Delaplaine, Arkansas

Delaplaine, Arkansas
—  Town  —
Location in Greene County in the state of Arkansas
Coordinates: 36°13′58″N 90°43′33″W / 36.23278°N 90.72583°W / 36.23278; -90.72583Coordinates: 36°13′58″N 90°43′33″W / 36.23278°N 90.72583°W / 36.23278; -90.72583
Country	United States
State	Arkansas
County	Greene
Area
– Total	1.1 sq mi (2.9 km2)
– Land	1.1 sq mi (2.9 km2)
– Water	0 sq mi (0 km2)
Elevation	276 ft (84 m)
Population (2000)
– Total	127
– Density	115.5/sq mi (43.8/km2)
Time zone	Central (CST) (UTC-6)
– Summer (DST)	CDT (UTC-5)
ZIP code	72425
Area code(s)	870
FIPS code	05-18010
GNIS feature ID	0076777

Delaplaine is a town in Greene County, Arkansas, United States. The population was 127 at the 2000 census.

History

Delaplaine was incorporated as a town in April 1912 but has a history that dates back to the time of the French explorations. Early settlers found remains of a French-Indian trading post at the site. When the St. Louis-Iron Mountain Railroad pushed lines into northern Arkansas in 1873 a station was established called Grey's Station. The name was later changed to the French "De La Plaine" (of the plain) in recognition of the earlier French trading post. The rail line provided the entire county with passenger and freight services, especially for the local timber industry. The county's first newspaper was published at Delaplaine in 1873 by James W. Wray.

A fire destroyed the town on 16 April 1922 and the town never recovered from the disaster.

On June 20, 2007 two crop circles were discovered in a wheat field.

Noteworthy Natives

People of note that went to Delaplane High School include:

• Stacy (Blaine) Austin (1980's), High School & College All-American, Decathlete, Pole Vaulter, Basketball Player, Blaine was a sports stand out in High School and College earning All Conference and All American titles both in Basketball and Track. In 1978, Blaine broke the World Record in the Pole Vault for 14 year olds. Throughout his career he has broken many National and State records, and he still holds a few of them today.

In 1986, while training for the Olympic trials in the Decathlon, Blaine was involved in a car accident in which he sustained a sports career ending injury.

• Jimmie Lou Fisher (1950's), Jimmie Lou Fisher's father Tollie Cooper was Superintendent of Schools at Delaplaine. Fisher was elected Treasurer of Greene County, Arkansas in 1970, and went on to serve four two year terms, until in 1979, when newly elected Governor Bill Clinton, appointed her Auditor of State for which she served one year. Fisher was elected Arkansas State Treasurer in 1980 and took office in 1981 serving until 2003, a total of 22 years as State Treasurer, making her the longest serving State Treasurer in the history of Arkansas, and placing her among its longest serving statewide officials.

In 2002 Fisher was the Democratic Nominee for Governor against the incumbent Mike Huckabee. Fisher raised over $1 Million dollars and campaigned hard across the state. Polling showed the race slowly narrowing, but Fisher was unable to cut into Huckabee's lead enough to win. Huckabee was also helped by the positive political wave for Republicans that swept through the nation that year. In the end Fisher performed very well, far better than the Democrats' 1998 candidate. Fisher managed to hold the personally popular Mike Huckabee to a margin of victory of 53 percent to 47 percent, giving him a real race, which was just what the Democratic Party had hoped for.

Aside from that, she was very active in Democratic politics at the same time. She served as Vice Chairman of the Arkansas Democratic State Committee from 1976-1978. Then went on to serve as a member of the Democratic National Committee during the same time period, 1976-1978. In 1978, she helped run then Arkansas Attorney General Bill Clinton's ultimately successful run for governor, serving as his 1st Congressional District Coordinator

• Bryon (Keith) Palmer (1957–1996), Singer Songwriter, Keith also had great success as a songwriter. The list of songs and artists who recorded them is quite extensive, but his most successful was "For My Broken Heart" by Reba McEntire. Keith wrote "One Hell of a Heartache" which was recorded by another of my favorite artists, Gene Watson. Keith was featured in the "Showcase" for the song "I Didn't (Every Chance I Had)" by Keith and Bobby P. Barker, which was recorded by Johnny Rodriguez. He also wrote for Tom Collins Music.

Geography

Delaplaine is located at 36°13′58″N 90°43′33″W / 36.23278°N 90.72583°W / 36.23278; -90.72583 (36.232701, -90.725807)^[1].

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 1.1 square miles (2.8 km²), all land.

Demographics

As of the census^[2] of 2000, there were 127 people, 49 households, and 36 families residing in the town. The population density was 115.0 inhabitants per square mile (44.6/km²). There were 56 housing units at an average density of 50.7 per square mile (19.7/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 89.76% White, and 10.24% from two or more races.

There were 49 households out of which 28.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.0% were married couples living together, 14.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.5% were non-families. 24.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.59 and the average family size was 3.03.

In the town the population was spread out with 20.5% under the age of 18, 13.4% from 18 to 24, 26.0% from 25 to 44, 28.3% from 45 to 64, and 11.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 111.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 102.0 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $31,000, and the median income for a family was $27,500. Males had a median income of $27,083 versus $15,625 for females. The per capita income for the town was $13,076. There were no families and 0.8% of the population living below the poverty line, including no under eighteens and none of those over 64.

References

1. ^ "US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990". United States Census Bureau. 2011-02-12. http://www.census.gov/geo/www/gazetteer/gazette.html. Retrieved 2011-04-23. 
2. ^ "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. http://factfinder.census.gov. Retrieved 2008-01-31.