Alma is a city in Crawford County, in far western

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. It is located within the Arkansas River Valley at the edge of the

Ozark Mountains The Ozarks, also known as the Ozark Mountains, Ozark Highlands or Ozark Plateau, is a physiographic region in the U.S. states of Missouri, Arkansas, and Oklahoma, as well as a small area in the southeastern corner of Kansas. The Ozarks cover ...

; the city is the sixth largest in the

Fort Smith metropolitan area The Fort Smith Metropolitan Statistical Area, as defined by the United States Census Bureau, is a five-county area including three Arkansas county, counties and two Oklahoma counties, and anchored by the city of Fort Smith, Arkansas. The total M ...

. The population was 5,419 at the 2010 Census. Interstates 40 and 49 were constructed to intersect near the existing city.

History

Alma was incorporated in 1874. Its economy was largely agricultural until the introduction of the canning industry. Today, the city claims the title of "

Spinach Spinach (''Spinacia oleracea'') is a leafy green flowering plant native to Central Asia, Central and Western Asia. It is of the order Caryophyllales, family Amaranthaceae, subfamily Chenopodioideae. Its leaves are a common vegetable consumed eit ...

Capital of the World". In his book ''Washington Goes to War'' (1996),

David Brinkley David McClure Brinkley (July 10, 1920 – June 11, 2003) was an American newscaster for NBC and ABC in a career lasting from 1943 to 1997. From 1956 through 1970, he co-anchored NBC's top-rated nightly news program, '' The Huntley–Brinkle ...

described Alma's participation in the World War II effort:

In the town of Alma, Arkansas (population 776), one-fourth of the girls in the 1944 high school graduating class signed up to leave for Washington, and several of their teachers cast aside their low-paying jobs and went with them, all of them climbing aboard a Pullman car for their first train ride, looking for more money and excitement than they had any reasonable expectation of finding in Alma.

Many people migrated from small towns to the capital seeking jobs as the government and associated businesses expanded to run the war effort.

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 city has a total area of , of which is land and , or 3.06%, is water. Alma is located in south-central Crawford County and has no airport. The train station, which fell into a state of dilapidation, was torn down in the early 1970's. Much of its commerce derives from interstate highway traffic, as Interstates 40 and 49 (previously 540), as well as U.S. Routes 64 and 71, pass through the city. The city gets its water supply from Lake Alma, which is located above the city on the northeast. The lake was formed by a tall earthen dam that blocks Little Frog Bayou. Lake Alma is the

reservoir A reservoir (; ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam, usually built to water storage, store fresh water, often doubling for hydroelectric power generation. Reservoirs are created by controlling a watercourse that drains an existing body of wa ...

that supplies the city's tap water. Alma developed along the border between the

Boston Mountains The Boston Mountains is a Level III ecoregion designated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the U.S. states of Arkansas and Oklahoma. Part of the Ozarks, the Boston Mountains are a deeply dissected plateau. The ecoregion is steepe ...

and the

Arkansas River The Arkansas River is a major tributary of the Mississippi River. It generally flows to the east and southeast as it traverses the U.S. states of Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. The river's source basin lies in Colorado, specifically ...

Valley. While most of the city lies on flat land, immediately to the north is scenic hill country. Alma is surrounded by several rural towns, including Rudy to the north, Dyer and

Mulberry ''Morus'', a genus of flowering plants in the family Moraceae, consists of 19 species of deciduous trees commonly known as mulberries, growing wild and under cultivation in many temperate world regions. Generally, the genus has 64 subordinat ...

to the east, and Kibler to the southwest.

Demographics

2020 census

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 5,825 people, 2,279 households, and 1,539 families residing in the city. The population density of Alma was 1,016.2 people per square mile. 37.6% of the population were under 18, and 7.0% were under 5. 13.0% of the population were over 65 years old. The gender make up was 48.9% female and 51.1% male. The median household income was $38,292, and the per capita income was $17,811. 32.3% of the population were under the poverty line.

2000 census

As of the

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 4,160 people, 1,560 households, and 1,168 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 1,688 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 94.66%

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 ...

, 1.71%

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 ...

, 1.56% Native American, 0.10% Asian, 0.12%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 0.75% from other races, and 1.11% from two or more races.

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 were 3.70% of the population. There were 1,560 households, out of which 42.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.1% 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, 14.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.1% were non-families. 22.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.66 and the average family size was 3.11. In the city, the age distribution was 32.1% under the age of 18, 9.6% from 18 to 24, 28.9% from 25 to 44, 18.6% from 45 to 64, and 10.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 31 years. For every 100 females, there were 90.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 85.4 males. The

median 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 unde ...

for a household in the city was $28,906, and the median income for a family was $34,068. Males had a median income of $33,235 versus $17,014 for females. 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 ...

for the city was $15,227. 11.9% of families and 16.3% 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 19.7% of those under the age of 18 and 25.4% of those ages 65 or older.

Government

Alma operates under a form of local government where the mayor and city council combine to form the Governing Body. The city council is composed of six council members, with two elected from each of the city's three wards. Ward 1: Sandra Kilpatrick, Larry Blasingame. Ward 2: James McGhee, Evan Thacker. Ward 3: Damon Brown, Gary Perry. Council members serve two-year terms, and elections for all seats are held concurrently. The mayor serves a four-year term. The current mayor is Jim Fincher. The city also operates with a city clerk and a city attorney.

Education

Public education for elementary and secondary school students is provided by the Alma School District. The four schools in the district include Alma Primary School, Alma Intermediate School, Alma Middle School and Alma High School.

Arts and culture

Spinach Capital of the World

Around 1987, Alma called itself the "

Capital of the World" because the Allen Canning Company based in Alma canned more than half of all the spinach canned in the U.S., about annually. The town has had various statues of the cartoon character

Popeye Popeye the Sailor Man is a fictional cartoon character created by E. C. Segar, Elzie Crisler Segar.potable water Drinking water or potable water is water that is safe for ingestion, either when drunk directly in liquid form or consumed indirectly through food preparation. It is often (but not always) supplied through taps, in which case it is also calle ...

from Lake Alma to the residents and commercial users of the city while also owning and operating a wastewater collection system. Wastewater is collected and conveyed to the Alma Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP). At the WWTP, wastewater passes through a bar screen, Parshall Flume, lagoon 1 (one completely mixed cell followed by two partially mixed cells), Lagoon 2 (facultative), Lagoon 3 (facultative), and optional chlorine/de-chlorination chambers. The plant has a design capacity of per day, and discharges treated effluent to the

in accordance with the city's NPDES permit administrated by the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality.

Notable people

* Kiley Dean, R&B singer * Eli Drinkwitz,

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou or MU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri, United States. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Univers ...

football coach * Charlene Fite, Republican member of the

Arkansas House of Representatives The Arkansas House of Representatives is the lower house of the Arkansas General Assembly, the state legislature of the US state of Arkansas. The House has 100 members elected from an equal number of constituencies across the state. Each distr ...

from District 80; formerly resided in Alma * Bradley Hathaway, poet and folk musician *

Billy Hughes William Morris Hughes (25 September 1862 – 28 October 1952) was an Australian politician who served as the seventh prime minister of Australia from 1915 to 1923. He led the nation during World War I, and his influence on national politics s ...

, actor * Morgan Nick, child abduction/murder victim *

Parley Pratt Parley Parker Pratt Sr. (April 12, 1807 – May 13, 1857) was an early leader of the Latter Day Saint movement whose writings became a significant early nineteenth-century exposition of the Latter Day Saint faith. Named in 1835 as one of the first ...

, early leader of the

Latter Day Saint movement The Latter Day Saint movement (also called the LDS movement, LDS restorationist movement, or Smith–Rigdon movement) is the collection of independent church groups that trace their origins to a Christian Restorationist movement founded by ...

* Fay Washington, baseball player

References

External links

City of Alma
official website
The Encyclopedia of Arkansas History & Culture

History of Alma
(pdf) from the Alma Chamber of Commerce website {{authority control Cities in Arkansas Cities in Crawford County, Arkansas Fort Smith metropolitan area Populated places established in 1874 1874 establishments in Arkansas