Forrest City, Arkansas
| Forrest City, Arkansas | |
|---|---|
| City | |
 |
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| Motto: One Forrest City, moving forward, one step at a time | |
 Location in St. Francis County and the state of Arkansas |
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| Coordinates: 35°0′36″N 90°47′19″W / 35.01000°N 90.78861°WCoordinates: 35°0′36″N 90°47′19″W / 35.01000°N 90.78861°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Arkansas |
| County | St. Francis |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Larry S. Bryant |
| Area | |
| • Total | 16.4 sq mi (42.2 km2) |
| • Land | 16.3 sq mi (42.1 km2) |
| • Water | 0.1 sq mi (0.1 km2) |
| Elevation | 253 ft (77 m) |
| Population (2012)Estimate | |
| • Total | 15,435 |
| • Density | 900.9/sq mi (350.1/km2) |
| Time zone | Central (CST) (UTC-6) |
| • Summer (DST) | CDT (UTC-5) |
| FIPS code | 05-24430 |
| GNIS feature ID | 0083152 |
Forrest City is a city in St. Francis County, Arkansas, United States, and the county seat. It was named for General Nathan Bedford Forrest, who used the location as a campsite for a construction crew completing a railroad between Memphis and Little Rock, shortly after the Civil War. The population was 15,371 at the 2010 census, an increase from 14,774 in 2000. The city refers to itself as the "Jewel of the Delta".
On October 13, 1827, St. Francis County, located in the east central part of Arkansas, was officially organized by the Arkansas Territorial Legislature in Little Rock. Confederate general Nathan Bedford Forrest became interested in the area around Crowley's Ridge during the Civil War. 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. The first trains came through in 1868.
General 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," later to be known as Forrest City, incorporated 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 where the court house burned in 1856 destroying county records prompting a move back to Madison. The county seat was moved to a wooden structure in Forrest City in 1874, which burned shortly thereafter, again destroying county records.
In 1940, Forrest City was a stop for the Choctaw Rocket, a passenger train operated by the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad. Service was discontinued in 1964.
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