Mount Ida is a city in and

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 ...

of Montgomery 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. Founded in 1842, the city saw a silver boom in the 1880s bring early prosperity and economic development to the area. Today, the economy is largely ranching, poultry farming,

silviculture Silviculture is the practice of controlling the growth, composition/structure, and quality of forests to meet values and needs, specifically timber production. The name comes from the Latin ('forest') and ('growing'). The study of forests and wo ...

, and tourism around

Lake Ouachita Lake Ouachita (''Pronounced WAH-shi-tah'') is a reservoir created by the damming of the Ouachita River by Blakely Mountain Dam (). Blakely Mountain Dam was built by the United States Army Corps of Engineers from 1948 to 1953 for hydroelectric p ...

. It is known as the quartz crystal capital of the U.S. and is known worldwide for its

quartz Quartz is a hard, crystalline mineral composed of silica ( silicon dioxide). The atoms are linked in a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon-oxygen tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tetrahedra, giving an overall chemical ...

deposits. The population was 996 as of the 2020 census.

History

Mount Ida was incorporated on May 30, 1890. Episode 133, entitled "What's in my Pocket?", of the popular podcast ''Small Town Murder'', hosted by James Pietragallo and Jimmie Whisman, featured Mount Ida on August 22, 2019.

Geography

Mount Ida is located in central Montgomery County on the south bank of the South Fork of the

Ouachita River The Ouachita River ( ) is a river that runs south and east through the U.S. states of Arkansas and Louisiana, joining the Tensas River to form the Black River near Jonesville, Louisiana. It is the 25th-longest river in the United State ...

. US Route 270 and

Arkansas Highway 27 Arkansas Highway 27 (AR 27, Ark. 27, and Hwy. 27) is a designation for two north–south state highways in Arkansas. One route begins at US Highway 59 (US 59) and US 71 near Ben Lomond north to Highway 7 in Dardanelle ...

pass through the town.''Mount Ida, Arkansas,'' 7.5 Minute Topographic Quadrangle, USGS, 1986 US 270 leads east to Hot Springs and northwest to

Heavener, Oklahoma Heavener is a city in Le Flore County, Oklahoma, United States. It is part of the Fort Smith, Arkansas-Oklahoma Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 3,414 at the 2010 census, an increase of 6.7 percent from 3,201 at the 2000 census.

, while AR 27 leads northeast to Danville and southwest to

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norm ...

. Mount Ida, the mountain, is about southwest of the town along Route 27. 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 of Mount Ida has a total area of , of which , or 1.94%, are water.

Climate

The climate in this area is characterized by hot, humid summers and generally mild to cool winters. According to the

Köppen Climate Classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

system, Mount Ida has a humid subtropical climate, abbreviated "Cfa" on climate maps.

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 996 people, 428 households, and 273 families residing in the city.

2000 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 2000, there were 981 people, 412 households, and 257 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 471 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 96.53%

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 ...

, 0.10%

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 ...

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

, 1.94% Native American, 0.31% Asian, 0.10% 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 1.02% from two or more races. 0.51% 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 ...

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 412 households, out of which 22.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.8% were married couples living together, 11.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 37.6% were non-families. 35.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 23.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.15 and the average family size was 2.74. In the city, the population was spread out, with 19.2% under the age of 18, 6.6% from 18 to 24, 18.3% from 25 to 44, 21.7% from 45 to 64, and 34.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 50 years. For every 100 females, there were 78.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 72.0 males. The median income for a household in the city was $21,438, and the median income for a family was $30,714. Males had a median income of $25,875 versus $20,179 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 $13,532. About 18.9% of families and 23.4% 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 29.2% of those under age 18 and 16.0% of those age 65 or over.

Parks and recreation

The

Ouachita National Forest The Ouachita National Forest is a vast congressionally-designated National Forest that lies in the western portion of Arkansas and portions of extreme-eastern Oklahoma, USA. History The Ouachita National Forest is the oldest National Forest in t ...

is located in Montgomery County, and is close to Mount Ida. It is the South's oldest and largest national forest, and offers scenic areas like Little Missouri Falls, and hiking and backpacking trails.

, one of the largest lakes in the region, is partially situated within Montgomery County.

Notable people

Mark Davis Mark Davis may refer to: Entertainers *Mark Davis (talk show host), American radio talk show host * Mark Jonathan Davis (born 1965), American actor/singer and creator of Richard Cheese *Mark Davis, American bassist and founding member for the band ...

, professional sport fisherman of the

Bass Anglers Sportsman Society The Bass Anglers Sportsman Society (B.A.S.S.) is a fishing membership organization with more than a half a million members. It is geared toward bass fishermen, mainly in the United States but with members located worldwide. The society publishe ...

; born in Mount IdaMark Davis' Texas Bass Fishing Bio page
/ref> *

Lon Warneke Lonnie Warneke (March 28, 1909 – June 23, 1976) (pronounced WARN-a-key), nicknamed "The Arkansas Hummingbird", was a Major League Baseball player, Major League umpire, county judge, and businessman from Montgomery County, Arkansas, whose caree ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

player, Major League

umpire An umpire is an official in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The term derives from the Old French nonper, ''non'', "not" and ''per'', ...

; born in Mount Ida * Charles L. Watkins, first Parliamentarian of the United States Senate; born and raised in Mount Ida

References

External links

Mount Ida Weather & Attraction Information

Mount Ida Chamber of Commerce
Portal style website, Government, Business, Library, Recreation and more

Comprehensive Statistical Data and more about Mount Ida
ePodunk: Profile for Mount Ida, Arkansas, AR

{{authority control Ouachita Mountains Cities in Montgomery County, Arkansas Cities in Arkansas County seats in Arkansas Populated places established in 1890