Swifton, AR

Swifton is a Jackson County city of 733 people in the 2020 census, founded along the tracks of the Iron Mountain Railroad. Its best-known local connection is George Kell, born here in 1922, a ten-time All-Star third baseman elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1983. After his playing career, Kell spent nearly four decades as a Detroit Tigers broadcaster and kept a farm near Swifton; the local post office was named for him after his death.

The baseball thread runs broader than one hometown name: Bobby Winkles attended school in Swifton before coaching at Arizona State and managing major-league teams. Education is organized across the Jackson County School District, with Swifton Middle School in town and elementary and high schools in Tuckerman. Swifton also sits on Arkansas's Rock 'n' Roll Highway 67, a designation tied to the old highway's music venues. The New Home School, built around 1915, and a circa-1925 Phillips 66 station are listed historic properties, adding pieces of early twentieth-century Arkansas to the city's railroad and sports history.