Sneed is a
ghost town
A ghost town, deserted city, extinct town, or abandoned city is an abandoned settlement, usually one that contains substantial visible remaining buildings and infrastructure such as roads. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economi ...
in
Jackson County, Arkansas
Jackson County is located in the Arkansas Delta in the U.S. state of Arkansas. The County (United States), county is named for Andrew Jackson, a national hero during the War of 1812. By the county's formation in 1829, Jackson had become the Lis ...
, United States.
History
The namesake of the town, William Sneed, moved with his family from
Illinois
Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...
and settled in the area in which the town would eventually be founded following 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 ...
.
Sneed Church and Sneed School were located next to each other in this rural farm community.
1929 tornado
In the late afternoon of April 10, 1929, an
F5 tornado, the highest rating on the
Fujita scale
The Fujita scale (F-Scale; ), or Fujita–Pearson scale (FPP scale), is a scale for rating tornado intensity, based primarily on the damage tornadoes inflict on human-built structures and vegetation. The official Fujita scale category is determ ...
, struck northern Jackson County—the only tornado of this intensity ever documented in Arkansas. Many residents saw the tornado approach and took shelter in storm cellars, under a road bridge, in a barn, or in a chicken house.
The tornado is believed to have begun about south of
Batesville in
Independence County. It then crossed into Jackson County in the
Black River bottoms, likely north of
Centerville. The tornado's maximum intensity was reached near Pleasant Valley (also known locally as Possum Trot), and then moved east to Sneed. Both Pleasant Valley and Sneed were almost completely destroyed by what witnesses described as a wide tornado. The tornado began to weaken after it passed and then moved southeast of
Alicia.
Roads were blocked by large timbers and other debris, and the tornado's heavy rains made them very muddy, hindering rescue efforts. The death toll was listed at 23, and many others were seriously injured.
A makeshift morgue was set up in
Swifton.
All that remains today of Sneed is a clearing where the school and church formerly stood.
See also
*
List of F5 and EF5 tornadoes
This is a list of tornadoes which have been officially or unofficially labeled as F5, EF5, IF5, T10-T11, the highest possible ratings on the various tornado intensity scales. These scales – the Fujita scale, the Enhanced Fujita scale, the In ...
*
List of ghost towns in Arkansas
References
Ghost towns in Arkansas
Geography of Jackson County, Arkansas
F5, EF5 and IF5 tornadoes
Natural disaster ghost towns
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