Springdale Arkansas

Springdale, with a population of more than 75,000 people, started in the 1850s as a small community named Shiloh. Straddling 2 counties, Washington and Benton, it is a major industrial center in northwest Arkansas. The area is the birthplace of 7 major trucking companies and a center for the poultry industry in the state.

People have lived here for about 12,000 years. Osage Indians from Missouri traveled to the area for seasonal hunting in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. The Cherokee Treaty of 1828 allowed white settlers to lay claim to the area; families from eastern states began settling the area.

In 1839, John Fitzgerald and his wife, Mary, built Fitzgerald’s Station, near the spring; it became a stop on the Trail of Tears and, in 1858, a station for the Butterfield Overland Mail route. The Shiloh Primitive Baptist Church was built in 1843. John Holcombe, considered to be the founder, understood that it was wise to buy land and organize a town. He was responsible for laying out the town plats and giving plots to business people so the town would prosper. Referred to as Holcombe Springs, the church and settlement soon became known as Shiloh.

Shiloh Church

The few businesses, the homes and the church that were there prior to the Civil War, were burned during the conflict. Some families, including Holcombe’s, fled to Texas, but in 1868, Holcombe returned and drew up the first plat of the town, and Shiloh Church was rebuilt. In 1872, when the town petitioned for a post office, another Shiloh already existed in the state; Springdale, short for “springs in the dale,” was accepted.

In 1881, the St. Louis-San Francisco Railroad placed its rails directly through the town. Already an area of rich soil and good fruit crops, carloads of apples, strawberries, peaches, and grapes were shipped out by rail each year.

In the 1930s, Springdale had the region’s only roller mill for producing high-grade flour, bran, and feed; a grape juice plant; a winery and distillery; and canneries. Steele Canning Company became one of the largest privately owned canning companies, partly as a result of the introduction of Popeye brand spinach in 1965.

In the early 1930s, John Tyson started the predecessor of Tyson Foods using his old truck to haul chickens out of the area to sell for farmers who owned hatcheries. When the fruit crops were attacked by pests and disease, growers turned to raising poultry. In 1940, the USDA recognized Arkansas as the largest producer of chickens. When the Rural Electric Administration began supplying electricity to farms, it revolutionized poultry production. Poultry production increased by 333% between 1935 and 1950; it increased another 336% in the next 10 years. In 1962, Arkansas raised 25 million broilers. The cattle industry of northwest Arkansas grew out of the use of chicken litter to improve pastures.

Other businesses grew in support of the poultry industry. Tyson Foods, along with many others, opened hatcheries. Feed mills were built and as they grew, so did the size of the hatcheries. Many that had left the area to find work, returned for the new jobs. Farmers that were barely making ends meet, turned to raising poultry and cattle.

The trucking industry grew from the growers’ needs to transport their birds. Harvey Jones began hauling with wagon and team of mules in 1918, which launched Jones Truck Lines. Others soon followed: Joe Robinson, Lindley Truck Lines, Willis Shaw, and J. B. Hunt. Today there are 26 truck lines operating out of Springdale. US Highway 71 from Kansas City to Fort Smith, coming through Springdale, was paved in the 1930s, increasing the number of trucking lines in the area.

By the 1950s, the springs that provided water could not keep up with the growth. Under the Flood Control Act of 1954, Beaver Dam, which created Beaver Lake, was built by the Corps of Engineers in 1966. In addition to supplying water to Springdale, 4 other communities and 2 counties, the lake and its recreational facilities attract many tourists each year, making tourism the second-largest economic boon to the area.

The Springdale Municipal Airport serves 149 aircraft, including 13 jets and 5 helicopters and offers air freight, an air ambulance, charter flights, flight instruction, and aircraft rental. The Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport located at Highfill, approximately 20 miles away, equal-distance from Rogers, Bentonville and Springdale, opened in 1998. Its construction came about through efforts of the Walton and Tyson families.

Springdale has more than 75 manufacturing and poultry-processing plants. The increase in job opportunities in the area has attracted many immigrants. The Hispanic population of Springdale more than tripled between 1990 and 1995. By 2010, they made up 35% of the population. In 2001, a federal grand jury indicted Tyson Foods for conspiring to import and transport undocumented Hispanic workers into the country to work at poultry-processing plants. Also, 4,000-7,000 Marshallese live in Springdale, making them the largest Marshallese population outside of the Marshall Islands.

In 1898, Josiah H. Shinn, educator, author, and former state superintendent of public instruction, acquired a building, hired 4 teachers, and founded Springdale’s first educational center. It was called Shinn’s Academy, but after a year, it became known as Springdale College. In 1901, the school became Springdale High School. Today 2 private schools operate in Springdale: Shiloh Christian and Salem Lutheran. Salem Lutheran was founded in 1884; Shiloh Christian was founded in 1976 and is the largest private school in the state. The Northwest Technical Institute, founded in 1975, and Northwest Arkansas Community College opened a campus in Springdale in 2004.