Lamar, AR

Lamar sits in the Arkansas River Valley along the Interstate 40 corridor, a few miles east of Clarksville in Johnson County. The town's school history is unusually visible: the first frame school opened in 1904, burned in 1914, and was replaced by a brick building in 1958. A Works Progress Administration project added a gym in 1938, and the current high school followed in 1976. Smaller Johnson County districts later consolidated into the Lamar School District. Farming shaped the older economy, including an experimental peach orchard started in 1920, while the Interstate 40 corridor brought a new stream of travelers through the region. The city office on West Main Street and the school district still give Lamar a local center. It is a town where the road, the school, and the valley farm country meet in one compact map.