Umpire (also Busby) 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 Howard 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 has frequently been noted on lists of unusual place names.

History

In the early 1890s a new gristmill opened in the area. There was a celebratory baseball game after which a schoolteacher addressed the crowd and suggested the name Umpire for the new post office. That is because the Umpire did an outstanding job overseeing the game. On April 24, 2011, an EF1 tornado causing some damage, traveled from Umpire to Mineola parallel to Arkansas State Route 84. On April 13, 2018, an EF2 tornado caused some damage travelled from Kirby Road north crossing Battle Hill Road, then Highway 278 to Shady Lake in 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 ...

Education

Public education for early childhood, elementary and secondary school students is available from the Cossatot River School District, which includes the Umpire Schools: Umpire Elementary School and

Umpire High School Umpire High School is a public high school located in Umpire, Arkansas, United States. The school provides secondary education in grades 7 through 12 serving rural, distant communities of Howard County, Arkansas. It is one of four public high scho ...

. The school's mascot is the ''Wildcats'' and blue and white serve as the school colors. There is also a small Seventh-day Adventist School in Umpire. On July 1, 2004, the former

Umpire School District The Umpire School District or Umpire Public Schools was a school district headquartered in Umpire, Arkansas. It operated Umpire Public School, divided into Umpire Elementary School and Umpire High School. On July 1, 2004, the district was consol ...

was consolidated into the Wickes School District. On July 1, 2010, that district consolidated into the Cossatot River district.ConsolidationAnnex_from_1983.xls
"

Arkansas Department 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 Osa ...

. Retrieved on May 23, 2018.

References

Unincorporated communities in Howard County, Arkansas Unincorporated communities in Arkansas {{HowardCountyAR-geo-stub