Bald Knob, AR

Bald Knob sits on the southern edge of the Ozarks, above the White River and Little Red River bottoms. Its name came from a layered rock outcrop that served as a landmark, and the railroad's arrival in 1872 turned that landmark into a town. Quarrying supplied ballast for new rail lines; hardwood sawmills later fed industrial demand, and strawberries made Bald Knob the "Strawberry Capital of the World" during the mid-twentieth century. The agricultural map changed again in 1953, when rice and soybeans became prominent. Rice remains an important crop around the White County city.

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Rail and school history still show up in places residents can use. The 1915 train depot was restored as a model-train shop, the No. 45 Schoolhouse now houses Hopewell Community Church, and the Bald Knob school campus hosts a branch of the Arkansas State University-Searcy Career Center. South of town, the Bald Knob National Wildlife Refuge and Henry Gray/Hurricane Lake Wildlife Management Area extend the town's working landscape into wetlands, fields, and hunting grounds. Bald Knob's present shape comes from the same mix that built it: rail lines, farm production, schools, and the river bottoms beyond town.