Arkansas Highway 1 (AR 1) is a designation for three

state highway A state highway, state road, or state route (and the equivalent provincial highway, provincial road, or provincial route) is usually a road that is either Route number, numbered or maintained by a sub-national state or province. A road numbered ...

s in east Arkansas. One segment of runs from

U.S. Route 278 U.S. Route 278 (US 278) is a parallel route of US 78. It currently runs for from Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, to Wickes, Arkansas at US 71/ US 59, passing through five states in the process. Landmarks along its route incl ...

(US 278) in

McGehee McGehee is a city in Desha County, Arkansas, United States. The population was 4,219 at the 2010 census. History The history of the city of McGehee and the history of the railroad through McGehee are intricately interwoven. The history of ...

north to

US 165 U.S. Route 165 is a north–south United States highway spur of U.S. Highway 65. It currently runs for 412 miles (663 km) from U.S. Route 90 in Iowa, Louisiana north to U.S. Highway 70 in North Little Rock, Arkansas. The route passes throu ...

at Back Gate. A second segment of runs from US 165 in DeWitt north to

US 49 U.S. Route 49 (US 49) is a north–south United States highway. The highway's northern terminus is in Piggott, Arkansas, at an intersection with U.S. Route 62 (US 62). Its southern terminus is in Gulfport, Mississippi, at an intersection w ...

in Marvell. A third segment of runs from US 49 at Walnut Corner north to the

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

state line. One of the original 1926 state highways, Highway 1 has remained very close to its original routing.

Route description

McGehee to Back Gate

Highway 1 begins at

US 278 U.S. Route 278 (US 278) is a parallel route of US 78. It currently runs for from Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, to Wickes, Arkansas at US 71/ US 59, passing through five states in the process. Landmarks along its route incl ...

in downtown

and runs northwest (along the

Union Pacific Railroad The Union Pacific Railroad is a Railroad classes, Class I freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Pacific is the second largest railroad in the United Stat ...

tracks) for three blocks before turning northeast at an intersection with Highway 159. The route continues across

US 65 U.S. Route 65 (US 65) is a north–south United States highway in the southern and midwestern United States. The southern terminus of the route is at U.S. Route 425 in Clayton, Louisiana. The northern terminus is at Interstate 35 just south of I ...

and exits town in a northeastern direction, passing

McGehee High School McGehee High School is a comprehensive public secondary school located in McGehee, Arkansas, United States. McGehee serves more than 500 students in grades 7 through 12. McGehee is one of two public high schools in Desha County and is the so ...

. Highway 1 meets Highway 4, which runs south to Arkansas City before curving north to Rohwer, which was a

Japanese American internment During World War II, the United States forcibly relocated and incarcerated about 120,000 people of Japanese descent in ten concentration camps operated by the War Relocation Authority (WRA), mostly in the western interior of the country. Abou ...

camp during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Highway 1 passes the

Kemp Cotton Gin Historic District The Kemp Cotton Gin Historic District encompasses the only cotton gin extant in the Rohwer area of Desha County, Arkansas. The gin was built in 1950 by O. O. Kemp, a few years after the closure of the Rohwer War Relocation Center, where as ma ...

, Rowher Relocation Center, and

Rohwer Relocation Center Memorial Cemetery The Rohwer War Relocation Center was a World War II Japanese American concentration camp located in rural southeastern Arkansas, in Desha County. It was in operation from September 18, 1942, until November 30, 1945, and held as many as 8,475 Ja ...

. Continuing north, Highway 1 ceases following the railroad at

Watson Scanning Habitable Environments with Raman and Luminescence for Organics and Chemicals (SHERLOC) is an ultraviolet Raman spectrometer that uses fine-scale imaging and an ultraviolet (UV) laser to determine fine-scale mineralogy, and detect orga ...

and runs west to US 165 at Back Gate, where it terminates.

DeWitt to Marvell

The route begins at US 165 and Highway 1B in DeWitt and runs east. Highway 1 bypasses southeast DeWitt, and after meeting the northern terminus of Highway 1B, continues northeast. The route runs east through St. Charles before entering Monroe County, where it meets Highway 1S. This spur enters St. Charles, and terminates near the site of the Battle of Saint Charles on the White River. Highway 1 enters southern Monroe County briefly. At Cross Roads, the route is the southern terminus of Highway 17. Highway 1 has a junction with Highway 39 and Highway 316 east of

Turner Turner may refer to: People and fictional characters * Turner (surname), a common surname, including a list of people and fictional characters with the name * Turner (given name), a list of people with the given name *One who uses a lathe for tur ...

. The route continues northeast to

in Marvell, where it terminates.

Walnut Corner to Missouri

The route begins at US 49 and Highway 85 at Walnut Corner and runs north. At the corner, Highway 1 turns north past the

Richardson-Turner House The Richardson-Turner House is a historic house at 1469 Arkansas Highway 1 in Lexa, Arkansas. It is a -story wood-frame structure, built in 1894 by Dr. Willis Moss Richardson. It is one of the most elaborate rural Queen Anne structures in Phil ...

and enters Lee County. The route has a junction with Highway 121 at Cypress Corner and continues north to Marianna. In Marianna, Highway 1 breaks west from Highway 1B, which runs downtown through Marianna. After Highway 1B rejoins the main route, there is a concurrency north with

US 79 U.S. Route 79 (US 79) is a United States highway in the Southern United States. The route is officially considered and signed as a north–south highway, but its path is actually more of a diagonal northeast–southwest highway. The highway's n ...

. Further north, Highway 1 passes Lee County Senior High and becomes four lanes briefly until

Forrest City Forrest City is a city in and the county seat of St. Francis County, Arkansas, United States. It was named for General Nathan Bedford Forrest, a notable Confederate war hero who later became the first Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan. Shortly ...

. Upon entering St. Francis County, Highway 1 enters Forrest City. The business route runs downtown, while the main route skirts the southwest edge of town. There is a

parclo interchange A partial cloverleaf interchange or parclo is a modification of a cloverleaf interchange. The design has been well received, and has since become one of the most popular freeway-to-arterial interchange designs in North America. It has also bee ...

with

US 70 U.S. Route 70 or U.S. Highway 70 (US 70) is an east–west United States highway that runs for from eastern North Carolina to east-central Arizona. It is a major east–west highway of the Southeastern, Southern and Southwestern United States. ...

and an interchange with

Interstate 40 Interstate 40 (I-40) is a major east–west transcontinental Interstate Highway System, Interstate Highway in the Southeastern United States, southeastern and Southwestern United States, southwestern portions of the United States. At a leng ...

(I-40). The business route meets Highway 1 in north Forrest City, and Highway 1 enters

Caldwell Caldwell may refer to: People * Caldwell (surname) * Caldwell (given name) * Caldwell First Nation, a federally recognized First Nation in southern Ontario, Canada Places Great Britain * Caldwell, Derbyshire, a hamlet * Caldwell, Ea ...

and Colt before entering

Cross County Cross County is a rural Northeast Arkansas county in the Arkansas Delta. Created as Arkansas's 53rd county on November 15, 1862, Cross County contains four incorporated municipalities, including Wynne, the county seat and most populous city ...

. South of Caldwell, Highway 1 is near the historic Little Telico Creek Bridge, listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

. Highway 1 enters

Wynne Wynne is a surname of Welsh origin. This is a list of notable people with the surname, sorted by profession: Art, literature, and music * Bill Wynne (1922–2021), American photographer and writer *David Wynne (composer) (1900–1983), Welsh compo ...

. The highway has a junction with

US 64 U.S. Route 64 (US 64) is an east–west United States highway that runs for 2,281 miles (3,672 km) from Nags Head in eastern North Carolina to just southwest of the Four Corners in northeast Arizona. The western terminus is at U.S. Route ...

, Highway 284, Highway 980, and US 64 Business, and also passes near

Wynne High School Wynne Senior High School, known as Wynne High School, is a public secondary school for students in grades nine through twelve located in Wynne, Arkansas, United States. It is one of two public high schools in Cross County and the sole high schoo ...

. The highway continues north to Vanndale and Cherry Valley before entering Poinsett County. The route passes through

marsh In ecology, a marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous plants rather than by woody plants.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p More in genera ...

es in southern Poinsett County before entering

Harrisburg Harrisburg ( ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat, seat of Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, Dauphin County. With a population of 50, ...

. Throughout the county, Highway 1 is paralleled by Highway 163 approximately to the east and

approximately to the west, with the Union Pacific Railroad also near. Highway 1 passes the

Bacon Hotel The Bacon Hotel, also known as the Sunrise Hotel, is a historic hotel building at the southeast corner of Railroad and Homestead Roads in Whitehall, Arkansas. It is a two-story wood-frame structure, with a cross-gable roof and a two-story porch ...

in south Poinsett County near

Whitehall Whitehall is a road and area in the City of Westminster, Central London, England. The road forms the first part of the A roads in Zone 3 of the Great Britain numbering scheme, A3212 road from Trafalgar Square to Chelsea, London, Chelsea. It ...

, and also passes the historic

Modern News Building The Modern News Building is a historic commercial building at 216 North Main Street in downtown Harrisburg, Arkansas. It is a single-story rectangular brick building, with a flat roof and simple styling. A tall front steps down toward the rear ...

in downtown Harrisburg. Entering

Craighead County Craighead County is a county located in the U.S. state of Arkansas. As of the 2020 census, the population was 111,231. The county has two county seats — Jonesboro and Lake City. Craighead County is Arkansas's 58th county, formed on Februar ...

, Highway 1 enters Jonesboro from the south. After intersecting Highway 163, the route intersects

I-555 Interstate 555 (I-555) is an Interstate Highway connecting I-55 in Turrell with Highway 91 in Jonesboro. It provides a complete freeway corridor between Jonesboro, Arkansas's fifth-largest city, and Memphis, Tennessee. Formerly kno ...

(concurrent at that freeway portion with US 49). Highway 1 becomes concurrent north with US 49 (and later

US 62 U.S. Route 62 or U.S. Highway 62 (US 62) is an east–west United States Highway in the southern and northeastern United States. It runs from the Mexican border at El Paso, Texas, to Niagara Falls, New York, near the Canadian bo ...

) until

Piggott Pigot, Pigott, Piggott, Pigotts or Piggotts may refer to: People * Pigot (surname), including a list of people with this name * Pigott (surname), including a list of people with the surname Pigott or Piggott Places * Piggott, Arkansas, Unit ...

The route leaves US 62 (

Crowley's Ridge Parkway Crowley's Ridge Parkway is a National Scenic Byway in northeast Arkansas and the Missouri Bootheel along Crowley's Ridge in the United States. Motorists can access the parkway from U.S. Route 49 in Arkansas, US Route 49 (US 49) at its south ...

) in Piggott and runs east to the

state line, where it continues as Supplemental Route BB.

History

The route now known as Highway 1 first appears as a state highway in 1924, when the

Arkansas General Assembly The General Assembly of Arkansas is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The legislature is a bicameral body composed of the upper house Arkansas Senate with 35 members, and the lower Arkansas House of Representatives with 1 ...

first created a state highway system. Arkansas State Road B-1 ran from the Louisiana state line near Wilmot north into Missouri, and was mostly unpaved. Upon creation of the U.S. Route system in 1925, the north and south portions of the highway were replaced by

US 67 U.S. Route 67 is a major north–south U.S. highway which extends for 1,560 miles (2,511 km) in the Central United States. The southern terminus of the route is at the United States-Mexico border in Presidio, Texas Presidio is a c ...

and

, respectively, shaping a more familiar Highway 1 routing. Arkansas followed the trend to number in 1926, and B-1 became Arkansas Highway 1. The route remains very true to that original course today. The route was split apart in 1941 into Highway 1 East and Highway 1 West segments from Paragould north. Highway 1 East continued north through

Marmaduke ''Marmaduke'' is a newspaper comic strip revolving around the Winslow family and their Great Dane, Marmaduke, drawn by Brad Anderson (cartoonist), Brad Anderson from November 15, 1954 to 2015. Publication history The strip was created by wri ...

and

Rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...

. Highway 1 West traveled into Corning. By 1955, Highway 1W became Highway 135, and Highway 1E became Highway 1. US 49 overlapped Highway 1 from Jonesboro to Piggott in 1978.

Major intersections

Mile markers reset at some concurrencies.

Business routes

Highway 1 has six

business routes A business route (or business loop, business spur, or city route) in the United States is a short special route that branches off a parent numbered highway at its beginning, continues through the central business district of a nearby city or t ...

and one

spur route A spur route is a short road forming a branch from a longer, more important road such as a freeway, Interstate Highway, or motorway. A Bypass route, bypass or beltway is not considered a spur route as it typically reconnects with another or the ...

. As cities have grown, bypasses have become necessary, and the former downtown alignments of Highway 1 have become the business routes discussed here. The St. Charles spur route terminates at the site of the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

Battle of Saint Charles upon the White River. The

business route intersects major routes

and

I-40 Interstate 40 (I-40) is a major east–west transcontinental Interstate Highway in the southeastern and southwestern portions of the United States. At a length of , it is the third-longest Interstate Highway in the country, after I-90 and ...

. DeWitt, Marianna, Vanndale, and Cherry Valley all have business routes of less than . The Jonesboro business route is the longest, and has an interchange with

. A former Paragould

connector route A connector is a highway or freeway road in the United States that connects to another highway or freeway. It can be part of an interchange such as the MacArthur Maze or a longer roadway such as the Interstate 635. A connector route is a typ ...

, Highway 1Y, was created in 1968 and now carries a designation of US 49Y.

References

External links

*{{Commons category-inline, Arkansas Highway 1 Crowley's Ridge Parkway

001 001, O01, or OO1 may refer to: Arts and entertainment *001, fictional British agent, see 00 Agent *''001'', also known as the ''Princess of Klaxosaurs'', is a character and the central antagonist from ''DARLING in the FRANXX'' *Player number of b ...

Transportation in Desha County, Arkansas Transportation in Arkansas County, Arkansas Transportation in Monroe County, Arkansas Transportation in Phillips County, Arkansas Transportation in Lee County, Arkansas Transportation in St. Francis County, Arkansas Transportation in Cross County, Arkansas Transportation in Poinsett County, Arkansas Transportation in Craighead County, Arkansas Transportation in Greene County, Arkansas Transportation in Clay County, Arkansas

U.S. Route 67