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State ARKANSAS JONESBORO (regional info) Baymont Inn Jonesboro COMFORT INN AND SUITES JONESBORO Days Inn Jonesboro Ar HAMPTON INN JONESBORO QUALITY SUITES JONESBORO RAMADA LIMITED Super 8 Jonesboro Ar The first settlers in what is now Jonesboro and Craighead County were the First Nations People. When white men began to arrive in Arkansas, they found the territory inhabited by Osages, Caddoes, and Quapaws. The Osages were warlike buffalo hunters who roved over northern Arkansas and the upper valleys of the Arkansas River. The Caddoes were peaceful farmers who lived along the streams of southwest Arkansas. The Quapaws (or Arkansas) Indians inhabited the east central part. It is from them that the name Arkansas (land of the Arkansas Indian) came. Voyagers, trappers, Indian traders, and adventurers were here shortly after 1800 trafficking with the Indians for furs and pelts, but no attempt at permanent settlement was made prior to 1815. Jonesboro, located on Crowley's Ridge and bordering the Mississippi delta, was selected as permanent seat of justice in 1859 when the county was formed out of parts of Mississippi, Greene, and Poinsett counties. Jonesboro was named after William A. Jones for his support of the legislative act creating the county. The county, itself, received its name through a practical joke. Senator Thomas B. Craighead, who represented Crittenden and Mississippi counties, was against the formation of the county and campaigned actively against it. Senator Jones waited until a day when Craighead was absent to call for a vote on the act. Senator Craighead didn't know anything about it until he got back and found that the county had been named for him. The first railroads reached Jonesboro in 1881, when the Cotton Belt Railroad laid its tracks just north of town. The first train stuck on a hill outside of town and the supplies had to be carried up the hill. Today, the Missouri Pacific, St. Louis San Francisco Railroad, Burlington Northern, and Cotton Belt railroads provide the city with daily scheduled arrivals and departures. Today, Jonesboro has established itself as the perennial hub of Northeast Arkansas' agricultural production. To the east lies the alluvial cotton delta and to the southwest is the fertile rice land. Large farms produce soybeans, rice, cotton, fish, and livestock. One of the world's two largest rice mills, Riceland Rice, is located here. The city has not limited itself to agriculture. It is the trade, cultural, and medical center of a 7,000 square mile area. Because of its shopping centers, shops, restaurants, and other attractions, Jonesboro has become the major trade center for 500,000 people in northeast Arkansas and southeast Missouri. Jonesboro has a modern hospital which has been serving the area since 1902. The Arkansas Services Center provides the area with the most extensive medical facilities available. Jonesboro has several hospitals including St. Bernard's Regional Medical Center, Methodist Hospital, Northeast Arkansas Rehabilitation Hospital, and Green Leaf Center. Jonesboro has been called the "City of Churches." It has more than 75 churches representing most major denominations. First Baptist Church and First Methodist Church are two of the oldest, coming to the city between 1911 and 1916. Jonesboro is the home of Arkansas State University. The arts and drama departments and the historical museum on campus provide a cultural background for the city OTHER POPULAR DESTINATIONS IN ARKANSASArkadelphia Batesville Bentonville Blytheville Brinkley Clarksville Conway El Dorado Eureka Springs Fayetteville Forrest City Fort Smith Hope Hot Springs Jacksonville Jonesboro Little Rock Mountain Home Pine Bluff Rogers Russellville Searcy Springdale Stuttgart Texarkana West Memphis |
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