Stories

For many small communities, local high school basketball games were a big deal. Many people from surrounding areas would come out to support the local team. This photo depicts a game in Williford, Sharp County, Arkansas in the early 1970s.

An aerial view of the newly constructed school building in Fountain Hill, Ashley County, Arkansas. Courtesy of the Fountain Hill Yearbook, 1975.

Down in Ashley County, where the Mississippi River Delta meets the southern timberlands, lies a dried up little town on the brink of despair. Fountain Hill, Arkansas is but a small speck on a roadmap, and most likely more of a pass-through than a destination for most traveling on highway 425. However, it wasn’t always this way. The town used to thrive with an active community scene including stores, churches, a bank, eating joints, and even its own school district. While the

This video explains how some towns in Arkansas faced different outcomes after the loss of their respective schools.

The crumbling remains of the gymnasium in Bono, Craighead County, Arkansas in 2025. The gym was built in the late 1940s and was used by the school until it consolidated in 1966. The above picture shows the historic building in mid demolition. Only the old school building presently stands.

The gym is the only building left from the old school in Cash, Arkansas. The Cash School District consolidated in 1966 with the Westside Consolidated School District. The gym, built in the early 1950s, is now used as a community center.