Marche (sometimes also called Warren) is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

in Pulaski 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. It lies north of

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 ...

. It is not a

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the count ...

History

Marche traces its roots back to an attempt by Judge Liberty Bartlett to establish a settlement in 1872. The settlement, which would have been named Bartlett Springs, did not succeed, and the Little Rock and Fort Smith Railroad acquired the property and named it Warren Station. A plan to turn the area into a resort for residents of Little Rock had failed by 1877. The parcel of land was subsequently purchased by Count Timothy von Choinski, a

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...

nobleman with plans to settle the land and set up farms for Polish immigrants. He had become concerned with the living conditions of Poles in the slums of large cities such as New York and

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, and wanted to improve their living conditions while restoring the agricultural environment that had been the mode of life for most Poles before their arrival in America. He purchased the site in March 1877, and named it Marche (French for "marketplace"). Twenty-two immigrants visited the site with Choinski in May, and agreed to settle half of it. Various groups of Poles started settling the land the summer of that year. Some returned when they discovered that the land had not yet been cleared, but eighty-five remained as the nucleus of a new settlement. By fall of 1878, the new community had attracted the attention of the Holy Ghost Fathers, a congregation of

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

priests and brothers. Father Anthony Jaworski built a small chapel named for the

Immaculate Heart of Mary The Immaculate Heart of Mary () is a Roman Catholic devotional name used to refer to the Catholic view of the interior life of Mary, mother of Jesus, her joys and sorrows, her virtues and hidden perfections, and, above all, her virginal love ...

on a hill that the immigrants called ''Jasna Góra'' after the important pilgrimage site in Częstochowa. A larger building was constructed in 1896, though it was destroyed by fire in 1932; a replacement was dedicated in May 1933. Though the expansion of a federal camp in World War II required forty families to relocate, the community continued to expand. The population in 1941 was 72. The Immaculate Heart of Mary Church completed a parish center in 1999, and the church continues to celebrate '' Karnawał'' in celebration of the community's

heritage.

Geography

Marche is located at (34.8634232, -92.3623759), at an elevation of 269 feet (82 m).

References

{{authority control Unincorporated communities in Arkansas Unincorporated communities in Pulaski County, Arkansas Polish communities in the United States Polish-American history Populated places established in 1872 1872 establishments in Arkansas

History

Geography

Further reading

References