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Mena, Arkansas





With so much talk lately about all the damage and destruction in my town, I wanted to look at the community as I like to look at it in my mind. So - here goes...




I decided that I would do a little research on the area where I live. Little to say, I found out that my property was originally a part of Dallas, Arkansas. Dallas was the original county seat of Polk County. Mena itself was actually formed in 1896 as a midway point for the railroad between Fort Smith and Texarkana. It was founded by Arthur Stillwell while working for the railroad which was being built through the area. An investor of the railroad, Jan de Goeijen, helped Stillwell come up with the money to finish the line between Kansas City and the Gulf Coast. Mena was named for de Goeijen's wife, Folmina (this is the Mena part) Margaretha Janssen De Goeijen. There is an area of Mena that some of the residents still call Stillwell Heights (obviously named so after Arthur Stillwell). At one point, there was an elementary school in town that also bore his name. That property has since become a retirement/rest home. Folmina Margaretha Janssen De Goeijen not only had the town named after her, but eventually the main city park (Janssen Park) and Janssen Street were also named after her. Trains would stop in Mena to fill with water and supplies for the railroad. It was also a passenger station. Because of the business that was building when the railroad came through town, Dallas deteriorated and Mena was eventually named the county seat. Mena had its highest population early in its history around 1900. Much of this was due to the railroad stopping in the area. It was a bustling community with saloons and stores of all kinds. In other words, it was the opposite of what it is today.

Today, Mena is a bustling little community of over 5,500 residents. It is not a racially diverse community, but I have noticed that this is changing a little bit within the past few years. There are several things in this area that we seem to be well known for:

1. The tornado that killed 3 and devastated a good part of town on April 9th, 2009.
2. Drugs for Guns/Iran-Contra Scandal. (70's and 80's)
3. Marijuana (back in the 1970's - people I met in California and Texas knew of Mena because of the pot)
4. Lum and Abner (Norris Goff and Chester Lauck - a famous radio pair from the 1930's to the mid 1950's)
5. T. Texas Tyler (A country music singer and songwriter in the 1950's).
6. Queen Wilhelmina State Park (even though it is not actually in city limits).



There are good and bad things about every community. Mena is a beautiful little town with a friendly face. Industries in the area were hit pretty hard by the tornado a couple of weeks ago, but all are in the process of cleaning up and rebuilding. New housing starts and remodeling appeared to be on the decline due to the economy. The tornado took care of that in a positive way. Area businesses are thriving because of the tornado. For all the bad the tornado did in destroying peoples lives and livelihoods, it has been a boon for the area economy.

There are several small lakes in the area (Mena, Wilhelmina, Irons Fork and Shady), but to reach real recreational lakes, one has to travel to Lake Ouchita, Gilham Lake, Broken Bow Lake and any of a number of larger lakes within a couple of hours of Mena. The small lakes in our area are good grounds for some great bass fishing as well as crappie, catfish, blue gill (and other sunfish species). Nearby there are miles of National Forest and areas of beauty untouched by industry. Wildlife in the area is like a roller coaster. In the early years, wolves, bears, deer, elk, turkey, and many other species were very abundant in the area. Wolves, elk, and some of the cat species (mountain lions in particular) have been hunted to extinction, although once in a while someone reports the occasional panther, mountain lion or wolf. No confirmed kills have been reported in the area in recent history and this leads game and fish officials to report they do not exist in the area. Where bear were once plentiful in the area, now there are some still roaming the hills around Mena. The Mena area was once well known nationwide for its turkey populations, but over-hunting and weather have brought those populations way down. The deer population is very up and down. I know too many people who are poachers in the area and to them, hunting season is 24/7/365. We have a couple of rivers which flow in and around Mena including the Ouchita and Mountain Fork. We call them rivers here, but to most people, they are nothing more than creeks. The many creeks are great for fishing for bass and catfish. Near Mena one can also find Wolf Pen Gap. It is a huge trail area in the national forest for 4-wheelers and motorcylces. It is not uncommon to see vehicles pulling campers and trailers full of 4-wheelers on their way to the trails.

Land and housing in Mena is pretty affordable, but taxes, food, electric, gas, and other necessities are no cheaper to a little bit more expensive than in other areas of Arkansas. I talk to some of my relatives in the Northeast (Connecticut to Maine) as well as some relatives in Texas and North Caroline and they can't believe the cost of land here. An example of this is that here you can get a nice cozy house with a few acres for less than $100,000. Houses in town are usually a little more expensive than those outside of town (no surprise there). One relative of mine has a house in a coastal community in Connecticut. According to her, my house with the property that I have would be worth a couple of million where she lives. One of the best parts about the area is that the crime rate is very low. I'm not saying we don't have any crime at all, but rather that there are far less crimes in this area than anywhere else I have ever lived.

Industries we have in the area are not huge, but they do keep the community rolling. Wal-Mart is the largest employer in the city, but most of its employees are part time and are working for minimal wages. Very few of their employees even receive health benefits. Emerson (U.S. Motors), Brodix, Street & Performance, and several small businesses at our airport are the employers that many want to work for because of a little bit better salary and benefits. Among the shopping opportunities in the area, most do ALL of their shopping at Wally World. We do have a competing grocery store in town as well as several other small business which sell grocery type items. We have two new car dealerships in town and a handful of used car dealers. There are several agricultural stores (Atwoods and SFA) are the two most prominent. We have a couple of hardware stores. There are a lot of small mom and pop businesses (family operations) in town. We have a couple of video stores and one movie theatre. Overall, the town does have a lot of shopping opportunities, but the selection is nothing like one would find in a mall or a larger community. We have many restaurants in the area, but I really like just a few of them (Papa Pablanos, Fish Net, Spinellis, and Chopping Block). Of course there are some fast food places just like most towns our size. There are quite a few convenience stores and gas stations around the town, but only a handful are open 24/7.



Some people believe (especially the kids) believe that there is nothing for the youth in the area. I beg to differ. There are a lot of opportunities for recreation, but few of them are taken advantage of. There is a bowling alley, a movie theatre and of course dragging around town. The kids think this is it (except for beer parties out in the middle of nowhere). It is sad that they don't take advantage of the beautiful nature in the area. Fishing can be done year round. There are miles and miles of areas to hike, fish and camp. There are volunteer areas all over the community. I guess these are all too boring for today's youth. There is a community pool which is open during the summer, and Mena is building a skate park. If you know any kids who really want to expand their horizons and see what is here, just send them to me. I really like to promote volunteerism.

We have one school district in Mena and several smaller districts nearby. Mena has one K-2 school (Louise Durham) which is now the oldest campus in the district. One of the newest campuses is Holly Harshman which houses grades 3-5. Our middle school was destroyed by the tornado so the 6th graders are now attending classes in a building which belongs to Dallas Avenue Baptist Church. The 7th and 8th graders are attending classes now at the Hatfield campus (Hatfield consolidated into the Mena district several years back). The Hatfield campus is old and really inadequate, but it is better than no facilities, and the district already owned the buildings. The high school was built 1976 and has been added to many times. I've been told that plans are to build a new high school in the future and to place the middle school kids in the current high school (but I don't know that for sure). What I do know is that overall the schools here are very good. Oh, there are problems as in any district, but from my experience with my own kids, I was very satisfied with the education they received. I can't say the same for the education I got when I went there, but that was a long time ago and you can really see the difference in the quality of the students they now produce.

In the 1920's, Commonwealth College was located in Mena. It was considered a very liberal socialistic school and closed in 1940 having been accused of teaching communism. In the 70's Rich Mountain Vo-Tech was built. Once opened, it became a very active little school teaching mechanics, construction and nursing, along with a few other trades. Eventually the school was changed to a community college and the trade school mentality was replaced with true college credits. Over the years, the college has grown and in some areas they offer a bachelor's degree in association with other 4-year colleges. The college was severely damaged by the tornado, but repairs were quickly under way and the school plans to end the semester on time.

I can't even tell you the numbers of churches in the area. Sometimes it seems like there is a church on every street corner. Most denominations are well covered in our area with the exception of the Jewish, Hindu and Muslim religions. A lot of the churches in the area have really stepped up to help those with needs following the tornado. Several offer meals to victims and workers in the affected areas.

Mena has one regional hospital with a small staff of doctor's and nurses. It has a fairly good reputation, but does not offer the quality or quantity of care that are available in larger communities a few hours drive from here (Fort Smith, Hot Springs, Little Rock and Texarkana). We do have many doctors practicing in the area. There are several dentists located in town, but I have to go to the VA in Little Rock for most of my medical and dental care. There are too many pharmacies for a town this size, but they all seem to manage to survive so who am I to say. I do know that Mena does not have a trauma rating and in serious cases, patients are flown or driven to larger hospitals.

I guess this is just a little summary of Mena right off the top of my head. I just looked into some of the information available on-line about the city, but most that I found was either out-dated or inadequate. If anyone has any questions about this area, just feel free to message me. In future posts I will talk about other areas I have lived or visited.