Graysonia, Arkansas facts for kids

Graysonia is a place in Clark County, Arkansas, United States. It's not a city or town with its own government today.

Graysonia used to be a busy "boomtown." This means it grew very quickly because of a lot of business. But now, it's a "ghost town." That means almost no one lives there anymore. You can find Graysonia on a dirt road, far away from other towns. It's between Arkadelphia and Alpine. In the early 1900s, Graysonia was very important for the local timber industry. More than 1,000 people lived there at its busiest time.

The Rise of Graysonia

In 1902, two businessmen, William Grayson and Nelson McCleod, owned a company called "Arkadelphia Lumber Company." They decided to move their business to the Antoine River. Their old location didn't have enough trees left. The new community was named "Graysonia" after William Grayson.

When it first started, about 350 people lived in Graysonia. This number quickly grew to more than double. During World War I, there was a huge need for lumber. This made the mill in Graysonia one of the busiest in the southern United States. Over 500 workers were cutting more than 150,000 board feet of lumber every day. This was much more than most other mills at that time. Most mills only cut about 25,000 board feet daily.

Building the Town

A railroad called the "Memphis Dallas and Gulf" ran through Graysonia from 1909 to the mid-1930s. Around 1907, many important buildings were constructed. These included several kilns (ovens for drying wood), a fire station, and a water reservoir. The main mill building and some small houses were also built.

Within ten years, Graysonia had hundreds of houses. There was a restaurant on a hillside and several small cafés. The town also had three hotels and many large mill buildings.

Life in a Company Town

Even though Graysonia was owned by the lumber company, the people who lived there elected their own town officials. It became an incorporated town, which means it had its own local government.

Soon, Graysonia had a movie theater and three hotels. It also had its own school and a church. The town even had running water and electricity, which was quite modern for the time.

In 1924, the Bemis family bought a share of the company. It was then renamed the "Ozan-Graysonia Lumber Company." The Bemis family owned many lumber mills. For the next five years, the company and the town were very successful.

The Decline of Graysonia

The main reason Graysonia disappeared was because the company had a "cut and move" plan. This meant they would use up all the trees in one area. Then, they would move their operations to a new location with more trees.

The Great Depression also played a big part in the town's end. This economic crisis started in 1929 and affected the whole country. For a while, the mill in Graysonia kept going. The part of the mill that smoothed lumber continued to work, using wood that was already cut and stored. The company thought about opening smaller mills in Graysonia. But the Great Depression got worse, and the main mill finally closed.

Leaving the Town

Starting in 1930, people were encouraged to stay in Graysonia. There were jobs in cinnabar mines south of Amity during the "Quicksilver Rush." Cinnabar is a mineral used to make mercury. However, these mining jobs didn't last long. Soon, residents began to move away to other communities. In a very short time, the town became empty.

In 1937, much of the equipment from Graysonia was moved to a mill in Delight, Arkansas. In 1950, the Graysonia Post Office closed down. Mail for the area was then sent through Alpine. That same year, the US Census officially listed Graysonia's population as "zero." The last known person to live there was Brown Hickman, a retired logger, who left in 1951. Today, only the foundations of a few buildings remain.

The train used in Steven Spielberg's TV show Into the West was first built for use in Graysonia. Logging towns like Graysonia were common in Arkansas during this time. This was because there were many untouched forests, and companies wanted to cut down the trees. Few of these towns, even though they were very busy for a while, still exist today. Two other successful towns from that time were Mauldin, Arkansas and Rosboro, Arkansas.