Caraway, AR

In 2020, Caraway had 1,133 residents in Craighead County’s Arkansas Delta, where flat fields meet the lowlands around the St. Francis River. The town began as a lumber camp called White Switch in 1912 and was incorporated in 1923, taking the name of U.S. Senator Thaddeus H. Caraway. Timber gave way to farming, and cotton fields still set the color and horizon around town. Caraway became part of Riverside School District when the former Caraway and Lake City districts consolidated in 1985.

There is more sports history here than the size of the town might suggest. The All American Red Heads women’s basketball team played in Caraway beginning in 1955, and the Caraway Redbirds semi-pro baseball team hosted exhibition games with the St. Louis Cardinals. Today, the city park includes a Veterans Memorial, baseball fields, playground space, walking tracks, and a stocked fishing pond. Volunteer fire and ambulance crews, the Fourth of July picnic, and Riverside schools give the place its current rhythm. Caraway’s story runs from lumber camp to farm town, with a surprisingly big ballpark memory.