Romance, Arkansas
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Romance is an
unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...
in west-central White 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 community is located approximately halfway between the town of Rose Bud to the north, and the unincorporated community of
El Paso El Paso (; ; or ) is a city in and the county seat of El Paso County, Texas, United States. The 2020 United States census, 2020 population of the city from the United States Census Bureau, U.S. Census Bureau was 678,815, making it the List of ...
to the south. Alternately, the community is about northwest of Beebe, and less than east of
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 ...
. Considered as a postal designation ( ZIP code: 72136), the population of Romance as of the 2010 census was 1,772 residents.


Geography and history

Lacking exact boundaries, much of the Romance area falls within the borders of Marshall Township and Kentucky Township within White County. As legend maintains, the community was named by a school teacher many years ago who thought the view from bluffs on the community's eastern side was particularly romantic. Naming of the community has proven significant in maintaining Romance's most visible business, a small branch
post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letter (message), letters and parcel (package), parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post o ...
of 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 ...
. The local post office is one of several within the USPS system that gain attention because of "love-themed" names, but received special focus in 1990 as the first location to issue that year's stamp in the USPS Love Stamp series. Romance's post office is among those popular around the United States for postmarks of cards for
Valentine's Day Valentine's Day, also called Saint Valentine's Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine, is celebrated annually on February 14. It originated as a Christian feast day honoring a Christian martyrs, martyr named Saint Valentine, Valentine, and ...
, as well as for
wedding A wedding is a ceremony in which two people are united in marriage. Wedding traditions and customs vary greatly between cultures, ethnicity, ethnicities, Race (human categorization), races, religions, Religious denomination, denominations, Cou ...
invitations. A side venture of sorts has developed in recent years, with a small number of weddings performed on the grounds of the post office, though the practice is not affiliated with the USPS.


Government

As an unincorporated community, Romance is part of the jurisdiction of the county judge of White County, the county's chief executive, and subject to county-wide ordinances. Local law enforcement is provided by the White County Sheriff's Department, as well as
township A township is a form of human settlement or administrative subdivision. Its exact definition varies among countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, this tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Canad ...
constable A constable is a person holding a particular office, most commonly in law enforcement. The office of constable can vary significantly in different jurisdictions. ''Constable'' is commonly the rank of an officer within a police service. Other peo ...
s for Marshall and Kentucky townships. A parachute drop zone, established in the 1980s for
Little Rock Air Force Base Little Rock Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located approximately northeast of Little Rock, Arkansas. The facility covers 6,217 acres (2,516 ha) with a resident population of over 3,300 and working population of approximate ...
, is located near Romance.


Transportation

Romance is situated along two major Arkansas state highways: * Highway 5, a north–south highway serving central Arkansas. This highway continues north to the
Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...
state line, and south to Cabot at U.S. Highway 67. * Highway 31, a north–south highway with a northern terminus in Romance at Arkansas 5 and southern terminus at the U.S. Highway 79 business loop northeast of Pine Bluff. The majority of roads in the area are administered by the White County Road Department, including Hilltop Acres, which serves the center of Romance and connects to both Arkansas 5 (opposite Manning Road) and Arkansas 31 (opposite Rogers Road). Passing by the former Romance Store building, which once housed the community's post office, the southern portion of Hilltop Acres travels through something of an unofficial
downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in American and Canadian English to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political, and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business district ( ...
area. The post office was relocated to a lot along Arkansas 31 in the early 1990s; the remaining general store closed soon afterward. Among county roads in the area, four major roads serve greater Romance: * Blackjack Mountain Road (White County Road 149) is a paved county road that travels south of but somewhat parallel to the westernmost portion of Arkansas 31. The name of the approximately 6.5-mile-long east–west road is taken from blackjack oak trees found throughout the hills on Romance's south side. * Romance Road (White County Road 26) is an east–west unpaved county road that travels from its western terminus at Kentucky Valley Road near Romance's center to approximately 1/2 mile east of Gravel Hill Road, currently dead ending at Quattlebaum Cemetery, in the unincorporated community of Gravel Hill. * Kentucky Valley Road (White County Road 157) is a paved county road with a varied path mostly traveling north and northeast of the center of Romance. Its southern terminus is at Hilltop Acres, to the right of former Romance Store building and leading past the community's volunteer-staffed
fire station __NOTOC__ A fire station (also called a fire house, fire hall, firemen's hall, or engine house) is a structure or other area for storing firefighting apparatuses such as fire apparatus, fire engines and related vehicles, personal protective equ ...
. * Daffodil Road is a north–south unpaved county road that travels mostly north and northwest from a southern terminus intersecting with Hilltop Acres.


Education


Elementary and secondary

Children in the greater Romance area are largely served by the Rose Bud Public School District from pre-K through twelfth grade in nearby Rose Bud. - See Romance on the map. Romance's school district was consolidated with the Rose Bud district during the 1950s, and the community had a local school as early as 1895, when the Harper School on Blackjack Mountain operated. Some eastern portions of the community, near neighboring Floyd, are part of the Beebe Public School District. Both are member schools of the Beebe-based Wilbur D. Mills Educational Service Cooperative. Areas near Highway 310 and Hammons Chapel Road, toward White County's western edge, are part of the
Mount Vernon–Enola School District Mount Vernon–Enola School District 19 (MVESD) is a public school district based in Mount Vernon, Arkansas. MVESD supports more than 500 students in kindergarten through grade 12 and employs more than 90 faculty and staff on a full time equiv ...
, part of the Arch Ford Educational Service Cooperative based in Plumerville.


References


External links


United States Postal Service press information
from 2003, related to love-themed postmarks at Romance and other locations * Website showing th

as part of a commemorative issue * Website showing th

and immediate surrounding area, from 1930. The store building currently still stands.
Full population statistics for the Romance ZIP code (72136)
from the United States Census Bureau (2000) {{authority control Unincorporated communities in Arkansas Unincorporated communities in White County, Arkansas