Tyronza is a city in Poinsett County,

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...

, United States. The population was 716 at the 2020 census. It is included in the

Jonesboro, Arkansas Jonesboro () is a city located on Crowley's Ridge in the northeastern corner of the U.S. State of Arkansas. Jonesboro is one of two county seats of Craighead County, Arkansas, Craighead County. In 2023, the city had an estimated population of ...

Metropolitan Statistical Area and is in the

Arkansas Delta The Arkansas Delta is one of the six natural regions of the state of Arkansas. Willard B. Gatewood Jr., author of ''The Arkansas Delta: Land of Paradox'', says that rich cotton lands of the Arkansas Delta make that area "The Deepest of the Deep ...

Geography

According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the town has a total area of 4.1 km (1.6 mi²), all land.

History

Tyronza is one of the oldest cities within Poinsett County with its origins dating back to the late 19th century. In the 1930s, it was the site where the Southern Tenant Farmers movement started what became a national outcry against the abusive discrimination by wealthy land owners against the mostly African-American sharecroppers. A museum in the city, operated by Arkansas State University, highlights the history of organizing by tenant farmers in order to secure better prices and conditions, and the history of the region. Tyronza was the home of Dr. L. H. McDaniel, a local physician who became friends with President

Lyndon Baines Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), also known as LBJ, was the 36th president of the United States, serving from 1963 to 1969. He became president after assassination of John F. Kennedy, the assassination of John F. Ken ...

through his political involvement in the Democratic Party. McDaniel was a close advisor to Johnson and to U.S. House Ways and Means Chairman Wilbur D. Mills (D-Arkansas) in the creation of the Medicare and Medicaid programs which began in 1965, the year McDaniel died. He treated patients all over eastern Arkansas regardless of their ability to pay and often accepted live chickens, baked goods and garden vegetables as payment for his home visits. McDaniel was a national delegate to Democratic Conventions in the 1950s and brought national political and medical leaders to Tyronza with conferences he set up in huge 1,000-seat tents on the outskirts of the city. Although the community started as a county farming and retail center, it has become a bedroom community for its many residents who work in Jonesboro or Memphis but who prefer the small town lifestyle.

Socialism

Tyronza was historically a hotbed for

socialism Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

and

communism Communism () is a political sociology, sociopolitical, political philosophy, philosophical, and economic ideology, economic ideology within the history of socialism, socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a ...

during the early 20th century. In 1934, the Southern Tenant Farmers Union (STFU) was formed in the town to organize local

sharecroppers Sharecropping is a legal arrangement in which a landowner allows a tenant (sharecropper) to use the land in return for a share of the crops produced on that land. Sharecropping is not to be conflated with tenant farming, providing the tenant a ...

towards getting better arrangements from landowners. Ward H. Rogers, a Texas-born minister and labor activist, threatened to hang every

plantation owner The planter class was a racial and socioeconomic class which emerged in the Americas during European colonization in the early modern period. Members of the class, most of whom were settlers of European descent, consisted of individuals who ow ...

Poinsett County, Arkansas Poinsett County is a County (United States), county located in the U.S. state of Arkansas. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 22,965. The county seat is Harrisburg, Arkansas, Harrisburg. Poinsett County is incl ...

if the demands of the sharecroppers were not met.

Demographics

2020 census

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 716 people, 376 households, and 268 families residing in the city.

2000 census

At the 2000

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

, of 2000, there were 918 people, 363 households and 257 families residing in the town. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

was 225.8/km (586.5/mi²). There were 388 housing units at an average density of 95.4/km (247.9/mi²). The racial makeup of the town was 94.12%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 3.70%

Black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 0.54% from other races, and 1.63% from two or more races. 0.65% of the population were

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race. There were 363 households, of which 34.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.5% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 12.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.2% were non-families. 26.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.53 and the average family size was 3.09. 26.1% of the population were under the age of 18, 12.1% from 18 to 24, 25.6% from 25 to 44, 24.7% from 45 to 64, and 11.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females, there were 100.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.0 males. The

median household income The median income is the income amount that divides a population into two groups, half having an income above that amount, and half having an income below that amount. It may differ from the mean (or average) income. Both of these are ways of und ...

was $30,188 and the median family income was $34,333. Males had a median income of $30,820 and females $20,625. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

was $12,984. About 17.2% of families and 21.6% 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 ...

, including 29.3% of those under age 18 and 24.0% of those age 65 or over.

Education

The East Poinsett County School District operates public schools, including East Poinsett County High School. The Tyronza School District consolidated into the East Poinsett district on July 1, 1986.ConsolidationAnnex_from_1983.xls
."

Arkansas Department of Education The Arkansas Department of Education (ADE) is a cabinet-level agency of the Arkansas state government overseeing public education for K-12, higher education institutions, and career and technical education. The ADE also contains the Arkansas ...

. Retrieved on October 13, 2017.

Notable people

Mignon Dunn Mignon Dunn (born June 17, 1928, in Memphis, Tennessee) is an American dramatic mezzo-soprano and voice teacher. Early years Born in Memphis, Mignon Dunn grew up in Tyronza, Arkansas and Memphis, Tennessee. She studied voice with Karin Branzel ...

, opera singer