If you’re driving from Little Rock to the “Duck Hunting Capital of the World” of Stuttgart, you might find yourself traveling through England. No, not the country ruled by King Charles, but the small city in Lonoke County that — despite its size — has quite the storied history.
The area today known as England was originally a community of 19 families that sprung up during the Reconstruction era of the 1870s. The settlement was about 3 1/2 miles north of where the city was eventually laid out. Led by a man named Bob Hudgens, the residents in the small community lobbied for a post office in 1880. The U.S. Postal Service granted their request, and later that year, the Groveland post office was established.
The post office’s designation didn’t stay Groveland for long; the name was changed to England in 1888 — an event that almost didn’t happen (more on that in just a moment). That same year a one-room building was constructed as a school, church and community meeting place.
By 1888, the area was known as England, named for land owner and lawyer John Calhoun England. England was legal counsel for the Cotton Belt Railroad, which had recently laid tracks in the area. He bought the original tracts of land and had them surveyed into lots. Prominent town leaders decided to name the area after John England.
The U.S. Postal Service originally denied the request to change the post office’s name from Groveland to England citing a rule that stated a post office could not contain the name of a foreign country. But it eventually granted the request, and both the town and post office officially became known as England. England was incorporated on March 1, 1897.
England’s economy initially centered around agriculture — specifically cotton. In 1893, a cotton gin was built in England and a second was built in 1898.
In 1902, William Fulmer, a farmer from Louisiana, moved to England and began experimenting with rice farming. Within a few years, rice farming became a major cash crop in England, the rice well-suited to the flat, poorly drained land. But even with the huge success of rice farming, “King Cotton” continued to be the largest cash crop around England.
The drought of 1930-1931 devastated England, causing an event known as the England food riot. The American Red Cross had come to the area to help those in need but ran out of food and supplies by December 1930, and the organization was forced to turn residents away. With the angry crowd of those in desperate need of rations growing more impatient and frustrated, local merchants began distributing food with the promise the Red Cross would eventually pay them back.
As part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal, Congress passed the Agricultural Adjustment Act, which allowed the federal government to intervene and make cuts to the production of cotton, which helped the agriculturally based economy of England and similar towns that had suffered during the Great Depression.
Over the years, England’s agricultural industry has declined but industrial growth has prospered. Thanks to Arkansas’ congressional delegation in the early 2000s, federal funds were used to build an industrial park and a water treatment plant and make other improvements to England’s infrastructure.
And while you won’t find any royals in this England, you can find such interesting attractions as the Wagon Yard Museum. The museum is privately owned and features a collection of wagons, stagecoaches and farm equipment. The museum also contains a replica of the first Bank of England, a pioneer church and cells from the original city jail.
I’ve learned throughout my travels in the Arkansas Delta that our state is full of interesting and nostalgic small towns. For me, England is at the top of that list.
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