, Mayer, Woods, and Smith (later known as Altheimer & Gray), and serving twice as president of Chicago's Iroquois Club, the city's oldest

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

political club. Benjamin owned of land in Arkansas. His foundation, the Ben J. Altheimer Foundation, provided scholarships and funding for projects throughout the state and continues today as the Ben J. Altheimer Charitable Foundation, Inc.LeMaster, Carolyn Gray
"Benjamin Joseph Altheimer Jr."

Encyclopedia of Arkansas History and Culture The Central Arkansas Library System (CALS) ''Encyclopedia of Arkansas'' is a web-based encyclopedia of the U.S. state of Arkansas, described by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) as "a free, authoritative source of information abou ...

. Retrieved June 10, 2013. Altheimer is home to many restored pioneer-era

log cabins Log most often refers to: * Trunk (botany), the stem and main wooden axis of a tree, called logs when cut ** Logging, cutting down trees for logs ** Firewood, logs used for fuel ** Lumber or timber, converted from wood logs * Logarithm, in mathem ...

Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwardia ...

plantation house A plantation house is the main house of a plantation, often a substantial farmhouse, which often serves as a symbol for the plantation as a whole. Plantation houses in the Southern United States and in other areas are known as quite grand and e ...

s and

museums A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make these ...

. One of the most prominent locations is The Elms, a former plantation house on the Collier Estate built in 1886, renovated by Ben Altheimer in the 1930s. Listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

, The Elms is open to the public for retreats,

family reunion A family reunion is an occasion when many members of an extended family congregate. Sometimes reunions are held regularly, for example on the same date of every year. A typical family reunion will assemble for a meal, some recreation and discussi ...

s and tours. Also located on the property are the Elms Duck Lodges, which provides hunting and fishing in the private lake and pond. Roselawn, also known as the Collier-Barnett House, was built in 1875 and added to National Register of Historic Places in 1978. Lake Dick is an

oxbow lake An oxbow lake is a U-shaped lake or pool that forms when a wide meander of a river is cut off, creating a free-standing body of water. In South Texas, oxbows left by the Rio Grande are called '' resacas''. In Australia, oxbow lakes are call ...

located four miles (6 km) south of Altheimer.Norman, Bill
"Lake Dick."

. Retrieved June 10, 2013. This area formerly held

farmsteads A farm (also called an agricultural holding) is an area of land that is devoted primarily to agricultural processes with the primary objective of producing food and other crops; it is the basic facility in food production. The name is used ...

of eighty

Caucasian Caucasian may refer to: Anthropology *Anything from the Caucasus region ** ** ** ''Caucasian Exarchate'' (1917–1920), an ecclesiastical exarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church in the Caucasus region * * * Languages * Northwest Caucasian l ...

families who were moved into the area in 1936 as part of the Farm Security Administration. Lake Dick was added to the register in 1975. In 2007 and 2013, respectively, Altheimer's secondary and elementary schools closed. As a result a number of residents moved to Pine Bluff to be closer to the zoned schools operated by the Dollarway School District, and multiple businesses had lost revenue.

Demographics

As of the census of 2010, there were 984 people, 361 households, and 248 families residing in the city. The racial makeup of the city was 10%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...

, 88.1%

Black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white ...

or African American, 1%

Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...

, 0.6% from

other races Other often refers to: * Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy Other or The Other may also refer to: Film and television * ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent film directed by Max Mack * ''The Other'' (1930 film), a ...

, and 0.3% from

two or more races 2 (two) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 1 and preceding 3. It is the smallest and only even prime number. Because it forms the basis of a duality, it has religious and spiritual significance in many cultur ...

. 1.4% of the population were

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to Vic ...

Latino Latino or Latinos most often refers to: * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America * Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States * The people or cultures of Latin America; ** Latin A ...

of any race. There were 361 households, out of which 25.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 37.1% were married couples living together, 24.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.3% were non-families. 27.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 2.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.73 and the average family size was 3.29. In the city, the population was spread out, with 29.3% under the age of 18, 7.4% from 15 to 19, 7.0% from 40 to 44, 5.3% from 60 to 64, and 13.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36.9 years. The median income for a household in the city was $32,500, and the median income for a family was $34,153. About 30.9% of families and 35.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 60.4% of those under age 18 and 3.9% of those age 65 or over.

Education

Primary and secondary schools

Altheimer is served by the Pine Bluff School District. - The map shows Dollarway School District as not yet merged into Pine Bluff School District; the merger occurred on July 1, 2021. Students are zoned to Park/Greenville School for preschool, James Matthews Elementary School, Robert F. Morehead Middle School, and Dollarway High School. In the racial segregation era Altheimer Training School served as the high school for African-Americans, while Altheimer High School served as the high school for white students. At one point it was served by the Altheimer School District, which operated Martin Elementary School, Martin High School, Altheimer Elementary School, and Altheimer High School in Altheimer. The Altheimer-Sherrill district was created in 1979 when the Altheimer and Sherrill districts merged. On September 1, 1993, Altheimer-Sherrill consolidated into the Altheimer Unified School District;ConsolidationAnnex_from_1983.xls
."

Arkansas Department of Education Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osa ...

. Retrieved on July 31, 2017. Altheimer Unified operated two schools: Martin Elementary School and Altheimer-Sherrill High School. The Altheimer Unified School District consolidated into the Dollarway School District on July 10, 2006. In December 2020 the

Arkansas State Board of Education Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...

ruled that the Dollarway School District should merge into the Pine Bluff School District as of July 1, 2021; the post-merger school district is to operate all existing schools from both districts. Accordingly the attendance boundary maps of the respective schools remained the same for the 2021-2022 school year, and all DSD territory went to be within the PBSD territory. The exception was with the pre-kindergarten levels, as all PBSD areas are now assigned to Forrest Park/Greenville School, including the territory from the former Dollarway district. Altheimer-Martin Elementary School, a Dollarway School District elementary school, occupied the former high school facility. The building was built in 1987; it included a gymnasium. Up to 2013 the school's enrollment declined, and in 2013 the Dollarway superintendent decided that the school should be closed in light of the declining attendance. In its final year the school had 78 students. Since 2013 some property had been taken from the school building, and a lack of maintenance occurred. Altheimer mayor Zola Hudson stated a desire for the city government to repurpose the building. By 2018 the district was proceeding to donate the elementary building. Altheimer Middle School and Altheimer-Sherrill High School both closed in 2007. At the time the middle school had 102 students and the high school had 137 students.

Public libraries

The Pine Bluff and Jefferson County Library System operates the Altheimer Branch, an about building identical to that of the Redfield Library,Altheimer Public Library
" Pine Bluff-Jefferson County Library System. Retrieved on August 2, 2017. located on a tract in Altheimer. The library was built on land sold by Altheimer Unified to the county government for $3,784.Altheimer Unified School District No. 22 Jefferson County, Arkansas General Purpose Financial Statements and Other Reports June 30, 2001
" Legislative Joint Auditing Committee,

Arkansas Legislature The General Assembly of Arkansas is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The legislature is a bicameral body composed of the upper house Arkansas Senate with 35 members, and the lower Arkansas House of Representatives with 10 ...

. Retrieved on August 2, 2017. page 3 (PDF p. 5/22). The library was constructed in October 2001.

Notable people

Gloria Long Anderson Gloria Long Anderson (born November 5, 1938) is the Fuller E. Callaway Professor of Chemistry at Morris Brown College, and its vice president for academic affairs. She has served as interim president of Morris Brown, and as vice chair of the ...

(born November 5, 1938) American chemist *

Tail Dragger Jones James Yancey Jones (born September 30, 1940), known professionally as Tail Dragger Jones, is an American Chicago blues singer. He has performed since the 1960s and released four albums to date. Jones gained a certain notoriety in 1993, after be ...

(born James Yancey Jones, 1940), American singer * James McDonnell (1899-1980), American aerospace engineer

References

External links

*
Altheimer Library
at the Pine Bluff and Jefferson County Library System {{DEFAULTSORT:Altheimer, Arkansas 1919 establishments in Arkansas Cities in Arkansas Cities in Jefferson County, Arkansas Cities in Pine Bluff metropolitan area Planned cities in the United States Populated places established in 1919