FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (KNWA/KFTA) — Arkansas has many cities and towns with the word “spring” in its name.
Each of them formed in different ways, but they were all built around a natural spring.
INTERACTIVE: Watch Northwest Arkansas cities’ populations change through history
Below is a list of the 10 most populated cities with the word “spring” in their names sorted by current population size and some details about how they were formed. There are also details about the city at present, such as events and attractions.
Sulphur Springs, Benton County
Sulphur Springs in Benton County near the Missouri and Oklahoma borders originated as a spa and resort center in the late 19th and 20th centuries, according to the Encyclopedia of Arkansas.
The original city site contained many natural mineral springs, including a rare lithium spring. The springs’ reported healing properties attracted enough people to create a small community. A post office was established on April 26, 1878, and the city was formally laid out in 1885.
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The town was designated a terminal for what would become the Kansas City Southern Railway. The first train arrived in 1881. Later, more hotels and other businesses quickly sprung up. The city was the end of the rail line for two years.
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Water from the springs began to be bottled and sent outside the city. Ozarka Brand Natural Spring Water was established in 1905. The company bottled water from the Basin Spring.
By 1880, 3,984 people lived in the city. The population dipped down to 1,770 in 1940 but has been on a steady rise since then.
The city is known for its tourist attractions. Some include the Christ of the Ozarks, the reportedly haunted Crescent Hotel & Spa and Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge.
Elm Springs, Washington County/Benton County
The city of Elm Springs which straddles Washington and Benton counties calls itself one of the oldest “little cities” in Northwest Arkansas.
The Encyclopedia of Arkansas says Thomas McClain is said to have had a homestead in the area as early as 1831, but his name does not appear on any official land records. The earliest documented landowners were John Ingram, John Hamilton, William Barrington, and Jacob Pearson.
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The town’s name was inspired by large elm trees and natural springs strong enough to power a mill.
Ingram built the mill in 1844. It was one of the first water-powered mills built in northern Washington County. The water mills built in the area were eventually destroyed during the Civil War.
Courtesy: City of Elm Springs
Barrington opened the first store in the settlement and suggested the city’s name. A post office called Elm Spring opened in 1848 but was only open for three months. A new post office was opened in 1850 at the same location. The city’s website says the post office is one of the oldest in the county.
By 1930, the town had a population of 82. Over the years, the city has grown along with the region with the population peaking in 2020 at 2,361.
The city now serves as a bedroom community for its much larger neighbor city, Springdale.
According to the city, the springs and surrounding land are now part of the Steele-Stevens Heritage Park.
Cave Springs, Benton County
The city of Cave Springs in Benton County is known more for recreational opportunities than industry or agriculture, according to the Encyclopedia of Arkansas.
The city is named for two caves and for the water source that flows from the northernmost of those caves. The north cave has been closed to the public since the 1980s. It is said to consist of several rooms and contain two waterfalls. It houses many bats and the largest known population of Ozark cavefish. The spring emits six million gallons of water per day.
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George Robbins built a gristmill around the time Arkansas became a state in 1836 and sold it to Elijah Allen in 1852. A second mill was built by James Dickson. The Encyclopedia of Arkansas says his mill is said to be one of the few in the area that operated continuously throughout the Civil War.
In 1906, the Kansas City and Memphis Railroad built a line through the area, and from then, the population began to grow. By 1930, the city had a population of 132. It steadily grew over the decades to 1,729 in 2010. By 2020 as a result of the continued growth in Northwest Arkansas, the population exploded to 5,495, a more than 170% increase in 10 years.
In May 2024, the city of Cave Springs and the Rogers City Council approved a land-swap ordinance. Land west of Highway 112 would be detached from Rogers and annexed to Cave Springs, while land in southwestern Cave Springs would be given to Rogers. City officials said the swap would help clean up the cities’ borders and also allow Cave Springs to return to being gone contiguous land mass.
Herber Springs, Cleburne County
Herber Springs is the county seat of the youngest county in Arkansas, Cleburne County.
The city has been a tourist destination since before its inception, having been known for its mineral springs. It has been a popular resort for camping, boating and other water sports since the formation of Greers Ferry Lake on the Little Red River in the early 1960s.
Settlers in the 1830s were attracted to Sugar Loaf Mountain to the east and the mineral springs that flowed out of the ground in the valley nearby.
In 1835, the United States granted John Magness a land patent for a 40-acre tract which included that part of the present town of Herber Springs on which Spring Park and its seven mineral springs are located. Magness sold the plat two years later for $150 to Richard B. Lee, R.D.C. Collins William McKim and John T. Jones of Helena.
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The first town to be established in the area was Hico by Caldeen and Nancy Ward Gunter for trade with the nearby Cherokee Nation. “Hico” is a Cherokee word that translates to “clear water” or “sparkling water,” referring to the springs flowing into Sager Creek. The Hico post office was established in 1855.
The “Siloam” in Siloam Springs refers to the healing waters of the Pool of Siloam in John 9:6 of the New Testament. Health seekers were once important to the local economy, according to the Encyclopedia of Arkansas.
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In 1880, a Hico merchant and former Union scout John Valentine Hargrove established Siloam City on the land he owned in the valley along Sager Creek. The spring water flowing into Sager Creek was said to be medicinal, and stories of cures attracted health seekers even before Hargrove established Siloam City.
The city was incorporated one year later as Siloam Springs. The city’s post office opened in 1882 when the Hico post office closed.
In 1919, John Elward Brown Sr. formed Southwestern Collegiate Institute, which would later be named John Brown University. The school’s program is based on Brown’s conviction that higher education should pay equal attention to the student’s head, heart and hands. The head refers to academics. The heart is Christian principles and practice, and the hands are vocational training.
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In 1880, the city had a population of 249. The city had a steady population growth until 1980 when the population doubled in 20 years. The population jumped from 23,458 in 1980 to 45,798 in 2000. The population nearly doubled again between 2000 and 2020. By 2020, Springdale had its highest census count at 84,161.
Since 2008, the city has been home to the AA minor league baseball team the Northwest Arkansas Naturals. It also has historic locations like the Shiloh Historic District and the Beely-Johnson Post 139 American Legion Hut. The city also holds The Rodeo of the Ozarks every year since 1945.
If you’re still interested in Arkansas city names, a list of Northwest Arkansas cities and how they got their names can be found here.
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Publish date : 2024-09-04 04:13:00
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