Burdette is a town in Mississippi 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 140 at the 2020 census, down from 191 in

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

History

Burdette has its origins as a

company town A company town is a place where all or most of the stores and housing in the town are owned by the same company that is also the main employer. Company towns are often planned with a suite of amenities such as stores, houses of worship, schoo ...

established by the Three States Lumber Company in the early 1900s. Incorporated in 1905, the town was named for Alfred Burdette Wolverton, an early logger in the area. Three States completed a large sawmill in Burdette in 1906.Jami Forrester,
Burdette (Mississippi County)
" ''Encyclopedia of Arkansas History and Culture'', 2018. In 1907, the Blytheville, Burdette and Mississippi River Railway was formed to build a line from Wolverton Landing, on the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...

, northward to Blytheville. This line also included a branch to Burdette. A large agricultural operation, the Burdette Plantation, developed alongside the lumber operations. Beginning in the 1920s, these farms were utilized by the

University of Arkansas The University of Arkansas (U of A, UArk, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Fayetteville, Arkansas, United States. It is the Flagship campus, flagship campus of the University of Arkan ...

for agricultural research focused on the improvement of cotton and corn yields. Several new cotton varieties, such as "Burdette Express" and "Burdette Lone Star", were developed in the Burdette area.

Geography

Burdette is located in northeastern Mississippi County at (35.856818, -90.040113). The town is concentrated along Arkansas Highway 148, north of Luxora and south of Blytheville, and about northwest of the

. The town's municipal boundaries stretch westward along AR 148 to

Interstate 55 Interstate 55 (I-55) is a major Interstate Highway in the central United States. As with most primary Interstates that end in a five, it is a major cross-country, north–south route, connecting the Gulf of Mexico to the Great Lakes. The ...

and eastward to U.S. Route 61. 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 ...

, Burdette has a total area of , all land.

Demographics

As of the 2010 United States Census, there were 191 people living in the town. The racial makeup of the town was 70.7% White, 20.9% Black, and 8.4% were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 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 129 people, 52 households, and 35 families living 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 . There were 57 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 82.17%

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 ...

, 17.05%

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 ...

, and 0.78% from two or more races. There were 52 households, out of which 25.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.7% 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, 3.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.8% were non-families. 30.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 1.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.48 and the average family size was 3.06. In the town, the population was spread out, with 23.3% under the age of 18, 8.5% from 18 to 24, 25.6% from 25 to 44, 35.7% from 45 to 64, and 7.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females, there were 101.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 115.2 males. The median income for a household in the town was $40,625, and the median income for a family was $49,375. Males had a median income of $29,500 versus $9,250 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 town was $18,958. There were 10.3% of families and 11.2% of the population living 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 11.1% of under eighteens and none of those over 64.

Education

The town is served by Blytheville School District, including Blytheville High School. The Burdette school district merged into the Blytheville district in 1971.

References

External links

* {{authority control Towns in Mississippi County, Arkansas Towns in Arkansas Company towns in Arkansas Logging communities in the United States