At home in Atkins, Arkansas
March 7-13, 2016
By Kay Bona
Atkins, Arkansas is not a destination town. In fact, most people who go there are the same people who live there. That is why I chose this little town to showcase.
I drove into Atkins not knowing anything about the little town, other than it once housed Atkins Pickle Company and there is a sign on a cliff side bordering Interstate 40 that says, “Go Hogs, Atkins, AR.” That was the extent of my Atkins knowledge.
That has all changed. One day in Atkins, and I have come away with many friends. I left the town seeing the strength, closeness, and kindness of the Atkins people.
Here is a bit of history about the formation of Atkins that I found in the Encyclopedia of Arkansas:
“Following the Civil War, Arkansas underwent a brief period of industrialization as capitalists, mostly from the North, took advantage of opportunities to foster commercial growth in the devastated Southern states. One of these ventures was the Little Rock and Fort Smith Railroad. As the surveyed route followed the northern side of the Arkansas River from Little Rock toward points westward, funds ran out at Perry Station (Pope County), which was about four miles west of present-day Blackwell (Conway County). A Boston, Massachusetts’ businessman named Elisha Atkins invested enough money to continue construction in 1872; a town was platted at the next major crossroads and christened Atkins.”
This is what some of the residents have to say about their hometown.
Rhonda McGee Weatherall: “[The benefits of] growing up in a small town are hard to explain unless you have experienced it first hand. I have lived in Atkins my entire life; my grandfather, Lester McGee retired as the city marshall, and my father, Jimmy McGee retired as the fire chief. My mother, Frances Wallace worked 42 years at the Atkins Pickle plant until it shut down in 2002. So to say my roots run deep in this little town would be an understatement. I don’t think any of us ever imagined the bond that we had until that horrible day in February 2008, when a tornado hit our little community. It was then that we realized just what it means to be “small town folks.” We pulled together and opened our homes, our hearts, and our pocketbooks to rebuild lives that were destroyed in the blink of an eye. No, we don’t have a stop light in our little town or many of the other luxuries that come with the “Big City,” but we have so much more: WE HAVE EACH OTHER! I love my small town life.”
Donna Willcutt Davis: “Atkins is a small, close-knit community. Anytime there is anything huge happening in our small town, everyone pitches in to help one another. For instance, the tornado of 2008 - it destroyed much of Atkins and even took some lives, but everyone came together and helped the people in need. Atkins is a slow paced little town, friendly to everyone who passes through and is more of a simple life compared to the fast pace of big cities such as Little Rock or Fort Smith.”
Krista Pettit Nelson: “I love that I grew up in a community where I could ride my bike all over town, and my parents knew I was safe. I also love that my parents met while working in the pickle plant one summer. I don’t live in Atkins any longer; however, it will always be home. But my favorite thing about Atkins is whenever I go home to see my family, invariably, I see someone I know who remembers me or my parents or grandmother.”
Elana Churchill: “My husband grew up in this town. He called it Opieland because he thought it was like Mayberry in the Andy Griffith Show.”
Tosha Poynor: “Thank you for showcasing our little town. The home of a Red Devil Fan sign is actually my home. Our sign needs a fresh coat of paint but we still love it. I’ve lived in Atkins my entire life. My husband and I have 3 kids who graduated from AHS. RDP (Red Devil Pride) never dies.”
Alanna Brooke Phillips: “I used to live in that old 2-story white house.”
