Writers, actors, captains of industry, billion-dollar companies and a U.S. President from a place called Hope. They are recognized as representative of the state even by non-Arkansans. They are people, institutions and phenomena that are uniquely Arkansas. Click below to read about 20 Arkansas Icons, as chosen by the editorial staff of Arkansas Business.
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Arkansas River: Geographic Divide Connects to Markets
The Arkansas River is one of four waterway systems in the state, but it also functions as a cultural touchstone for Arkansas natives and outdoor lovers.
Bill Clinton: The State’s Most Famous and Infamous Son
The impact of Bill Clinton's eight-year presidency on Arkansas’ economy, image and collective psyche is impossible to quantify.
Billy Bob Thornton: Arkansan Bringing Hollywood Home
Arkansas has sent talent to Hollywood ranging from silent film cowboy “Bronco Billy” Anderson to Academy Award-winning actress Mary Steenburgen. But the cinematic figure most identified with Arkansas is Billy Bob Thornton of Malvern, a two-time Oscar nominee.
Central High School: Symbol of Inequities Past and Present
In a state educational system that an expert a generation ago called the worst in the country, ornaments such as Little Rock Central High School are as rare as they are imperfect.
Charles Portis: Incarnation of State’s Storytelling Tradition
Charles Portis, sometimes called America’s least-known great writer, represents a particularly brilliant Arkansas incarnation of Old Southwest Humor, putting him in a line with Mark Twain.
Christ of the Ozarks: Jesus Is Big Here
The elevation of Magnetic Mountain can’t compete with the Brazilian peak of Corcovado at Rio de Janiero, and its 67-foot statue is not as tall as the Cristo Redentor that inspired it. Still, Christ of the Ozarks represents an inescapable fact: Jesus is big in Arkansas.
Crater of Diamonds: A Gem in Arkansas’ State Park System
Crater of Diamonds is unique among the world’s parks, but nature lovers, canoeists and history buffs treasure other Arkansas state parks even more.
Duck Hunting: Popular Sport Turns Migrant Pests Into Profit
Ducks have been making their economic impact on Arkansas for a century — but it hasn’t always been a positive impact.
Heifer International: World Sees Our Charitable Culture
Heifer International Foundation has become an Arkansas icon thanks to unforeseeable fortune and leadership savvy enough to take advantage of the opportunity.
Hot Springs: A Hot Time Can Still Be Had in the Old Town
There’s more to Hot Springs than tales of training camp baseball players loose in the streets, Al Capone’s bathing escapades and Tony Bennett’s singing “I Left My Heart in San Francisco” at the Black Orchid Club.
Judge Isaac Parker: A Legend Hangs On
Arkansas’ relationship with the legal profession was well established by the time "Hanging Judge" Isaac C. Parker strung up his first convicts — the oldest continuously operating business in Arkansas is the 184-year-old Rose Law Firm.
KAAY: The Mighty 1090 Gave Arkansas to North America
For a few magic years, for music fans throughout a figure-eight centered in Little Rock and stretching from Canada to Cuba, one radio station was king of the nighttime airwaves: KAAY-AM, The Mighty 1090.
King Biscuit: Recipe for Rock Rises From Arkansas’ Delta
Arkansas can’t lay sole claim to that Delta blues legacy. But the state can and does lay claim to dozens of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, including so many of the line-blurring artists of the 1950s that a case could be made for Arkansas as the motherland of rock ’n’ roll.
Murphy Oil: Global Company Plans to Stay Put in El Dorado
In 2001, the $5.5 billion Muprhy Oil Corp. earned a spot on Forbes magazine’s “400 Best Big Companies” list, and for the last two years it has been among the Fortune 500. But Murphy execs say they'll keep the company in El Dorado.
Ozark Mountains: Big Business Transforms Land of Hillbillies
A group of entrepreneurial visionaries — Sam Walton, J.B. Hunt, Don Tyson, John Cooper and others — laid the groundwork for an economic explosion that would eventually reverberate not only through northwest Arkansas, but the entire financial world.
Razorbacks: Arkansas’ Team
Sometimes it’s orchestrated with the aid of the University of Arkansas pep squad. But the simple cheer is at its most magical when erupting spontaneously from within the stands: "ARK-AN-SAS RA-ZOR-BACKS!"
Riceland Foods: Biggest Name in the State’s Biggest Crop
King Cotton may have an alliterative ring, but it is rice that rules in Arkansas.
State Capitol: Where Politics Collide
Deceit, incompetence, back-room dealings. More than 100 years have passed since the cornerstone was laid for Arkansas’ State Capitol building.
Wal-Mart: Sam Walton’s Ideas Reshaped Retailing Industry
Beloved, despised, feared and admired, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is a global force with its epicenter at Bentonville.
Witt & Jack Stephens: Rural Charm and Urban Money
The family-owned merchant banking firm of Stephens Inc. has become synonymous with wealth, success, power and philanthropy in Arkansas.
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