Highway 1 (AR 1, Ark. 1, and Hwy. 1) is a north–south

state highway A state highway, state road, or state route (and the equivalent provincial highway, provincial road, or provincial route) is usually a road that is either ''numbered'' or ''maintained'' by a sub-national state or province. A road numbered by a ...

in east Arkansas. The route of runs from US Route 278 (US 278) in McGehee north to Supplemental Route BB at the

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

state line. One of the original 1926 state highways, Highway 1 has remained very close to its original routing. The highway contains an overlap of approximately with

U.S. Route 49 U.S. Route 49 (US 49) is a north–south United States highway. The highway's northern terminus is in Piggott, Arkansas, at an intersection with US Route 62/ Highway 1/ Highway 139 (US 62/AR 1/AR 139). Its southern terminus is ...

Route description

McGehee to Back Gate

Arkansas Highway 1 begins at U.S. Route 278 in downtown McGehee and runs northwest (along the

Union Pacific Railroad 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 ...

tracks) for three blocks before turning northeast at an intersection with AR 159. The highway continues across

US 65 U.S. Route 65 (US 65) is a north–south United States highway in the southern and midwestern United States. The southern terminus of the route is at U.S. Route 425 in Clayton, Louisiana. The northern terminus is at Interstate 35 just south of In ...

US 165 U.S. Route 165 is a north–south United States highway spur of U.S. Highway 65. It currently runs for 412 miles (663 km) from U.S. Route 90 in Iowa, Louisiana north to U.S. Highway 70 in North Little Rock, Arkansas. The route passes throu ...

and exits town in a northeastern direction, passing

McGehee High School McGehee High School is a comprehensive public secondary school located in McGehee, Arkansas, United States. McGehee serves more than 500 students in grades 7 through 12. McGehee is one of two public high schools in Desha County and is the sol ...

. AR 1 meets

Arkansas Highway 4 Highway 4 (AR 4, Ark. 4, and Hwy. 4) is a designation for two state highways in Arkansas. The western segment of runs from SH-4 at the Oklahoma state line and terminates in Cove. An eastern segment of begins at U.S. Route 278 (US&nbs ...

, which runs south to Arkansas City before curving north to Rohwer, which was a

Japanese American internment Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

camp during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. AR 1 passes the

Kemp Cotton Gin Historic District The Kemp Cotton Gin Historic District encompasses the only cotton gin extant in the Rohwer area of Desha County, Arkansas. The gin was built in 1950 by O. O. Kemp, a few years after the closure of the Rohwer War Relocation Center, where as many ...

, Rowher Relocation Center, and Rohwer Relocation Center Memorial Cemetery. Continuing north, AR 1 ceases following the railroad at Watson and runs west to Back Gate, where a concurrency with US 165 begins.

DeWitt to Wynne

Entering Arkansas County, the routes pass through Gillett and rural Arkansas County. In south De Witt AR 1 splits east from US 165 and AR 1 Business. AR 1 bypasses southeast De Witt, and after reconnecting with AR 1B continues northeast. AR 1 runs east through St. Charles before entering

Monroe County Monroe County may refer to seventeen counties in the United States, all named for James Monroe: * Monroe County, Alabama *Monroe County, Arkansas * Monroe County, Florida * Monroe County, Georgia *Monroe County, Illinois *Monroe County, Indian ...

. AR 1 Spur enters St. Charles, and terminates near the site of the Battle of Saint Charles on the White River. Arkansas Highway 1 enters southern

briefly. At Cross Roads, AR 1 is the southern terminus of AR 17. On the Monroe/ Phillips County line, AR 1 has a junction with

Arkansas Highway 39 Highway 39 (AR 39, Ark. 39, or Hwy. 39) is a designation for two state highways in southeast Arkansas. The western segment of runs from US Route 49 (US 49) at Blackton to US 49/ Highway 241. Another segment of runs north from H ...

and

Arkansas Highway 316 The following is a list of state highways in Arkansas. The state does not use a numbering convention. Generally the two-digit odd numbered highways run north–south with a few exceptions; and even-numbered two-digit state highways run east–w ...

. The route continues northeast to Marvell, where AR 1 concurs with

east to Walnut Corner. At the corner, AR 1 turns north past the Richardson-Turner House and enters Lee County. The route has a junction with AR 121 at Cypress Corner and continues north to Marianna. In Marianna, Highway 1 breaks west from AR 1 Business, which runs downtown through Marianna. After AR 1B rejoins the main route, there is a concurrency north with

U.S. Route 79 U.S. Route 79 (US 79) is a United States highway in the Southern United States. The route is officially considered and labeled as a north-south highway, but its path is actually more of a diagonal northeast-southwest highway. The highway's nort ...

. Further north, AR 1 passes Lee County Senior High and becomes four lane briefly until

Forrest City Forrest City is a city in St. Francis County, Arkansas, St. Francis County, Arkansas, United States, and the county seat. It was named for General Nathan Bedford Forrest, who used the location as a campsite for a construction crew completing a rail ...

. Upon entering St. Francis County, AR 1 enters Forrest City. The business route runs downtown, while the main route skirts the southwest edge of town. There is a

parclo interchange A partial cloverleaf interchange or parclo is a modification of a cloverleaf interchange. The design has been well received, and has since become one of the most popular freeway-to-arterial interchange designs in North America. It has also be ...

with

U.S. Route 70 U.S. Route 70 or U.S. Highway 70 (US 70) is an east–west United States highway that runs for from eastern North Carolina to east-central Arizona. It is a major east–west highway of the Southeastern United States, Southeastern, Southern Unite ...

and an interchange with

Interstate 40 Interstate 40 (I-40) is a major east–west Interstate Highway running through the south-central portion of the United States. At a length of , it is the third-longest Interstate Highway in the country, after I-90 and I-80. From west to ea ...

. The business route meets AR 1 in north Forrest City, and AR 1 enters

Caldwell Caldwell may refer to: People * Caldwell (surname) * Caldwell (given name) * Caldwell First Nation, a federally recognized Indian band in southern Ontario, Canada Places Great Britain * Caldwell, Derbyshire, a hamlet * Caldwell, East ...

and

Colt Colt(s) or COLT may refer to: *Colt (horse), an intact (uncastrated) male horse under four years of age People * Colt (given name) *Colt (surname) Places *Colt, Arkansas, United States *Colt, Louisiana, an unincorporated community, United States ...

before entering Cross County. South of Caldwell, AR 1 is near the historic Little Telico Creek Bridge, 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 ...

Wynne to Missouri

AR 1 enters

Wynne Wynne is a surname of Welsh origin. This is a list of notable people with the surname, sorted by profession: Art, literature, and music * Bill Wynne (1922–2021), American photographer and writer * David Wynne (composer) (1900–83), Wels ...

in Cross County. The highway has a junction with

US 64 U.S. Route 64 (US 64) is an east–west United States highway that runs for 2,326 miles (3,743 km) from Nags Head in eastern North Carolina to just southwest of the Four Corners in northeast Arizona. The western terminus is at U.S. Route 1 ...

, AR 284, AR 980, and US 64 Business, and also passes near Wynne High School. The highway continues north to Vanndale and Cherry Valley before entering Poinsett County. The route passes through

marsh A marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous rather than woody plant species.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p Marshes can often be found at ...

es in southern Poinsett County before entering

Harrisburg Harrisburg is the capital city of the Pennsylvania, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, Dauphin County. With a population of 50,135 as of the 2021 census, Harrisburg is the List of c ...

. Throughout the county, AR 1 is paralleled by AR 163 approximately to the east and

US 49 U.S. Route 49 (US 49) is a north–south United States highway. The highway's northern terminus is in Piggott, Arkansas, at an intersection with US Route 62/ Highway 1/ Highway 139 (US 62/AR 1/AR 139). Its southern terminus ...

approximately to the west, with the Union Pacific Railroad also near. AR 1 passes the

Bacon Hotel The Bacon Hotel, also known as the Sunrise Hotel, is a historic hotel building at the southeast corner of Railroad and Homestead Roads in Whitehall, Arkansas. It is a two-story wood-frame structure, with a cross-gable roof and a two-story porch e ...

in south Poinsett County near

Whitehall Whitehall is a road and area in the City of Westminster, Central London. The road forms the first part of the A roads in Zone 3 of the Great Britain numbering scheme, A3212 road from Trafalgar Square to Chelsea, London, Chelsea. It is the main ...

, and also passes the historic Modern News Building in downtown Harrisburg. Entering Craighead County, AR 1 enters Jonesboro from the south. After intersecting AR 163, the route intersects

Interstate 555 Interstate 555 (I-555) is an Interstate Highway that connects Turrell, Arkansas, at I-55 to Jonesboro at Highway 91 (AR 91). Formerly known as U.S. Highway 63 (US 63), the highway was upgraded in the early 21st cent ...

(concurrent at that freeway portion with US 49). Highway 1 becomes concurrent north with US 49 (and later

US 62 U.S. Route 62 or U.S. Highway 62 (US 62) runs from the Mexican border at El Paso, Texas, to Niagara Falls, New York, near the Canadian border. It is the only east-west United States Numbered Highway that connects Mexico and Canada ...

) until

Piggott Pigot, Pigott or Piggott may refer to: People * Pigot (surname), including a list of people with this name * Pigott (surname), including a list of people with the surname Pigott or Piggott Places * Piggott, Arkansas, United States, a city * ...

The route leaves US 62 (

Crowley's Ridge Parkway Crowley's Ridge Parkway is a National Scenic Byway in northeast Arkansas and the Missouri Bootheel along Crowley's Ridge in the United States. Motorists can access the parkway from US Route 49 (US 49) at its southern terminus near the Hele ...

) in Piggott and runs east to

Missouri supplemental route A supplemental route is a state secondary road in the U.S. state of Missouri, designated with letters. Supplemental routes were various roads within the state which the Missouri Department of Transportation was given in 1952 to maintain in additio ...

BB near

Holcomb, Missouri Holcomb is a city in Dunklin County, Missouri, United States. The population was 635 at the 2010 census. History A post office called Holcomb has been in operation since 1882. The community has the name of Lewis Holcomb, a county sheriff. Geo ...

, where the route terminates.

History

The route now known as AR 1 first appears as a state highway in 1924, when the

Arkansas General Assembly 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 100 ...

first created a state highway system. Arkansas State Road B-1 ran from the Louisiana state line near

Wilmot Wilmot may refer to: Places Australia *Division of Wilmot, an abolished Australian Electoral Division in Tasmania * Wilmot, Tasmania, a locality in the North-West Region Canada *Wilmot, Nova Scotia, an unincorporated rural community and former t ...

north into Missouri, and was mostly unpaved. Upon creation of the U.S. Route system in 1925, the north and south portions of the highway were replaced by

U.S. Route 67 U.S. Route 67 is a major north–south U.S. highway which extends for 1,560 miles (2,511 km) in the Central United States. The southern terminus of the route is at the United States-Mexico border in Presidio, Texas, where it continues so ...

and

U.S. Route 165 U.S. Route 165 is a north–south United States highway spur of U.S. Highway 65. It currently runs for 412 miles (663 km) from U.S. Route 90 in Iowa, Louisiana north to U.S. Highway 70 in North Little Rock, Arkansas. The route passes t ...

, respectively, shaping a more familiar AR 1 routing. Arkansas followed the trend to number in 1926, and B-1 became Arkansas Highway 1. The route remains very true to that original course today. The route was split apart in 1941 into AR 1 East and AR 1 West segments from

Paragould Paragould is the county seat of Greene County, and the 19th-largest city in Arkansas, in the United States. The city is located in northeastern Arkansas on the eastern edge of Crowley's Ridge, a geologic anomaly contained within the Arkansas delta ...

north. AR 1 East continued north through

Marmaduke ''Marmaduke'' is a newspaper comic strip revolving around the Winslow family and their Great Dane, Marmaduke, drawn by Brad Anderson from June 1954 to 2015. Publication history The strip was created by Anderson, and sold to the John F. Dille ...

and

Rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...

. AR 1 West traveled into Corning. By 1955, AR 1W became

Arkansas Highway 135 Highway 135 (AR 135, Ark. 135, Hwy. 135) is a north–south state highway in northeast Arkansas. The route of runs from Interstate 555 (I-555) near Tyronza north through Paragould to US 62. Route description AR 135 begins at Interstat ...

, and AR 1E became AR 1. US 49 overlapped Highway 1 from Jonesboro to Piggott in 1978.

Major intersections

Mile markers reset at concurrencies.

Business routes

Arkansas Highway 1 has six

business routes A business route (or business loop, business spur, or city route) in the United States is a short special route connected to a ''parent'' numbered highway at its beginning, then routed through the central business district of a nearby city or ...

and one

spur route A spur route is a short road forming a branch from a longer, more important road such as a freeway, Interstate Highway, or motorway. A bypass or beltway should not be considered a true spur route as it typically reconnects with another or the s ...

. As cities have grown, bypasses have become necessary, and the former downtown alignments of AR 1 have become the business routes discussed here. The St. Charles spur route terminates at the site of the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

Battle of Saint Charles upon the White River. The

business route intersects major routes

and

. De Witt, Marianna, Vanndale, and Cherry Valley all have business routes of less than . The Jonesboro business route is the longest, and intersects

. A former

connector route A connector is a highway or freeway road that connects to another highway or freeway. It can be part of an interchange such as the MacArthur Maze or a longer roadway such as the Interstate 635. A connector route is a type of special route or su ...

, Highway 1Y, was created in 1968 and now carries a US Highway 49Y designation.

References

External links