April 8 declared Fordyce’s birthday
At 11 a.m. April 8, Fordyce Mayor John MacNichol read a proclamation at a luncheon in the Dallas County Museum Annex/ Sports Hall of Fame proclaiming this date as Fordyce’s 140th birthday.
The gathering also celebrated Fordyce lying 98.8% in the path of totality of the solar eclipse. In honor of the occasion, $5 sack lunches were provided containing a crescent shaped chicken salad sandwich accompanied by Sun Chips, a miniature Milky Way bar, Moon Pie, Sun-Maid Raisins, a Capri Sun beverage and a pair of solar glasses.
The proclamation read in part: “Whereas, April 8, 2024, marks the 140th anniversary of the incorporation of the City of Fordyce, Arkansas, on April 8, 1884; and
“Whereas, the city was named in honor of Samuel Wesley Fordyce, the founder and president of the St. Louis/Southwestern Cotton Belt Railroad originally running from Tyler, Texas, to New Madrid Missouri; and
“Whereas, the new laid train tracks were the beginnings of a rapidly growing community set in the rich farm and timber lands of South-Arkansas; and
“Whereas, a spirit of hope, rebirth and prosperity was ushered into the region with the new railroad, businesses, lumber mills and cotton gins; and
“Whereas, a second major north/south Rock Island Line railroad route intersected the Cotton Belt in 1905; and
“Whereas, Fordyce became the seat of government for the County of Dallas on this date in 1908; and
“Whereas, Fordyce has a long proud tradition of high school football beginning in 1909 as the Red and Black and becoming the Redbugs with the establishment of Redbug Field in 1925.
“… Now therefore, by virtue of the authority vested in me as Mayor of said city of Fordyce I
do hereby proclaim April 8 as Founder’s Day in recognition of the birth of Fordyce 140 years ago as well as the city becoming the County Seat on this date twenty-four years later.”
In recognition of the day, the great-grandson of Samuel Wesley Fordyce, Michael Fordyce of Sheridan, Wy., recently visited the Dallas County Museum with a special surprise gift for the people of Fordyce. His contribution to the museum collection is a personally engraved gold pocket watch presented to Samuel Fordyce in 1890 upon his retirement as president of the St. Louis/Southwestern Cotton Belt Railroad.
The engraving reads: “Presented to Col. S.W. Fordyce by the board of Directors of the St. Louis Southwestern Railroad Co. as a token of their admiration of the sterling business and personal qualities he displayed while President of the company.”
A brief history of the gentleman who served as a 4th Ohio Cavalry Captain during the American Civil War and his association with the town bearing his name must mention how Fordyce first came to Arkansas from his wife’s hometown of Huntsville, Ala., in April, 1873.
At his physician’s suggestion, he made the journey to partake of the healthful benefits offered of Hot Springs’ curative waters. He was so impressed with Hot Springs, he became the prime mover toward it becoming a National Reservation, the precursor to National Park status. He testified before Congress on multiple occasions, asking them to vote the Valley of Vapors into federally protected status. Fordyce thereafter became a key player in the development of Hot Springs, opening the first Arlington Resort Hotel.
During that same period J.W. Paramore determined to build a rail line across lower-Arkansas to transport large quantities of Texas peaches and cotton to worldwide markets via Mississippi River outlets.
Paramore knew immediately who he wished to be in charge of plotting the route, choosing Fordyce for his previously proven practical knowledge as well as practiced railroad experience. Fordyce determined to ride over every step of the proposed 419-mile long right-ofway and did so three separate times. Acquaintances made along the way came to endear him in the hearts of locals, leading to his recognition as one of Fordyce’s founder fathers.