In October, St. Louis-based Emerson announced that it will invest $35 million to build a manufacturing facility at Ash Flat in Sharp County. The plant is expected to create 245 jobs within the next four years. It will make products for the mechanical, electrical and plumbing industries.
The announcement is good news in a remote area of the state that once was a trend-setter in the retirement industry. That was before many retirees decided they wanted to be closer to cities and the medical services those cities offer.
In 1948, West Memphis developer John Cooper Sr. purchased 400 acres along the Spring River near the mouth of Otter Creek. What was initially known as Otter Creek Ranch grew into Cherokee Village. That in turn led to the Cooper retirement community empire that would later include Bella Vista and Hot Springs Village.
Cooper began purchasing additional land in the early 1950s, a decade that saw Sharp County's population plummet from 8,999 to 6,319 residents as rural Arkansans headed to the upper midwest and California for factory jobs. Neighboring Fulton County saw its population drop from 9,187 to 6,657 residents in the same decade.
Cooper reversed that downward trajectory. He formed the Cherokee Village Development Co. in 1953 and began selling lots to people in states such as Iowa and Illinois who were ready to escape winter snowstorms. When Cherokee Village was formally dedicated in June 1955, first-term Gov. Orval Faubus declared it "the coming mecca of the Ozarks."
The population of Sharp County had more than doubled to 14,109 by 1990, then grew to 17,119 by the 2000 census.
Fulton County's population grew to 11,642 by 2000, though that was still less than the 12,917 residents recorded a century earlier in 1900.
"Retirees from across the United States relocated to the Spring River area, transforming Cherokee Village into a popular retirement center," writes Memphis-based historian Wayne Dowdy.
"Cooper's development company opened Bella Vista in northwest Arkansas in 1967. Three years later, it opened Hot Springs Village. The construction of these three communities established Arkansas as one of the most important retirement destinations in the United States. Cherokee Village Development Co. added two golf courses, seven lakes, three recreation centers, 350 miles of roads and a water system for its residents.
"Less than 10 years after the town's founding, Cherokee Village had grown so much that additional land was necessary to satisfy the demand for homes. However, adjoining land was occupied by the Memphis Boy Scout councils' summer camp Kia Kima.
"In 1964, Cooper approached the Boy Scouts and offered to give them a larger tract of land on the South Fork of the Spring River in exchange for their property. The Memphis organization relented after Cooper agreed to construct several buildings on the Boy Scouts' new property. The Kia Kima trade and other land purchases expanded Cherokee Village to 13,500 acres by 1980."
Growth in the area has slowed the past 20 years, which is why the jobs Emerson will create will be a welcome addition to the existing retirement and tourism sectors.
Settlement didn't begin with Cherokee Village. Ash Flat traces its birth to 1856 when a post office was placed there. Postmaster James McCord chose the name due to a grove of ash trees. It was part of Lawrence County at the time.
Sharp County was carved from Lawrence County in 1868. Five years later, part of Independence County was annexed. Sharp County was named for Ephraim Sharp of Evening Shade, who served in the Legislature. The first courthouse was built in 1870 at Evening Shade. A second courthouse was completed in 1894 at Hardy. Two courthouses were deemed necessary due to frequent flooding along the Strawberry and Spring rivers.
Isolation in the hills proved to be Ash Flat's friend.
"Isolated from Arkansas' major commercial centers, Ash Flat evolved into a trading destination for the surrounding farm communities," Dowdy writes. "Ash Flat had a population of 150 people in 1871 as well as a blacksmith shop, three stores, two saloons and a cotton gin. Thomas V. Stephens and R.J. Wilson put the cotton gin near Big Creek so the oxen that turned the wheel could have access to fresh water.
"By 1889, Ash Flat's business interests had expanded to include a saddle-making operation, flour mill, drugstore, hotel and sawmill. The town also had two churches and one physician, as well as Eastern Star and Masonic lodges. In addition to cotton farming, Ash Flat also experienced an increase in lumber production as the 19th century ended."
In 1883, nearby Hardy was established on the Spring River as a stop along the Kansas City, Springfield & Memphis Railroad. By the early 1900s, Hardy had become a tourist destination.
In 1867, the Arkansas Legislature had been desperate for capital following the Civil War. Legislators voted to pay companies for laying track in the state in hope that the railroads would bring additional businesses and residents.
"The Kansas City, Springfield & Memphis Railroad was built, at least in part, because of this incentive," Dowdy writes. "Named for railroad contractor James Hardy of Batesville, the town was developed on 600 acres by early settler Walker Clayton in 1883 to serve the needs of travelers.
"Clayton also donated land for what's now the historic Hardy cemetery. Residents wanted to name the town Forty Islands after a local creek, but postal officials insisted on Hardy because that designation was used to deliver mail to railroad workers in the area."
In 1908, Memphis doctor George Gillespie Buford and his wife were stranded in Hardy when the train they were riding experienced a mechanical failure. They climbed what was known as Wahpeton Hill along the Spring River and were enchanted by the natural beauty. The couple purchased 50 acres the following year and built a summer cottage as a place to get away from the heat, mosquitoes and diseases in Memphis. In 1912, they constructed 10 cottages and named the business the Wahpeton Inn.
In 1932, L.L. Ward of Blytheville, also looking to escape the Delta heat, opened a resort known as Rio Vista. The area also became a favorite summer getaway for Memphis youth. The Boy Scouts started Kia Kima in 1916, the Memphis YWCA built Miramichee the same year, and the Girl Scouts established Camp Kiwani in 1920.
"In addition to the railroad, bus service later connected Hardy to the rest of the world," Dowdy writes. "By 1930, the town had 508 permanent residents. Its visitor population swelled to about 1,000 per day between July and September. The tourism boom spawned by Wahpeton, Rio Vista and the summer camps led to economic growth. By 1920, two blocks of Main Street were filled with businesses, including a bank, two cafes, two drugstores, a Ford dealership and a grocery store."
In an interview with the Memphis Press-Scimitar, drugstore owner William Johnston claimed that Hardy had "the finest fishing in the world."
Cafe owner Tennie Meeker told an interviewer in 1935: "You take a big trainload of people and dump them down suddenly in a small town like Hardy, and it nearly works everybody to death."
It was a nice problem to have. Ash Flat, meanwhile, continued to serve as a commercial center for area farmers. According to Dowdy: "By the late 1930s, Ash Flat remained a small but vital agricultural community with a population of 500. The town's two most important businesses continued to be the cotton mill and flour mill.
Other businesses included a hotel, gas station, drugstore and six dry-goods stores. Social life in Ash Flat revolved around its distinctive stone schoolhouse and its three churches."
In 1967, the Legislature abolished the twin county seats at Hardy and Evening Shade and established a single county seat at Ash Flat.
When the school districts at Ash Flat and Hardy consolidated in the early 1960s, they chose to build a new high school between the two towns. That area became the city of Highland. There had been a post office there from 1878-1901. Few could have predicted at the time that Highland, which wasn't incorporated until 1998, would eventually be larger than Ash Flat and Hardy.
According to the Central Arkansas Library System's Encyclopedia of Arkansas: "Ash Flat and Hardy both maintained elementary schools through sixth grade, with older students attending the new high school at Highland that was completed in 1964. Growth of the surrounding communities soon necessitated an additional elementary school, Cherokee Elementary, which opened in 1971 at Highland. Seven years later, a middle school also was built at Highland. Because of its proximity to U.S. 62 and the expanding retirement community of Cherokee Village, restaurants and stores were built in Highland."
In the 2010 census, Highland had 1,045 residents; Ash Flat had 980; and Hardy had 772.
The bulk of the county's growth was driven by Cherokee Village.
In 1979, the property owners' association at Cherokee Village formed a committee to study the feasibility of establishing a city government to augment the improvement district that earlier had been formed. A 1980 poll conducted by the League of Women Voters found overwhelming opposition to creating a city.
"By the late 1990s, residents had changed their minds," Dowdy writes. "In 1997, Cherokee Village citizens petitioned the courts for permission to incorporate. Because Cherokee Village is in Sharp and Fulton counties, both court systems had to rule on the petition.
"Despite the support of the citizenry for incorporation, a Sharp County judge denied the petition in December 1997. A Fulton County court divided Cherokee Village when it granted the incorporation petition in January 1998. Fulton County residents incorporated as Cherokee Village West, while their Sharp County neighbors remained unincorporated.
"Early in 1998, the newly elected Cherokee Village West city council passed an ordinance annexing the Sharp County section. Voters in both county sections approved the annexation in April of that year, creating the united city of Cherokee Village. In addition to a mayor and city council, a police force was created. Although the improvement district remained a vital entity, the city of Cherokee Village took over some of its duties. For example, the city assumed responsibility for street maintenance in 2003."
Cherokee Village had a population of 4,671 in the 2010 census.
In essence, Cherokee Village, Highland, Ash Flat and Hardy now serve as a quad-city region for an otherwise sparsely populated area of the state. The Spring River Innovation Hub was established in May 2018 as a business incubator at Cherokee Village in an attempt to spur regional business growth. In 2019, the first Arkansas Pie Festival was held at Cherokee Village's Town Center to draw attention to the area.
Now, Emerson has provided business and civic leaders proof that their efforts are paying off. Ozarka College of Melbourne, which has a satellite campus at Ash Flat, and Black River Technical College at Pocahontas will collaborate with Emerson on a workforce training program. Gov. Asa Hutchinson, the Arkansas Economic Development Commission and the Northeast Arkansas Regional Intermodal Authority played leading roles in the effort to attract Emerson. The Delta Regional Authority also was involved.
"When state, local and federal entities work with private industry partners, it results in a successful outcome for economic growth," says Chris Caldwell, the DRA's federal co-chairman.