Mount Ida 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 Montgomery 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. Founded in 1842, the city saw a silver boom in the 1880s bring early prosperity and economic development to the area. Today, the economy is largely

ranching A ranch (from /Mexican Spanish) is an area of land, including various structures, given primarily to ranching, the practice of raising grazing livestock such as cattle and sheep. It is a subtype of farm. These terms are most often applied to li ...

poultry farming Poultry farming is the form of animal husbandry which raises domesticated birds such as chickens, ducks, turkeys and geese to produce meat or eggs for food. Poultry – mostly chickens – are farmed in great numbers. More than 60 billion c ...

silviculture Silviculture is the practice of controlling the growth, composition/structure, as well as quality of forests to meet values and needs, specifically timber production. The name comes from the Latin ('forest') and ('growing'). The study of forests ...

, and tourism around

Lake Ouachita Lake Ouachita (''Pronounced WAH-shi-tah'') is a reservoir created by the damming of the Ouachita River by Blakely Mountain Dam (). Blakely Mountain Dam was built by the United States Army Corps of Engineers from 1948 to 1953 for hydroelectric ...

. It is known as the quartz crystal capital of the U.S. and is known worldwide for its

quartz Quartz is a hard, crystalline mineral composed of silica (silicon dioxide). The Atom, atoms are linked in a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon–oxygen Tetrahedral molecular geometry, tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tet ...

deposits. The population was 996 as of the 2020 census.

History

Mount Ida was incorporated on May 30, 1890. Episode 133, entitled "What's in my Pocket?", of the popular podcast ''Small Town Murder'', hosted by James Pietragallo and Jimmie Whisman, featured Mount Ida on August 22, 2019.

Geography

Mount Ida is located in central Montgomery County on the south bank of the South Fork of the

Ouachita River The Ouachita River ( ) is a river that runs south and east through the United States, U.S. U.S. state, states of Arkansas and Louisiana, joining the Tensas River to form the Black River (Louisiana), Black River near Jonesville, Louisiana. It i ...

. US Route 270 and

Arkansas Highway 27 Arkansas Highway 27 (AR 27) is a designation for four state highways in Arkansas. One segment of runs from US 59/ US 71 west of Ben Lomond north to US 270 in Mount Ida. A second segment of runs from US 270 west of Mount Ida north to Hig ...

pass through the town.''Mount Ida, Arkansas,'' 7.5 Minute Topographic Quadrangle, USGS, 1986 US 270 leads east to

Hot Springs A hot spring, hydrothermal spring, or geothermal spring is a Spring (hydrology), spring produced by the emergence of Geothermal activity, geothermally heated groundwater onto the surface of the Earth. The groundwater is heated either by shallow ...

and northwest to

Heavener, Oklahoma Heavener is a town in Le Flore County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 3,414 at the 2010 census, an increase of 6.7 percent from 3,201 at the 2000 census.

, while AR 27 leads northeast to Danville and southwest to

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 9th and 10th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norma ...

. Mount Ida, the mountain, is about southwest of the town along Route 27. 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 of Mount Ida has a total area of , of which , or 1.94%, are water.

Climate

The climate in this area is characterized by hot, humid summers and generally mild to cool winters. According to the

Köppen Climate Classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

system, Mount Ida has a

humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a subtropical -temperate climate type, characterized by long and hot summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between ...

, abbreviated "Cfa" on climate maps.

Demographics

2020 census

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 996 people, 428 households, and 273 families residing in the city.

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 981 people, 412 households, and 257 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 471 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 96.53%

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 ...

, 0.10%

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 ...

, 1.94% Native American, 0.31% Asian, 0.10% from other races, and 1.02% from two or more races. 0.51% of the population were

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. There were 412 households, out of which 22.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.8% 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, 11.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 37.6% were non-families. 35.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 23.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.15 and the average family size was 2.74. In the city, the population was spread out, with 19.2% under the age of 18, 6.6% from 18 to 24, 18.3% from 25 to 44, 21.7% from 45 to 64, and 34.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 50 years. For every 100 females, there were 78.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 72.0 males. The median income for a household in the city was $21,438, and the median income for a family was $30,714. Males had a median income of $25,875 versus $20,179 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 $13,532. About 18.9% of families and 23.4% 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 29.2% of those under age 18 and 16.0% of those age 65 or over.

Parks and recreation

The

Ouachita National Forest The Ouachita National Forest is a vast congressionally-designated United States National Forest, National Forest that lies in the western portion of Arkansas and portions of extreme-eastern Oklahoma, USA. History The Ouachita National Forest is ...

is located in Montgomery County, and is close to Mount Ida. It is the South's oldest and largest national forest, and offers scenic areas like Little Missouri Falls, and hiking and backpacking trails.

, one of the largest lakes in the region, is partially situated within Montgomery County.

Notable people

* Mark Davis, professional sport fisherman of the

Bass Anglers Sportsman Society The Bass Anglers Sportsman Society (B.A.S.S.) is a fishing membership organization with more than a half a million members. It is geared toward bass fishermen, mainly in the United States but with members located worldwide. The society publishe ...

; born in Mount IdaMark Davis' Texas Bass Fishing Bio page
/ref> *

Lon Warneke Lonnie Warneke ( ; March 28, 1909 – June 23, 1976), nicknamed "The Arkansas Hummingbird", was a Major League Baseball player, Major League umpire (baseball), umpire, county judge, and businessman from Montgomery County, Arkansas, whose career W ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

player, Major League

umpire An umpire is an official in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The term derives from the Old French , , and , : (as evidenced in cricke ...

; born in Mount Ida * Charles L. Watkins, first Parliamentarian of the United States Senate; born and raised in Mount Ida

References

External links

Mount Ida Weather & Attraction Information

Mount Ida Chamber of Commerce
Portal style website, Government, Business, Library, Recreation and more

Comprehensive Statistical Data and more about Mount Ida
ePodunk: Profile for Mount Ida, Arkansas, AR
{{authority control Ouachita Mountains Cities in Montgomery County, Arkansas Cities in Arkansas County seats in Arkansas Populated places established in 1890