Crazy Laws in Arkansas and Fun Facts
Crazy Laws in Arkansas and Fun Facts
If you read the crazy law in Arizona that prohibits donkeys sleeping in bathtubs, then you will not be surprised at the crazy law in Arkansas regarding alligators. Here are eight of the craziest laws enacted in that state.
Crazy Laws in Arkansas
• Alligators may not be kept in bathtubs.
Of course not. Everyone knows that. It would make an ordinary event like taking a bath an unbelievably dangerous adventure. My question is why would anyone want to keep a gator in the tub in the first place?
• It is illegal to mispronounce the name of the state of Arkansas in that state. It must be pronounced, “Ark-an-saw.”
I do not live in that state so I can mispronounce it all I want: “Ark-an-sass! Ark-an-sass! Ark-an-sass!”
You know that this is such a crazy law I just had to do more research. The correct pronunciation of Arkansas is Ark-an-saw. The name is a French pronunciation of a Sioux word, ‘acansa,’ that means ‘the land of downriver people.’ The law was enacted in 1881 and is still on the books although no consequences are enforced when it is mispronounced. Yet.
• An Arkansas legislator not long ago proposed that the state provide growth hormones to dwarfs.
That lawmaker may have been unduly influenced by the Equal Opportunity laws. Although his heart was in the right place, I cannot say the same thing for his brain.
• In Little Rock, dogs may not bark after 6 pm.
Shut your mouth, Fido, it’s after six pm. If you have something to tell me, whisper!
• A man can legally beat his wife, but not more than once a month.
Wait a minute. Arizona has that same crazy law. Must have been an Arizona legislator who moved to Arkansas.
• It is unlawful to walk one’s cow down Main Street after 1:00 pm on Sunday.
That is one crazy law that is easy to obey. Either run with Elsie … or take a side street.
• At Arkansas State University two people cannot hold hands while standing in a doorway unless they belong to a union.
I have no explanation whatsoever for that crazy law. If you can figure it out, please explain it to me.
• The Arkansas legislature passed a law that states that the Arkansas River can rise no higher than to the Main Street Bridge in Little Rock.
I do believe that is how we got the saying: “Don’t raise the bridge, boys, lower the river!”
Fun Facts and Illustrious Information about Arkansas
• Arkansas contains over 600,000 acres of lakes, 9,700 miles of streams and rivers, 6 national park sites, 2.5 million acres of national forests, 50 state parks . . . and Wal-Mart's headquarters.
• Sam Walton founded his Walmart stores in Bentonville in 1962. There are now 11,000 stores in 27 countries.
• Mount Magazine is the state's highest point at 2,753 feet above sea level. It is popular with rock climbers, hang glider pilots and those looking for places to get high.
• The Hot Springs alligator farm and petting zoo established in 1902 contains over 200 alligators.
But none of the alligators are allowed to sleep in bathtubs.
• Mountain View, population 2,439, is called the Folk Capital of America. This tiny town puts its pioneer way of life on display for visitors at the Ozark Folk Center State Park from March through October.
• The largest producer of handmade dulcimers in the world is located in Mountain View.
• Since the 1830s the area now known as Hot Springs National Park with its famous hot springs has served celebrities like Franklin D. Roosevelt, Babe Ruth, and Al Capone.
47 hot springs flow from the southwestern slope of Hot Springs Mountain at an average temperature of 143 F.
• Located just outside of Murfreesboro, the Crater of Diamonds State Park allows dedicated amateur prospectors to search for precious gems including diamonds, amethyst, garnet, jasper, agate, and quartz.
• Diamonds were first discovered by John W. Huddleston in 1906 where Crater of Diamonds State Park stands now.
Huddleston purchased a 160-acre farm as a home for his family. While crawling on the ground – don’t ask me why – he discovered a fiery pebble different from any he had seen before. He saddled his mule and headed for Murfreesboro. Another glittering pebble caught his eye and he picked it up out of the dirt.
Those pebbles turned out to be two blue-white diamonds of fine grade. He later sold his valuable property for $36,000.
• The mockingbird is the official state bird. The apple blossom is the official state flower. The pine tree is the official state tree. The honeybee is the official state insect. The mockingbird is the official state bird. The fiddle is the official state instrument.
• The state mineral is the quartz crystal. They are mined in the Ouachita Mountains and are sometimes called ‘Arkansas diamonds.’
• Clark Bluff overlooking the St. Francis River contains enough chalk to supply the nation for years.
• Bauxite is the principal source of aluminum for making soft drink cans and aluminum foil. Saline County, Arkansas is home to the largest bauxite deposit in the U.S.
• The World's Championship Duck Calling Contest is held annually in Stuttgart.
• The Arkansas River is the longest stream to flow into the Mississippi-Missouri river system. Its total length is 1,450 miles.
• Milk is the official state beverage because of the importance of dairy farming.
• 15 meteorites have been discovered in Arkansas
• A person from Arkansas is usually called an Arkansan although several famous writers have used Arkansawyer. The residents are split on what they really prefer.
• Tyson Foods, now the world’s largest producer and marketer of chicken, began with a single truck shipping chickens from Arkansas to Chicago in 1935.
• The makeup company, Maybelline, is headquartered in New York, but its factory has been based in Little Rock since 1975, selling an average of 1.7 tubes of mascara every second.
• Hope is the watermelon capital of the world – also Bill Clinton’s birthplace.
• In Kansas, the Arkansas River is called the Ar Kansas River but when it crosses the state line its name changes. In 1881 the legislature declared it to be AR kan saw.
• The Ozark National Forest covers more than one million acres.
• Pine Bluff, Arkansas (49,000 population) was named America's most dangerous small town last year with its crime rate second only to Detroit (1.8 million population).
• Fort Smith was founded at Belle Point on the Arkansas River in 1817 and was frontier America at its worst. Its motley citizens included outlaws, bushwhackers, gun runners, gold miners and ladies of the night. It was known as ‘Hell on the Border.’
A federal judge, Isaac Parker, aided by U.S. marshals sent 79 outlaws to the gallows.
• An item nicknamed ‘Uncle Sam” was found near Murfreesboro in 1924. Do you know what it was?
A 40.23 carat white diamond which was the largest ever unearthed in the U.S.
• Arkansas is the leading producer of rice in the U.S.
• Arkansas is the only state mentioned in the Bible!!! Noah looked out of the Ark an Saw water! The debbil made me do it!
• Anything carbonated and filled with sugar gets called “coke.” While some parts of the country prefer “soda” or “pop,” Arkansans always order with the brand name, knowing they’ll have to clarify what type of “coke” they actually want to drink.
Celebrities who are Arkansans
Mary Steenburgen, General Douglas MacArthur, Johnny Cash, Scott Joplin, Al Green, Alan Ladd, Billy Bob Thornton, Dick Powell, Glen Campbell, Helen Gurley Brown, Josh Lucas.
John Grisham was born in Jonesboro and lived throughout Northeast Arkansas before his career took off, selling over 225 million copies of his books.
Take a Tour of Arkansas
• Dinner Is Lunch. Supper Is Dinner. Arkansans, especially the older ones, tend to call their midday meal “dinner,” and their nightly meal “supper.”
• Toad Suck, a most unusual town name, was a legendary steamboat landing on the Arkansas River. The site reportedly had a popular tavern where liquor flowed freely. Legend says the river men would "suck whiskey until they swelled like toads."
• Have you ever wondered how some Arkansas towns received such funny short names? Apt, Gid, and Ink are prime examples. When railroad crews designated a junction site in Craighead County over a century ago, local farmers wondered about a name. One man joked that the "railroad people will be apt to name it." The name Apt stuck.
A few men were gathered in an Izard County country store in 1888, arguing over a name for their proposed post office. Finally they agreed to name it for the next person to enter the store."Gid" Bruce provided the funny city name for Gid, Arkansas.
Local tradition says that a Polk County school teacher sent out notes to parents requesting possible names for their new post office. Fearing penciled entries might be difficult to read, she requested that they please "write in ink." Many did...and Ink was the winner.
Funny one-liner: “An ignorant person is one who doesn't know what you have just found out." – Will Rogers
© Copyright BJ Rakow, Ph.D. 2015. All rights reserved. Author, "Much of What You Know about Job Search Just Ain't So."