Forrest City is a city in and the

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

of St. Francis 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. It was named for General Nathan Bedford Forrest, a notable Confederate war hero who later became the first Grand Wizard of the

Ku Klux Klan The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to KKK or Klan, is an American Protestant-led Christian terrorism, Christian extremist, white supremacist, Right-wing terrorism, far-right hate group. It was founded in 1865 during Reconstruction era, ...

. Shortly after the end of the Civil War, he had a construction crew camped here, who were completing a railroad between Memphis and

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 ...

. The population was 15,371 at the 2010 census, an increase from 14,774 in 2000. The city identifies as the "Jewel of the

Delta Delta commonly refers to: * Delta (letter) (Δ or δ), the fourth letter of the Greek alphabet * D (NATO phonetic alphabet: "Delta"), the fourth letter in the Latin alphabet * River delta, at a river mouth * Delta Air Lines, a major US carrier ...

History

19th century

On October 13, 1827, St. Francis County, located in the east central part of Arkansas, was officially organized by the Arkansas Territorial Legislature in

. Nathan Bedford Forrest, a Confederate General and later the first Grand Wizard of the

, became interested in the area around Crowley's Ridge during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

. In 1866, General Forrest and C. C. McCreanor contracted to finish the Memphis & Little Rock Railroad from Madison located on the St. Francis River to DeValls Bluff on the west bank of the White River. The route traversed the challenging Crowley's Ridge and L'Anguille River bottoms. In 1868, train service through Forrest City was established. Forrest later built a commissary on Front Street. Colonel V.B. Izard began the task of designing the town at the same time. Most residents were calling the area "Forrest's Town," which was later named Forrest City and was incorporated on May 11, 1870. The county seat was initially located in the now defunct town of Franklin until 1840, when it was moved to Madison. In 1855 it was moved to

Mount Vernon Mount Vernon is the former residence and plantation of George Washington, a Founding Father, commander of the Continental Army in the Revolutionary War, and the first president of the United States, and his wife, Martha. An American landmar ...

where the court house burned in 1856 destroying county records. This prompted a move back to Madison. The county seat was moved to Forrest City in 1874, where the courthouse was assigned to a wooden structure. When it burned shortly thereafter, county records were again destroyed. In 1889, the city was the site of a white race riot that resulted in their expulsion of African American leaders.

20th century

The Imperial Council of Jugamos, a fraternal organization of African Americans founded in 1910 by Wallace Leon Purifoy had its headquarters in Forrest City. The ''Forrest City Herald'' printed its constitution in 1916. The ''New Castle Herald'' noted the group and its officers in 1919. In 1940, Forrest City was a stop for the '' Choctaw Rocket'', a passenger train operated by the

Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad The original Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad (CRI&P RW, sometimes called ''Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railway'') was an American Class I railroad. It was also known as the Rock Island Line, or, in its final years, The Rock. At ...

. Service was discontinued in 1964. Evidence that giant mastodons roamed the slope was revealed in 1949 when workmen excavating for sewer improvements found bones of the massive beasts within the city limits. In 1988, Forrest City High School held its first integrated prom. After school integration was ordered in the mid-1960s, Forrest City eliminated school-sponsored dances and social activities. For 23 years, social clubs and individual families had organized a racially segregated prom.

21st century

In 2018, the city elected Cedric Williams as mayor; Williams is the third African American mayor in the city's history.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which is land and (0.37%) of which is water. Forrest City is located on

Crowley's Ridge Crowley's Ridge (also Crowleys Ridge) is a geological formation that rises 250 to above the alluvial plain of the Mississippi embayment in a line from southeastern Missouri to the Mississippi River near Helena, Arkansas. It is the most p ...

, a geological phenomenon that rises above the flat Mississippi Delta terrain that surrounds it. This north-south running highland is some three miles wide and 300 feet above sea level. Several species of trees not indigenous to Arkansas are found here, including

beech Beech (genus ''Fagus'') is a genus of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to subtropical (accessory forest element) and temperate (as dominant element of Mesophyte, mesophytic forests) Eurasia and North America. There are 14 accepted ...

, butternut, sugar maple, and cucumber trees.

Demographics

2020 census

As of the 2020 U.S. census, there were 13,015 people, 4,358 households, and 2,655 families residing in the city.

Government and infrastructure

The

Federal Bureau of Prisons The Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) is a Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement agency of the United States Department of Justice that is responsible for all List of United States federal prisons, federal prisons ...

Federal Correctional Complex, Forrest City is in Forrest City. The

United States Postal Service The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or simply the Postal Service, is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the executive branch of the federal governmen ...

operates the Forrest City Post Office.

Woodruff Electric Cooperative Woodruff Electric Cooperative is a non-profit rural electric utility cooperative headquartered in Forrest City, Arkansas, with district offices in Augusta and Moro, Arkansas. The Cooperative was organized in 1937. The Cooperative serves portion ...

, a non-profit rural electric utility cooperative, is headquartered in Forrest City.

Local landmarks

The Forrest City Chamber of Commerce is located in the 100-year-old Becker House. This house has served a variety of functions since being sold by the Becker family. It was an antique store and later a home furnishings boutique before being occupied by the Chamber. Forrest City had five sites listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

including: * Campbell House * First United Methodist * Forrest City High School (aka, "Old Central") * Mann House * Stuart Springs

Education

Forrest City School District operates public schools, including Forrest City High School. Circa 2014 KIPP Delta established the grade 5-8 KIPP Forrest City College Preparatory School in Forrest City, which occupied several temporary buildings and a portion of a Catholic church which had a lease agreement with KIPP. In 2018 KIPP Delta asked the State of Arkansas for permission to close KIPP Forrest City and send students to the Helena-West Helena facility.

Notable people

* Barrett Astin, former professional baseball player, Cincinnati Reds * Little Buddy Doyle, blues guitarist, singer and songwriter * Lewis P. Featherstone, former U.S. Representative * Al Green, singer and minister * Willie Hale, rhythm and blues guitarist, singer and songwriter * John W. Henry, principal owner,

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...

* Chris Hicky, music video director * Mark W. Izard, 3rd Governor of the Nebraska Territory * Jason Jones, professional football player * Don Kessinger, born in Forrest City, professional baseball player and manager. * Albert King, blues artist * Henry Loeb, mayor of

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. Situated along the Mississippi River, it had a population of 633,104 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Tenne ...

* Cara McCollum, 2013 Miss New Jersey * Gilbert Morris, award-winning Christian author * King Perry, jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, arranger, and bandleader * Jimmy Rogers, football player * Cal Slayton, comic book artist * Vernon Sykes, member of

Ohio House of Representatives The Ohio House of Representatives is the lower house of the Ohio General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Ohio; the other house of the bicameral legislature being the Ohio Senate. The House of Representatives first met in ...

* Dwight Tosh, 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 ...

* Winston P. Wilson, U.S. Air Force Major General and Chief of the National Guard Bureau * Dennis Winston, professional football player * G. Wood, one of four actors to appear in both the 1970 film '' M*A*S*H'' and the

television series A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, and cable, or distributed digitally on streaming plat ...

'' M*A*S*H''. * Marshall Wright, former member of the

References

External links

Forrest City website

Forrest City Chamber of Commerce
{{authority control 1870 establishments in Arkansas Cities in Arkansas Cities in St. Francis County, Arkansas County seats in Arkansas Nathan Bedford Forrest Populated places established in 1870