FAYETTEVILLE — John Henbest, a World War I veteran and longtime farmer in west Fayetteville, earned a namesake Tuesday night.
The Fayetteville City Council unanimously voted to change a 0.2-mile stretch of Shiloh Drive to John Henbest Drive.
The street has to be renamed because it won’t be a part of Shiloh Drive anymore. A realignment project moved Shiloh to the north, leaving a small stretch of the original roadway serving one business, Farm Credit Services of Western Arkansas.
The original idea was to name the street North Farm Credit Drive. But that idea was opposed by residents in the area who said it lacked “pizzazz,” said council members from Ward 4. Residents also thought the street name should recognize some of the history of the traditionally agricultural lands of west Fayetteville.
In the second round of name considerations, names like Cowboy and Bighorn surfaced.
“He wasn’t much of a cowboy, but he was an excellent farmer,” said Ben Henbest, the great-grandson of John Henbest, whose family stills lives in the area.