West Helena in Phillips County, Arkansas — The American South (West South Central)
Made in West Helena
Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, September 16, 2024
1. Made in West Helena Marker
The ink was barely dry on the plan of West Helena before the sounds of construction rang through the new town site. Helena Veneer Company, Ong Chair Company, Upham & Agler, Southwestern Wagon Company, and Dennison Sawmill were all building factories and mills.
Designed for Industry
West Helena was the brainchild of E.C. Hornor, president of the Bank of Helena, and his cousin John Sidney Hornor. Spurred by the construction of the Missouri & North Arkansas Railroad into Helena in 1907, E.C. Hornor purchased the old Hoggatt Clopton place, the closest level ground to Helena west of Crowley's Ridge.
In 1910, he conveyed the 2,300-acre former plantation to the West Helena Company, incorporated a month earlier by himself, John Sydney Hornor, and James Tappan Hornor.
Existing and New Firms Move Into Town
The development of West Helena eliminated the constraints on growth posed by Helena's topography. Existing wood product companies in Helena such as Chicago Mill & Lumber expanded into West Helena and new companies including Penrod Walnut & Veneer and Pekin Cooperage moved in.
140 Miles of Logs a Day
In 1913, twenty-five companies were shipping railroad carloads of lumber, veneer box shooks, barrel staves, elm hoops, chairs, buckets, tubs, oak flooring, vehicle stocks, wagons and
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Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Horticulture & Forestry • Industry & Commerce • Railroads & Streetcars. A significant historical year for this entry is 1913.
Location. 34° 32.64′ N, 90° 38.816′ W. Marker is in West Helena, Arkansas, in Phillips County. It is on Plaza Avenue 0.1 miles east of U.S. 49, on the left when traveling east. This marker is one of six interpretive panels in the Plaza Avenue median at this location. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 57 Plaza Avenue, West Helena AR 72390, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in the Arkansas Delta, in Crowleys Ridge, in the Mississippi Alluvial Plain, and in the Quapaw Homeland. It is also in the American South, specifically in the Upper South, in the Mississippi Delta, and in the Great River Road Region. Globally, it is in North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture, the Louisiana Purchase, one of the Confederate States of America, and the Antebellum South.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 3 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Unbroken Forest (here, next to this marker); Wood Products Capital (here, next to this marker); Early Railroads (here, next to this marker); A Web of Track (here, next to this marker); End of an Era (here, next to this marker); West Helena's POW Camp (approx. 0.2 miles away); Battery B (approx. 2.9 miles away); Patrick Ronayne Cleburne (approx. 3.1 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in West Helena.
Related markers. Click here for a list of markers that are related to this marker. West Helena, Arkansas
Also see . . .
Courtesy E. West Hornor
2. Marker detail: E. C. (Edward Chaffin) Hornor
(By Larry Binz, The Daily World, January 28, 2011) Excerpt: West Helena was planned, platted and dedicated by E.C. Hornor and his cousin, John Sydney Hornor, on June 21, 1910. West Helena became an incorporated city on May 12, 1917. This area was known at that time as the Clopton Plantation.(Submitted on December 14, 2024, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.)At that time this area was primarily involved in timber harvesting. As the land was cleared, it was placed in cultivation. It is reported that during the 1910s to the 1930s there were 21 sawmills between Missouri Street in Helena and Helena Crossing. In the late 1920s the Encyclopedia Britannica said Phillips County was known as the "Hardwood Capital of the World."
Ivey Gladin Collection, Special Collections, University of Mississippi Libraries
3. Marker detail: Cottonwood, 15 x 8 ft., 1939
4. Marker detail: West Helena Products
5. Marker detail: Penrod Walnut & Veneer Company
This drawing, captioned New West Helena, Ark. plant of the Penrod Walnut & Veneer Co. now nearing completion, appeared in The St. Louis Lumberman, February 12, 1912.
American Walnut Lumber Veneers
Furniture manufacturers and other users of walnut lumber would do well to anticipate their requirements and place their orders while dry lumber is available.
Our message to our many customers and friends is protect your walnut lumber requirements now, while dry stocks permit a choice of grades, thicknesses, widths and lengths.Penrod Walnut & Veneer Co.
Kansas City, Missouri
American Walnut Lumber Veneers
Furniture manufacturers and other users of walnut lumber would do well to anticipate their requirements and place their orders while dry lumber is available.
Our message to our many customers and friends is protect your walnut lumber requirements now, while dry stocks permit a choice of grades, thicknesses, widths and lengths.
Kansas City, Missouri
Courtesy Delta Cultural Center, Helena, Arkansas
6. Marker detail: Pekin Wood Products Company, West Helena, 1927
Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, September 16, 2024
7. Made in West Helena Marker
Looking west through the Plaza Avenue median; this marker is the second one from the front on the left. A restored and preserved Union Pacific caboose is on exhibit just to the west of this group of six interpretive panels.
Credits. This page was last revised on December 14, 2024. It was originally submitted on December 12, 2024, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida. This page has been viewed 322 times since then and 61 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. submitted on December 14, 2024, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.
