Home to two universities, the town of Arkadelphia lies in the forested area of the White River in southwestern Arkansas. Its youthful population of 10,912 tends to focus heavily on the great outdoors — and there’s plenty of it around — from the scenic byway to the hilly region of the Ouachita Mountains and swift waters of the Ouachita River. Arkadelphia’s De Gray Lake Resort boasts everything the local folks enjoy—golfing, fishing, and boating, along with 207 miles of pleasant shoreline.
Being a college town, the place takes pride in hosting a wealth of sporting entertainment, while older residents enjoy the more traditional mountain crafts known to the area.
The Festival of Two Rivers, held in April, hosts an array of folk music, crafts, and canoe races. To the south of town at Gurdon, the county celebrates the Forest Festival in October by showcasing wood-chopping contests.
Voted as “one of the 50 best places to raise your family,” Arkadelphia has painstakingly preserved its historic district, which predates the Civil War. Several buildings, including the Harris Fanigan Law Office, are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
In the course of the Civil War, the town served as a Confederate supply depot, along with producing munitions for the war effort. There are several sites around the town that commemorate the town’s battle with the invading Union army at Okolona in 1864.
In 1997, Arkadelphia sat right in the path of a massive tornado that significantly damaged a number of places in this town, including the United Daughters of the Confederacy Monument.
Arkadelphia is 63 miles northeast of Little Rock and is serviced by trains.
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