I arose at 3:45 to catch a 6 AM flight to Memphis Tennessee, the nearest convenient airport to Concord, Arkansas. It was a two hour drive through rich farmland, rice paddies, and up into the pine bluffs of the foothills of the Ozark Mountains. It was another 1/2 an hour to the nearest hotel on Heber Springs. That is where I met my host/guide, Charles Stuart He had grown up in Concord before moving late in life to Heber Springs where he became to head of the county historical society. Charles took me for a tour of his new town, but I was eager to see Concord. I had been in contact with Charles for nearly two years, and when the town heard of my project, they invited me to be the Grand Marshall of the 4th of July parade. Because of competition from larger, flasher parades the annual Concord parade was held on June 24th.
Day one in Concord Arkansas
The day before the parade, I explored the town, met some folks and took some pictures. On entering the town, I was greeted by a variety of signs. I'm always thrilled to see "Concord" on a highway marker, for it means my quest is reaching its goal. I always circle back, pull over, and take a picture of the "Concord" sign. Usually these pictures are pretty meaningless and are filed away, but the signs of Concord Arkansas deserve their our little photo gallery
The history of Concord Arkansas
According to Before 1808, the main inhabitant of the area were Osage Native Americans. After the "purchase" of the land by the US government, the first European settlers moved in. In the Treaty of 1817, Cherokee Indians from the Georgia area were offered 3 million acres in Arkansas for their 5 million acres in Georgia. The removal of the once powerful Cherokee people from Georgia occurred over a 45 year period starting in 1794. The original volunteers were resettled in areas west of the Mississippi River. The Concord area was therefore part ofd the end destiny for the infamous "Trail of Tears." After numerous battles with the local Osage, The Cherokee began to prosper and thrive in their new lands through farming and raising livestock. Unfortunately this was short-lived as earthquakes, epidemics and Europeans combined to destroy their fragile peace. A final wave of Cherokee who were removed at bayotte point arrived by 1839. The newcomers outnumbered the Old Settlers and a bloody battle for power ensued. According to Charles Russel Logan in "The Promised Land, The Cherokees, Arkansas and Removal,"
"A civil war ensued between .... 1839 to 1946, which one historian called “something like a Corsican vendetta.” The uneasy truce that followed the end of the Cherokee civil war disintegrated during the American Civil War," One set of settlers supported the Confederacy while another fought for the Union. "The fighting between the factions devastated the Cherokee Nation" Approximately 15,000 Cherokee were relocated to northwest Arkansas. Estimates for the number who died as part of the forced removal range from 4,000 to 10,000. Today ,less than 1% of residents in Cleburne County identify as Native American.
The first European settlers moved in after the Civil War. There were a few vast holdings, but few communities. According to the Encyclopedia of Arkansas, in 1877, the first state-funded school in the area was established. Around that same time, a vote was held to name the church and cemetery; the congregation settled upon the name Concord. Originally, this name was only formally used for the church, cemetery, and school. The church, a simple log structure, served as the gathering place for the community, hosting community meetings in addition to church services.
In 1905, the Concord post office began operating out of a store in the community. This store’s second story also featured a meeting area for the Masons. Sometime in the early twentieth century, postal service to the Concord post office was discontinued. In 1946, postal service resumed to Concord in a post office that—for the first time—was officially named Concord. It was later incorporated as a city, and it is the most recently named "Concord," that I have visited. The hardwood forests were extensively lumbered by the first settlers. Subsequently, the pines and other soft woods were processed into plywood. During Prohibition and the Great Depression, the hills and deep woods surrounding Concord made for great cover for whiskey stills. "It was said that Concord was home to the county’s most notorious bootleggers and moonshiners. The area’s proclivity for illegal alcohol has allegedly persisted into the modern era."
Prior to the 1930s, most families in Concord were subsistence farmers. In the late 1930s and early 1940s, poultry farming and processing became a major way of life in the area. Chicks were hatched elsewhere and then brought to Concord to be raised and processed. In the 1950s, the processing facilities moved to Batesville, as the city had ready access to transportation. The raising of chickens, especially broilers, remains key to the economic survival of Concord.
Until the late decades of the twentieth century, Concord was home to several stores, a post office, a café, a box factory, and a pallet mill. Concord was also home to Rimrock Records, where many songs by area artists, such as Wayne Raney, were recorded. Elvis, Tina and Ike Turner did dubbing and studio work there.
The town was quiet the day before the parade. There were signs of patriotic preparation, but few people. Arkansas highway #87 runs through the middle of town. There is a gas station at one end and a Dollar General in the middle. City Hall and the fire station are just off AR#87. There are a half dozen side streets, but the most remarkable feature is the eight churches: The Christian Lighthouse Church, The Concord United Methodist Church, The Church of God, The Seventh Day Worship Center,The First Apostolic Church of Concord, The Concord Missionary Baptist, The First Baptist, Mt. Zion Baptist Church, and The Concord Baptist. I may have missed a few.
The big parade!
After rising early to pack, I drove the 20 miles from Heber Springs up to Concord, Arkansas. At 10 AM, we gathered outside the high school, which was fitting since the regional high school serves about 500 students while the town of Concord has a population of 244. All 244 showed up for the parade as did families from the surrounding community. I was introduced to the Mayor Warren Rose, who climbed out of his ATV and greeted me: "Call me Buck." Red, white and blue was everywhere. There were a couple of pickup trucks pulling flatbed trailers converted into informal floats, a horse and buggy crammed with too many kids, a line of antique cars - mostly 1960’s muscle cars and a surprisingly large number of fine looking fire trucks. I don’t think anyone was walking, but I couldn’t really tell since Buck and I were at the front of the parade positioned just behind the town’s police car. The parade started around 10:15, as the county police stopped the through traffic. The local police car with sirens blaring led the way and Buck and I followed the parade down the street. My job was to throw candy to the crowd. I wasn’t very good at that. At first I dropped the goodies too close to the ATV. This just lured children into the middle of the road where they played chicken with the vehicles behind as they stooped down and snatched candy before scurrying back to the safety of the curb. Ironically, I was tossing Lifesavers. I soon overcorrected for my errant throws and I pegged some poor kid with a handful to the face. At the same time, I was trying to document the experience by taking a video of the crowd as we processed. Again, I was not very good at that. Most of the footage is either of the sky or my lap, but the six-minute video does capture the blaring police and fire truck sirens, a few cheers and me whooping it up to the on-lookers. I took my duty as honorary Grand Marshall seriously, even if I wasn’t very good at it. The picnic started soon after the parade, and I gathered up my courage and introduced myself to strangers and focused on taking portraits of the Concordians I met. In general, the young and the elderly were pretty content with living in Concord. “People are friendly and you know, it’s my home.” Teenagers were bored to death “There is NOTHING to do here.” Most of the old-timers were born in town. Many had journeyed away for work, but moved back after retirement.
Concord is a dry town, so time at the picnic seemed to pass slowly as we waited for the evening entertainment. I wandered down to the fire department, where they were prepping the evening’s fireworks display. I finagled a trade of tee-shirts. My “Concord Volunteer Firefighter” shirt is one of my favorite all-time souvenirs.
Community groups, mostly churches, set up tables with pamphlets and cookies for sale. I bought a couple of bags of oatmeal raisin from Sarah, Cole, Joe and Chris for I knew I had a 10 hour drive ahead of me.
Band #1came on at 4 PM, and they played a mixture of blue-grass, country and rock songs to deserved applause. 5:00 PM was karaoke hour - not my favorite activity - so I steered clearly and chatted with folks at the back of the tent. Band # 2 came on at 6 PM. Well, it was really a guy with a guitar using the karaoke machine. He was good, but he had a hard time getting the attendance's attention. The buzz was growing for the raffle. I won a town of Concord Fourth of July tee-shirt. It featured the heading “God shed His Grace on Thee.” The main design was of an American flag melding into an eagle, and the caption read “land of the Free and home of the Brave.” A small image of an inverted rifle in combat boots with identification tags and a helmet known as “The dead soldier” adorned the side of the shirt.
I said my goodbyes and a fine fireworks display sent me on my way to Concord Texas.