Piggott, Arkansas
Encyclopedia
Piggott, Arkansas is a city in Clay County, Arkansas
, one of that county's two seats (Corning
is the other). It is also the northern terminus of the Arkansas segment of Crowley's Ridge Parkway
. As of the 2000 census, Piggott's population was 3,894. The town was founded by William N. Barron
, after his sister's married name (sister Sarah Ann Barron, wife of John Piggott).
laureate Ernest Hemingway
, whose second wife Pauline Pfeiffer
was the daughter of prominent local landowner and businessman Paul Pfeiffer. After meeting and marrying in Paris
in the late 1920s, Ernest and Pauline made frequent and lengthy visits to her parent's home in Piggott, where Ernest wrote portions of A Farewell to Arms
, and other works. The Pfeiffer House and Carriage House
are now preserved as the Hemingway-Pfeiffer Museum and Educational Center, run by Arkansas State University
.
The town was mentioned in the 1990s television
sitcom Evening Shade
, set in Arkansas. The high school
football
team coached by "Wood Newton" (played by Burt Reynolds
) celebrated when it tied Piggott High in a game, which it almost always lost.
Piggott was also one of the filming sites for Andy Griffith
's acting debut, A Face In The Crowd. The film, which also starred Patricia Neal
, featured several Piggott citizens as movie "extras." Scenes were also filmed in the Northeast Arkansas town of Paragould. Several locations in Piggott are featured in the movie, including the Piggott Mohawk football field, the old Clay County jail, and a swimming pool at the Hemingway-Pfeiffer residence. Piggott was chosen when Toby Bruce, a friend of Ernest Hemingway. recommended the site to writer Budd Schulberg
. In September 2007, several Piggott citizens gathered at the Piggott community center to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the release of A Face In The Crowd. Actress Patricia Neal returned to Piggott and toured the town during this celebration.http://www.nwanews.com/adg/News/201712/
According to the United States Census Bureau
, the city has a total area of 5.2 square miles (13.5 km²), of which 5.2 square miles (13.5 km²) is land and 0.1 square mile (0.258998811 km²) (1.14%) is water.
of 2000, there were 3,894 people, 1,726 households, and 1,101 families residing in the city. The population density
was 751.8 people per square mile (290.2/km²). There were 1,912 housing units at an average density of 369.1 per square mile (142.5/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 98.59% White
, 0.23% Black
or African American
, 0.18% Native American
, 0.18% from other races
, and 0.82% from two or more races. 0.77% of the population were Hispanic
or Latino
of any race.
There were 1,726 households out of which 27.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.0% were married couples
living together, 9.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.2% were non-families. 33.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 20.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.20 and the average family size was 2.79.
In the city the population was spread out with 22.1% under the age of 18, 7.4% from 18 to 24, 23.9% from 25 to 44, 23.3% from 45 to 64, and 23.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females there were 87.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 79.6 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $25,404, and the median income for a family was $35,625. Males had a median income of $25,482 versus $19,405 for females. The per capita income
for the city was $16,382. About 8.1% of families and 9.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 15.2% of those under age 18 and 15.9% of those age 65 or over.
Clay County, Arkansas
Clay County is a county located in the U.S. state of Arkansas. As of 2010, the population was 16,083. The county has two county seats, Corning and Piggott...
, one of that county's two seats (Corning
Corning, Arkansas
Corning is a city in Clay County, Arkansas, United States. The population was 3,679 at the 2000 census. It is one of the two county seats of Clay County, along with Piggott.-Geography:Corning is located at ....
is the other). It is also the northern terminus of the Arkansas segment of Crowley's Ridge Parkway
Crowley's Ridge Parkway
Crowley's Ridge Parkway is a road that runs in Arkansas and Missouri along Crowley's Ridge and Ozark-St. Francis National Forest. The route was designated a state scenic byway in Arkansas in 1997 and a National Scenic Byway in 1998...
. As of the 2000 census, Piggott's population was 3,894. The town was founded by William N. Barron
William N. Barron
William Nelson Barron was a lawyer from who settled in Poplar Bluff, Missouri in about 1894. In 1900, he became the plant manager and president of a factory that manufactured barrel staves and headers, known as the Brooklyn Cooperage Company after 1910, a subsidiary of the American Sugar Refining...
, after his sister's married name (sister Sarah Ann Barron, wife of John Piggott).
History
Piggott is perhaps best known for its association with American writer and NobelNobel Prize
The Nobel Prizes are annual international awards bestowed by Scandinavian committees in recognition of cultural and scientific advances. The will of the Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, established the prizes in 1895...
laureate Ernest Hemingway
Ernest Hemingway
Ernest Miller Hemingway was an American author and journalist. His economic and understated style had a strong influence on 20th-century fiction, while his life of adventure and his public image influenced later generations. Hemingway produced most of his work between the mid-1920s and the...
, whose second wife Pauline Pfeiffer
Pauline Pfeiffer
Pauline Marie Pfeiffer was the second wife of the writer Ernest Hemingway. She was born in Parkersburg, Iowa, on July 22, 1895, moving to St. Louis in 1901 where she went to school at Visitation Academy of St. Louis...
was the daughter of prominent local landowner and businessman Paul Pfeiffer. After meeting and marrying in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
in the late 1920s, Ernest and Pauline made frequent and lengthy visits to her parent's home in Piggott, where Ernest wrote portions of A Farewell to Arms
A Farewell to Arms
A Farewell to Arms is a semi-autobiographical novel written by Ernest Hemingway concerning events during the Italian campaigns during the First World War. The book, which was first published in 1929, is a first-person account of American Frederic Henry, serving as a Lieutenant in the ambulance...
, and other works. The Pfeiffer House and Carriage House
Pfeiffer House and Carriage House
The Hemingway-Pfeiffer House, also known as the Pfeiffer House and Carriage House, is a house in Piggott, Arkansas where novelist Ernest Hemingway wrote portions of his novel, A Farewell to Arms...
are now preserved as the Hemingway-Pfeiffer Museum and Educational Center, run by Arkansas State University
Arkansas State University
Arkansas State University is a public university and is the flagship campus of the Arkansas State University System, the state's second largest college system and third largest university by enrollment. It is located atop on Crowley's Ridge at Jonesboro, Arkansas, USA...
.
The town was mentioned in the 1990s television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
sitcom Evening Shade
Evening Shade
Evening Shade was an American sitcom television series that aired on CBS from 1990 to 1994. The series starred Burt Reynolds as Wood Newton, an ex-professional football player for the Pittsburgh Steelers, who returns to rural Evening Shade, Arkansas to coach a high school football team with a long...
, set in Arkansas. The high school
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
team coached by "Wood Newton" (played by Burt Reynolds
Burt Reynolds
Burton Leon "Burt" Reynolds, Jr. is an American actor. Some of his memorable roles include Bo 'Bandit' Darville in Smokey and the Bandit, Lewis Medlock in Deliverance, Bobby "Gator" McCluskey in White Lightning and sequel Gator, Paul Crewe and Coach Nate Scarborough in The Longest Yard and its...
) celebrated when it tied Piggott High in a game, which it almost always lost.
Piggott was also one of the filming sites for Andy Griffith
Andy Griffith
Andy Samuel Griffith is an American actor, director, producer, Grammy Award-winning Southern-gospel singer, and writer. He gained prominence in the starring role in director Elia Kazan's epic film A Face in the Crowd before he became better known for his television roles, playing the lead...
's acting debut, A Face In The Crowd. The film, which also starred Patricia Neal
Patricia Neal
Patricia Neal was an American actress of stage and screen. She was best known for her film roles as World War II widow Helen Benson in The Day the Earth Stood Still , wealthy matron Emily Eustace Failenson in Breakfast at Tiffany's , middle-aged housekeeper Alma Brown in Hud , for which she won...
, featured several Piggott citizens as movie "extras." Scenes were also filmed in the Northeast Arkansas town of Paragould. Several locations in Piggott are featured in the movie, including the Piggott Mohawk football field, the old Clay County jail, and a swimming pool at the Hemingway-Pfeiffer residence. Piggott was chosen when Toby Bruce, a friend of Ernest Hemingway. recommended the site to writer Budd Schulberg
Budd Schulberg
Budd Schulberg was an American screenwriter, television producer, novelist and sports writer. He was known for his 1941 novel, What Makes Sammy Run?, his 1947 novel The Harder They Fall, his 1954 Academy-award-winning screenplay for On the Waterfront, and his 1957 screenplay for A Face in the...
. In September 2007, several Piggott citizens gathered at the Piggott community center to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the release of A Face In The Crowd. Actress Patricia Neal returned to Piggott and toured the town during this celebration.http://www.nwanews.com/adg/News/201712/
Geography
Piggott is located at 36°23′2"N 90°11′34"W (36.383794, -90.192847).According to the United States Census Bureau
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...
, the city has a total area of 5.2 square miles (13.5 km²), of which 5.2 square miles (13.5 km²) is land and 0.1 square mile (0.258998811 km²) (1.14%) is water.
Demographics
As of the censusCensus
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
of 2000, there were 3,894 people, 1,726 households, and 1,101 families residing in the city. The population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...
was 751.8 people per square mile (290.2/km²). There were 1,912 housing units at an average density of 369.1 per square mile (142.5/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 98.59% White
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, 0.23% Black
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
or African American
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, 0.18% Native American
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, 0.18% from other races
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, and 0.82% from two or more races. 0.77% of the population were Hispanic
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
or Latino
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
of any race.
There were 1,726 households out of which 27.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.0% were married couples
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
living together, 9.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.2% were non-families. 33.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 20.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.20 and the average family size was 2.79.
In the city the population was spread out with 22.1% under the age of 18, 7.4% from 18 to 24, 23.9% from 25 to 44, 23.3% from 45 to 64, and 23.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females there were 87.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 79.6 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $25,404, and the median income for a family was $35,625. Males had a median income of $25,482 versus $19,405 for females. The per capita income
Per capita income
Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...
for the city was $16,382. About 8.1% of families and 9.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 15.2% of those under age 18 and 15.9% of those age 65 or over.
Local Civic Leaders
- Mayor: Gerald Morris
- City Clerk: Ramona Magee
- Treasurer: Jamie Cluck
- District Judge: David Copelin
- City Attorney: John R. Lingle
- Police Chief: Bill Alstadt
- Fire Chief: Bradley Scheffler
- Street Superintendent: Gary Chronister
- Water Superintendent: Bradley Scheffler
- Electric Superintendent: Bruce Swan
- Power Plant Superintendent: David Finley
- Code Enforcement Officer: Brian Haley
- Parks and Recreation Director: Shannon Williams
Voting Districts
- State Senate District: 11
- State House District: 79
- U.S. Congressional District: 1 http://local.arkansas.gov/local.php?agency=Piggott