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 382 as of the 2020 Census.
History
Damascus is a town located in the Ozark foothills on a plateau surrounded by clear streams along U.S. Highway 65 on the county line between Faulkner and Van Buren counties. It is most known for its proximity to the Titan II missile base that operated from 1963 until 1980, when a missile explosion killed one person and injured twenty-one. Damascus is home to three Baptist churches, a Church of Christ that was built in 1917, and a Methodist church that was built in 1947.
Damascus is also near the Gus Blass Scout Reservation, a Boy Scout Camp of 3,000 acres maintained by the Quapaw Area Council.
Broken Arrow Incident
Construction began on a Titan II missile base north of Damascus in 1961; the site became active on December 18, 1963. During routine maintenance in a Titan II silo, an Air Force repairman dropped a heavy wrench socket, which rolled off a work platform and fell toward the bottom of the silo. The socket bounced and struck the missile, causing a leak from a pressurized fuel tank. The missile complex and the surrounding area were evacuated and a team of specialists was called in from Little Rock Air Force Base, the missile's main support base. About hours after the initial puncture, fuel vapors within the silo ignited and exploded. The explosion fatally injured one member of the team. Twenty-one other USAR personnel were injured. The missile's re-entry vehicle, which contained a nuclear warhead, was recovered intact. There was no radioactive contamination.
Damascus was the site of a nuclear "Broken Arrow" incident on September 18–19, 1980 when a Titan II
ICBM
An intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) is a ballistic missile with a range (aeronautics), range greater than , primarily designed for nuclear weapons delivery (delivering one or more Thermonuclear weapon, thermonuclear warheads). Conven ...
exploded NNE of the town, although no radiation was spread as a result of the explosion. An extensive description of the Damascus accident can be found in Eric Schlosser's 2013 book: Command and Control: Nuclear Weapons, the Damascus Accident, and the Illusion of Safety.
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 , all land.
Demographics
Damascus's portion within Faulkner County is in the northernmost part of the
Little Rock
Little Rock is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Arkansas, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The city's population was 202,591 as of the 2020 census. The six-county Central Arkan ...
Conway
Conway may refer to:
Places
United States
* Conway, Arkansas
* Conway County, Arkansas
* Lake Conway, Arkansas
* Conway, Florida
* Conway, Iowa
* Conway, Kansas
* Conway, Louisiana
* Conway, Massachusetts
* Conway, Michigan
* Conway Townshi ...
Metropolitan Statistical Area.
At the 2000 census there were 306 people, 137 households, and 90 families in the town. The population density was . There were 157 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 97.71% White, 0.98% Black or African American, 0.33% Native American, and 0.98% from two or more races. 1.31% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. Of the 137 households 26.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.3% were married couples living together, 7.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.3% were non-families. 30.7% of households were one person and 19.0% were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 2.23 and the average family size was 2.81.
The age distribution was 21.2% under the age of 18, 5.9% from 18 to 24, 25.2% from 25 to 44, 21.9% from 45 to 64, and 25.8% 65 or older. The median age was 44 years. For every 100 females, there were 96.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.3 males.
The median household income was $28,977 and the median family income was $38,750. Males had a median income of $28,214 versus $16,458 for females. The per capita income for the town was $18,342. About 1.3% of families and 8.0% 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 none of those under the age of eighteen and 22.2% of those sixty five or over.
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 ...