Texarkana

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Coordinates: 33°26′14″N 94°4′3″W / 33.43722, -94.0675
Texarkana USA
Country	United States
State
Government
- Texarkana, Texas Mayor	Steve Mayo
- Texarkana, Arkansas Mayor	Horace Shipp
Elevation	299 ft (91 m)
Population (2006-2007 Community Profile)
- Total	59,936
Time zone	Central (CST) (UTC-6)
- Summer (DST)	CDT (UTC-5)
ZIP codes	75500-75599 (TX); 71854 (AR)
Area code(s)	Area code 903, 870
FIPS code	48-72368^[1]
GNIS feature ID	1369752^[2]

For other uses, see Texarkana (disambiguation).

The Texarkana Metropolitan Statistical Area (TMSA), as defined by the United States Census Bureau, is a two-county region anchored by the twin cities of Texarkana, Texas and Texarkana, Arkansas, and encompassing the surrounding communities in Bowie County, Texas and Miller County, Arkansas. The TMSA is the core of the Ark-La-Tex region.

In 2005, the TMSA had a population of 136,584, with 59,936 residents within the city limits of the two cities, as stated in the 2006-2007 Community Profile released by the Texarkana Chamber of Commerce. About 68% of the population lives on the Texas side.

1 History
2 MSA demographics
3 New development
4 Economy
5 Geography
- 5.1 Roads
6 Local lore
- 6.1 The Phantom Killer
- 6.2 Swamp Monster
7 Texarkana in popular culture
8 Notable people from Texarkana
9 References
10 External links

[edit] History

Map of the city in 1888

While the meaning of the name is clear – a portmanteau of Texas and Arkansas, it must be noted that Louisiana represents the ANA in (TEX ARK ANA) – the actual origin is that when surveyors first surveyed the land they also thought that the city would also be on the border of Louisiana. One tradition tells of a Red River steamboat named The Texarkana, circa 1860. Another story mentions a storekeeper named Swindle in Red Land, Louisiana who concocted a drink called "Texarkana Bitters". A third account states that Col. Gus Knobel, a railroad surveyor, coined the name^[3]. Local lore suggests that, before Texas' annexation by the US, in the area north of the Sulphur River (and at times as far south as Cypress Creek or even the Sabine River) and on the south or west side of the Red River as far west as the current Arkansas-Oklahoma border there were territory disputes among Americans, Mexicans, or others (French, Spanish, even the English). Because of the disputes, lawlessness ruled in the area that at times was claimed by all three (TEX-ARK-ANA). Because of the area's name, the city on the border between Texas and Arkansas was given the label. "Texarkansas" is a frequent misspelling.

In 1876, Texarkana, Texas, was granted a charter under an act of the Texas legislature, and a Texarkana, Texas, post office operated from 1886 to 1892. At some point after that, Congressman John Morris Sheppard (D-TX) secured a postal order officially changing the name to "Texarkana, Arkansas-Texas"^[3].

[edit] MSA demographics

As of the census^[1] of 2000, there were 129,749 people, 48,695 households, and 34,524 families residing within the MSA. The racial makeup of the MSA was 73.49% White, 23.28% African American, 0.60% Native American, 0.41% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.94% from other races, and 1.24% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3.57% of the population.

The median income for a household in the MSA was $31,976, and the median income for a family was $38,887. Males had a median income of $32,482 versus $21,408 for females. The per capita income for the MSA was $16,901.

[edit] New development

In the last few years Texarkana has developed very quickly, and a vast array of new stores and services have been popping up.

Much land along I-30 has been cleared between the Richmond road exit and the Nash exit to allow new businesses to be built and other businesses to expand. A multitude of restaurants also have been added over the last few years, such as On the Border, Hooters, Buffalo Wild Wings and Olive Garden.

As of October 2007 there are multiple projects in progress to expand Texarkana's capabilities to handle the ever growing amounts of traffic, and to relieve strain on the Richmond Rd. and Summerhill Rd. exits. Access roads are being made and bridges viaducts built, all to further the growth of the Texarkana business region.

The Texarkana Symphony Orchestra was established in 2005, providing the community with several professional concerts of classical music every year.

[edit] Economy

According to Forbes, Texarkana is predicted to grow 28.57% in GMP by 2012 making Texarkana the second fastest growing small metro areas in the country. Texarkana is a regional hub for cities in southwest Arkansas, northeast Texas, northwest Louisiana, and southeast Oklahoma.

Major employers are: Albertsons, Alcoa, Burger King, BWI, Christus St.Michaels Health Systems, Collom & Carney Clinic, Cooper Tires & Rubber, Day & Zimmermann INC, Domtar, E-Z Mart Stores, Genoa Central School District, Hibernia Bank, Home Depot, Humco Holding Group INC, International Paper, JCM, JC Penney, Ledwell & Son Enterprises, Liberty Eylau ISD, Lowe's, APEC Texas, Mayo Manufacturing, McDonald's, Pleasant Grove ISD, Red River Army Depot & Tenets, Regions, Sears-Roebuck, Smith Blair, Southern Refrigerated, Sterno Group, Texarkana College, Texarkana Gazette, City of Texarkana, AR, City of Texarkana, TX, Texarkana, TX ISD, Texarkana, AR Public Schools, Truman Arnold Company, Valor Telecom, Wadley Regional Medical, Wal-Mart/Sam's Club, Applied Control Technology American Dehydrated Foods, AmeriCold Logistics, Carpco, Inc., Caraustar Industrial Consumer Products Group, Caraustar Lonestar Paper Sales, Coleman Cable, Commercial Manufacturing, Davis Roof Truss Manuf. Co.,Detroit Forms, Inc., Domtar, Inc.,DOW Chemical,Fay-J Packaging, FCM Products, Inc., First Tape and Label, Flowers Baking Co., GE Railcar Repair, International Paper Co., JCM Industries, Lear Siegler Service, Inc., M & M Milling, Martin Marietta Materials, Inc., Martin Resources, N.L. Baroid Petroleum Services, Newcourt, Inc., Paper Chemicals, Inc., Parks Metal Fabricators, Precision Metal Industries, Precision Roll Grinders, Rimcor, River Valley Animal Foods, Smith-Blair, Inc., The Sterno Group, Texarkana Tank Car Manufacturer., Inc., Tri-State Iron & Metal Company, W. W. Metal Product, and Ward-Davis, Inc., according to the Texarkana Chamber of Commerce.

Texarkana is a major transportation hub being centrally located in between Dallas-Ft. Worth, Little Rock-North Little Rock, Shreveport-Bossier City, Northwest Arkansas, and Houston.

Coming to Texarkana will be the new four year campus of Texas A&M at Texarkana and Southern Arkansas University Tech-Texarkana.

In the works now is future I-49 connecting from Shreveport, LA to Kansas City, MO, and a part of the Trans-Texas Corridor which will connect Texarkana to the future I-69 connecting Mexico to Canada.

Texarkana is the fastest growing city in Northeast Texas and in southern Arkansas. Texarkana, AR is one of 3 cities south of the Little Rock area growing in southern Arkansas, (the other two are Hot Springs and Magnolia).

[edit] Geography

Texarkana's Federal Building/Post Office is located in the median between northbound and southbound traffic on State Line Avenue^[4].

For demographic information, see Texarkana, Arkansas and Texarkana, Texas.

Texarkana consists of two separate municipal designations:

Texarkana, Arkansas, the county seat of Miller County, Arkansas
Texarkana, Texas, located in Bowie County, Texas

The iconic boulevard State Line Avenue follows the Texas-Arkansas state line throughout much of Texarkana. The two "sides" of Texarkana are separate only from a political standpoint. Thousands of locals actually live in one state and work in the other.

Owing to its divided political nature, Texarkana has two mayors and two sets of city officials; however, the two sides share a federal building, courthouse, jail, post office, labor office, chamber of commerce, water utility, and several other offices^[3].

[edit] Roads

Texarkana is on Interstate 30, located close to halfway between Dallas, Texas, and Little Rock, Arkansas. Other major routes in Texarkana include:

U.S. Route 59
U.S. Route 67
U.S. Route 71
U.S. Route 82
The Loop (consisting of US 59, as well as Texas State Highway Loop 151 and Arkansas Highway 245)

[edit] Local lore

Owing perhaps to its nature as a divided city and its remoteness from large urban areas, Texarkana has long been known as a hotbed for ghost stories, mysteries, and other colorful local lore.

[edit] The Phantom Killer

Main article: The Phantom Killer

In 1946, Texarkana was the site of one of America's first widely-publicized serial murders, in which five people were killed and several others injured by an unknown assailant. Dubbed the "Texarkana Moonlight Murders" by news media, the violence focused on couples occupying popular "make-out" spots in and around the town, such as back roads and "lovers' lanes". The only description of the killer was that he carried a handgun and wore a mask. The case was never solved and the spree ended with no suspects arrested.

A man by the name of Yuell Lee Swinney, who was 29 at the time, was arrested but released. He was later released from prison in 1974 after serving 28 years for the theft of a car and other crimes, but he was never convicted of any murders. He had been implicated by his wife who claimed she was present when he had committed the murders, yet her accounts of the incidents varied over several tellings. Swinney himself denied having any involvement--a denial he maintained until his death in 1993 at age 76 in a prison hospital (where he had been held for counterfeiting and other crimes). Many believe nevertheless that he was the murderer, including several of his prison inmates who claimed Swinney had confessed to them^{[citation needed]}. His sister, Mildred Swinney-Sones, also believed he had committed the murders.

These events inspired the film The Town That Dreaded Sundown, released in 1977, written and directed by Charles B. Pierce, and starring Ben Johnson, Dawn Wells, and Pierce himself. Some of the facts of the original case were fictionalized or altered for the film, including victims' names.

In recent years, most area police and sheriffs' records of the case were discovered by investigative journalists to be mysteriously missing. No active files of the cases are currently being maintained by area law-enforcement agencies. Some locals believe that the Phantom Killer died long ago; some claim that he was a member of the local upper class aristocracy, which collaborated to keep his identity quiet to avoid scandal. Local lore maintains that he was more a supernatural force than a human being, and that he will return one day to resume his bloody deeds^{[citation needed]}. Technically the case is still open, though as of 2006 it is considered cold.

[edit] Swamp Monster

The swampy terrain of Boggy Creek, near Fouke, Arkansas, a small Miller County town southeast of Texarkana, is the reputed home of an anthropoid monster similar in appearance and behavior to the Pacific Northwest's Bigfoot and Sasquatch, and to the Skunk Ape of Florida legend. A film dramatizing these stories, entitled The Legend of Boggy Creek, was released in 1972. Two sequels, Return to Boggy Creek (1977) and The Barbaric Beast of Boggy Creek, Part II (1985) (AKA Boggy Creek II: And the Legend Continues; the "official" sequel made by the original film's director, Charles B. Pierce) followed with very little commercial success (although The Barbaric Beast of Boggy Creek, Part II was featured in the tenth season of Mystery Science Theater 3000).