Horseshoe Lake is a town in Crittenden 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 Osage ...

, United States. The population was 264 at the 2020 census. The town is named after Horseshoe Lake, 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 ...

at the eastern tip of which the town is located.

Geography

Horseshoe Lake is located in southern Crittenden County at (34.912702, -90.307523). The

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it f ...

is to the south. 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 the ...

, the town has a total area of , all land. The elevation of Horseshoe Lake is above sea level.

The Horseshoe Lake

The town of Horseshoe Lake is situated in the

floodplain A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river which stretches from the banks of its channel to the base of the enclosing valley walls, and which experiences flooding during periods of high discharge.Goudi ...

at the eastern tip of a

horseshoe-shaped Many shapes have metaphorical names, i.e., their names are metaphors: these shapes are named after a most common object that has it. For example, "U-shape" is a shape that resembles the letter U, a bell-shaped curve has the shape of the vertical ...

water body named Horseshoe Lake, which the town is named after. The Lake is a summer recreation spot for residents of nearby

Memphis Memphis most commonly refers to: * Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt * Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city Memphis may also refer to: Places United States * Memphis, Alabama * Memphis, Florida * Memphis, Indiana * Memp ...

offering boating, swimming, and fishing. Changes in the course of the Mississippi River resulted in the shape of the lake. The lake is a former

meander A meander is one of a series of regular sinuous curves in the channel of a river or other watercourse. It is produced as a watercourse erodes the sediments of an outer, concave bank ( cut bank) and deposits sediments on an inner, convex bank ...

in the Mississippi River that was cut off, shortening the river, and is no longer connected to the river. Horseshoe shaped lakes or

s are not unusual in the flat plains of the lower Mississippi and other rivers.

Demographics

At the 2000 census there were 321 people, 156 households, and 89 families in the town. The population density was 885.3/km (2,264.4/mi²). There were 241 housing units at an average density of 664.6/km (1,700.1/mi²). The

racial makeup A race is a categorization of humans based on shared physical or social qualities into groups generally viewed as distinct within a given society. The term came into common usage during the 1500s, when it was used to refer to groups of variou ...

of the town was 94.39% White, 5.30% Black or African American, 0.31% from other races. 0.31% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. Of the 156 households 18.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 47.4% were married couples living together, 4.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 42.9% were non-families. 35.9% of households were one person and 16.7% were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 2.06 and the average family size was 2.65. The age distribution was 17.4% under the age of 18, 4.0% from 18 to 24, 26.2% from 25 to 44, 27.4% from 45 to 64, and 24.9% 65 or older. The median age was 47 years. For every 100 females, there were 92.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.3 males. The median household income was $30,083 and the median family income was $36,250. Males had a median income of $29,583 versus $23,750 for females. The per capita income for the town was $17,517. About 4.9% of families and 10.2% 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 3.9% of those under age 18 and 20.5% of those age 65 or over.

Education

Residents are zoned to schools in the

West Memphis School District West Memphis School District is a public school district that is headquartered in West Memphis, Arkansas, United States, covering sections of Crittenden and St. Francis counties. It serves most of West Memphis, the municipalities of Anthonyvi ...

, which operates

Academies of West Memphis Academies of West Memphis (AWM), formerly West Memphis High School, is an accredited comprehensive public high school for students in grades ten through twelve in West Memphis, Arkansas, United States. The school is administered by the West Me ...

(formerly West Memphis High School). The community was previously in the

Hughes School District Hughes School District 27 was a public school district based in Hughes, Arkansas, United States until it closed in Summer 2015 due to declining enrollment. The school district encompassed of land in St. Francis County and Crittenden County. It ...

, which operated

Hughes High School Hughes High School (HHS) was an accredited comprehensive public middle and high school located in Hughes, Arkansas, a part of the Hughes School District, until its entire school district was closed due to declining enrollment in 2015. The Hughe ...

. On April 9, 2015, due to the low number of students in the Hughes district, the

Arkansas 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 la ...

voted to consolidate the Hughes district into the West Memphis district 7-1.

References

External links

Crittenden County website
{{authority control Towns in Crittenden County, Arkansas Towns in Arkansas Memphis metropolitan area Populated places established in 1985 1985 establishments in Arkansas