Cotter is a city in
Baxter County,
Arkansas
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 O ...
, United States. The population was 970 at the
2010 census.
History
Native American Bluff Dwellers were the original inhabitants of the area now known as Cotter. When Native Americans were moved westward on the
Trail of Tears
The Trail of Tears was an ethnic cleansing and forced displacement of approximately 60,000 people of the " Five Civilized Tribes" between 1830 and 1850 by the United States government. As part of the Indian removal, members of the Cherokee, ...
, approximately 1000
Cherokees
The Cherokee (; chr, ᎠᏂᏴᏫᏯᎢ, translit=Aniyvwiyaʔi or Anigiduwagi, or chr, ᏣᎳᎩ, links=no, translit=Tsalagi) are one of the indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, t ...
crossed just a short distance upriver from the current location of Downtown Cotter.
Exploration and settlement
In 1819,
Henry Schoolcraft
Henry Rowe Schoolcraft (March 28, 1793 – December 10, 1864) was an American geographer, geologist, and ethnologist, noted for his early studies of Native American cultures, as well as for his 1832 expedition to the source of the Mississippi R ...
was exploring the Ozarks and spent a night in the Cotter area. He said of the area,
White River is one of the most beautiful and enchanting streams, and by far the most transparent, which discharge their waters into the Mississippi ... We here behold the assembled tributaries flowing in a smooth, broad. deep, and majestic current ... skirted at a short distance by mountains of the most imposing grandeur.... heextreme limpidity and want of colour ... was early seized upon by the French traders on first visiting this stream, in calling it "La Rivière Blanche" (White River).
Future president,
Herbert Hoover
Herbert Clark Hoover (August 10, 1874 – October 20, 1964) was an American politician who served as the 31st president of the United States from 1929 to 1933 and a member of the Republican Party, holding office during the onset of the Gr ...
, spent the summer of 1892 helping
Geologist
A geologist is a scientist who studies the solid, liquid, and gaseous matter that constitutes Earth and other terrestrial planets, as well as the processes that shape them. Geologists usually study geology, earth science, or geophysics, althoug ...
John C. Branner survey the northern
Ozarks
The Ozarks, also known as the Ozark Mountains, Ozark Highlands or Ozark Plateau, is a physiographic region in the U.S. states of Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma and the extreme southeastern corner of Kansas. The Ozarks cover a significant port ...
. By the early 1900s, there were many mining companies active in both Baxter and
Marion Marion may refer to:
People
*Marion (given name)
*Marion (surname)
*Marion Silva Fernandes, Brazilian footballer known simply as "Marion"
*Marion (singer), Filipino singer-songwriter and pianist Marion Aunor (born 1992)
Places Antarctica
* Mario ...
Counties. Cotter quickly became a central point where minerals could be shipped via
steamboat to much larger cities in central Arkansas or southern
Missouri
Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...
.
Originally, the river bend was known as either Lake's Ferry or Lake's Landing. At this spot, the
White River turns sharply, making a convenient border for a town. The spring that rises up from the caves beneath Cotter, also added to the appeal to early settlers. Lake's Ferry was known as one of the most beautiful spots on the river and was appreciated by locals and tourists.
White River Line
Seeking to capitalize on the growing trade in the area, the
Missouri-Pacific Railroad
The Missouri Pacific Railroad , commonly abbreviated as MoPac, was one of the first railroads in the United States west of the Mississippi River. MoPac was a Class I railroad growing from dozens of predecessors and mergers. In 1967, the railroad ...
announced plans to open the White River Line which would run through the area and would connect with the main line in Lake's Landing. By 1902, the Cotter post office had opened. Two years later, the first school in Cotter opened. In 1905, the Missouri Pacific Railroad bought the area and sold over one thousand lots, mostly to railroad employees. The city was incorporated in 1905 as Cotter, Arkansas. By that time, the population was over 600. The town was named after William Cotter, an official for the Missouri Pacific Railway System. The materials required to build the town and railroad had to be brought in by steamboats down the White River. Once the railroad was completed, the use of steamboats on the rivers of Arkansas decreased and eventually ceased altogether. In 1906, the first passenger train arrived, and the tourist era began.
Expulsion of African Americans
The construction of the railroad brought many laborers, including African Americans, to the area. However, once the work was completed the sentiment among white residents turned against them. The anti-Black attitude was encouraged by a visit from Arkansas Governor
Jeff Davis, who gave a racist speech in Cotter in 1904, and by the local newspaper, the ''Cotter Courier''. In April 1906 the ''Courier'' ran an editorial titled "Too Many Negroes", which said that local residents had a "feeling...that the negroes should move on." In and around August 1906, all of Cotter's African Americans were run out of town, except for one family of three, the Masons. In the 1950s advertisements for Cotter boasted that it was "100 per cent white", and the 1960 census recorded no African American residents.
Cotter Bridge
The mercurial
White River caused many motorists problems, as the nearest crossing was over to the north in
Branson, Missouri
Branson is a city in the U.S. state of Missouri. Most of the city is situated in Taney County, with a small portion in the west extending into Stone County. Branson is in the Ozark Mountains. The community was named after Reuben Branson, postm ...
. An inconvenient ferry system made the need for a bridge apparent. Locals wanted a bridge, but they strongly opposed a toll bridge. Arkansas did not have a central highway body at the time, and was instead a patchwork of
"road districts", which made the bridge-building efforts even more difficult. Without a toll, funding wasn't available until
Arkansas Highway 12
Arkansas Highway 12 is an east–west state highway in Northwest Arkansas. The route runs from Oklahoma State Highway 116 near Cherokee City east to Arkansas Highway 23 near Clifty.
Route description
AR 12 begins at the Oklahoma state line ...
was redesignated
U.S. Route 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 Can ...
in 1930. The
Cotter Bridge was constructed through the area using a unique rainbow arch design.
Geography
Cotter is located at (36.274772, -92.528336).
According to the
United States 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 t ...
, the city has a total area of , all land.
Demographics
2020 census
As of the
2020 United States census
The United States census of 2020 was the twenty-fourth decennial United States census. Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2020. Other than a pilot study during the 2000 census, this was the first U.S. census to of ...
, there were 886 people, 419 households, and 271 families residing in the city.
2010 census
As of the
census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses in ...
of 2010, there were 1,078 people, 472 households and 293 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 501 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 97.07%
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 o ...
, 0.87%
Native American, 0.22%
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 ...
, and 1.85% from two or more races. 1.52% of the population were
Hispanic
The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, 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 viceroyalties forme ...
or
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 545
households, out of which 20.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.5% were
married couples living together, 8.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 40.0% were non-families. 35.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 16.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.08 and the average family size was 2.67.
In the city, the population was spread out, with 19.7% under the age of 18, 8.7% from 18 to 24, 24.8% from 25 to 44, 26.7% from 45 to 64, and 20.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 43 years. For every 100 females, there were 97.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 99.5 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $22,857, and the median income for a family was $34,375. Males had a median income of $26,298 versus $17,266 for females. The
per capita income
Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population.
Per capita i ...
for the city was $15,893. About 11.9% of families and 16.8% of the population were below the
poverty line
The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for t ...
, including 18.3% of those under age 18 and 13.3% of those age 65 or over.
Education
Formal education in Cotter began with Miss Cora Patterson teaching 40 students under a tent on January 4, 1904. In 1915, Cotter schools merged with the East Cotter School District, with the
Gassville and
Whiteville districts merging into Cotter in 1948.
Today, public education is provided by the
Cotter School District including
Cotter High School (grades 7 through 12) and Amanda Gist Elementary School (kindergarten through grade 6).
Media
Cotter and Baxter County are within the
Springfield, Missouri
Springfield is the third largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and the county seat of Greene County. The city's population was 169,176 at the 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Springfield metropolitan area, which had an estimat ...
TV market.
The city has been home to five newspapers over the years, the longest lasting being the ''Cotter Courier'' (1903-c. 1918)
and ''The Cotter Record'' (1911-1937).
Publications lasting only a year or so include ''The White River Headlight'',
''The Screech Owl'', and the ''Bull Shoals Gazette''.
Today, Cotter news is covered by ''
The Baxter Bulletin''.
Infrastructure
List of highways
*
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 ...
/
US 412
U.S. Route 412 is an east–west United States highway, first commissioned in 1982. U.S. 412 overlaps expressway-grade Cimarron Turnpike from Tulsa west to Interstate 35 and the Cherokee Turnpike from east of Chouteau, Oklahoma, to west of ...
*
U.S. Route 62 Business
*
Arkansas Highway 345
Railroads
Cotter has one local railroad, the
Missouri and Northern Arkansas Railroad
The Missouri and Northern Arkansas Railroad, LLC is a Class III shortline railroad headquartered in Carthage, Missouri. It is not to be confused with the Missouri and North Arkansas Railroad which connected Joplin, Missouri with Helena, Arkansa ...
. The MNA leases the track from
Newport to
Kansas City, Missouri, from the
Union Pacific
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 Pac ...
. The regular train traffic are empty coal trains from The Independence power plant, as well as a north and south local out of Cotter. Additionally, there is a small
railyard
A rail yard, railway yard, railroad yard (US) or simply yard, is a series of tracks in a rail network for storing, sorting, or loading and unloading rail vehicles and locomotives. Yards have many tracks in parallel for keeping rolling stock or ...
and crew change point
Airports
Cotter is accessible to two separate commercial airports,
Ozark Regional Airport
Baxter County Airport , is a county-owned public-use airport located four nautical miles (5 mi, 7 km) northwest of the central business district of Mountain Home, a city in Baxter County, Arkansas, United States. It was known as ...
(Baxter County) and
Flippin Municipal Airport
(Marion County). There is also a rural air field, Valley Airport, located on Denton Ferry Road that serves small planes owned by residents.
External links
Map of Cotter(US Census Bureau)
Map of Baxter County(US Census Bureau)
Baxter County Historical and Genealogical Society
References
{{authority control
Cities in Baxter County, Arkansas
Cities in Arkansas
Populated places established in 1905
1905 establishments in Arkansas