State Line.
It’s just a marking down the middle of the boulevard. But for more than 150 years it has divided us, brought us together and even defined us. It made the Twin Cities a unique place to grow up, live and work.
It’s a story of rivalry and coming together, of entrepreneurs and outlaws. It’s been lampooned on postcards and celebrated on billboards.
From the time the cities were officially founded in 1873, they were a mecca for settlers with a dream to own their own land and entrepreneurs hoping to build and grow a business. They picked their state and settled in. Downtown Texarkana, neatly divided by the State Line, became the hub not just of the cities but the surrounding area.
Texarkana was where folks from all around came to sell their produce and goods, do their shopping, take care of their banking needs and enjoy some of the pleasures that come with city living such as hotels, restaurants, saloons and theaters. A big business in those days and for years to come was cotton. It was grown locally and farmers could bring their crop to town for brokers to buy and ship off to markets in the north.
Initially, the Arkansas side attracted the well-to-do. It was home to lumber barons and land magnates. As the 19th Century gave way to the 20th, grand mansions were common along with large, comfortable dwellings of upper middle class professionals.
The town attracted an unsavory element as well.
During the 1920s and into the 1930s,
Texarkana developed a reputation as something of a haven for bootleggers and bank robbers. Major highways and rail lines came through the city and the State Line provided an opportunity to cross jurisdictions at will. A local legend says that notorious hoodlums Bonnie and Clyde stopped in town to pick up sandwiches at the Grim Hotel Coffee Shop, though historians aren’t so convinced.
And the two cities provided plenty of pleasure for an outlaw on the lam. After Prohibition ended, Arkansas was quick to jump on the legal booze bandwagon
and liquor stores soon lined the eastern side of State Line. While Texas stayed mostly dry—beer was available in cafes—the rigid morality bent a bit when it came to prostitution. The cities’ long-running red light district grew up west of downtown around Swampoodle Creek.
It wasn’t just the rounders and rascals who enjoyed Texarkana’s nightlife. With World War II came a boom to the area. Soldiers from Red River Ordinance Depot—now Red River Army Deport— which opened in 1941 filled the streets, beer joints and nightclubs. Civilians took jobs at the arsenal and at Lone Star Army Ammunition Plant, which opened adjacent to Red River a year later.
A year after the war ended, police and sheriff’s departments on both sides of the line came together, along with state and federal authorities, to investigate the area’s most notorious series of crimes— the Phantom Killings. Five people died and three were injured in the Phantom’s spree, sending the Twin Cities into a panic. Still familiar today mostly through movies and myth, the crimes were never officially solved.
State Line itself has long been a tourist attraction on its own. The U.S. Post Office and Federal Courthouse building sits directly on the line so half is in Arkansas, half in Texas. Tourists can stand in front and be photographed with one foot in each state. Over the years millions of visitors have done just that and, according to some sources, the landmark building is the second-most
photographed federal courthouse in the country.
Countless others have sent or received the comic postcards showing a man on one side of the State Line holding the reins of a donkey standing on the other side. The caption “Man in Texas With His Ass in Arkansas”—or vice versa— made these cards popular keepsakes. Vintage examples turn up regularly on eBay and other Internet memorabilia sites.
The State Line was built into residents’ identities at an early age. One of the things folks who grew up in the Texarkanas remember most is the ferocious high school football rivalry between the Arkansas High School Razorbacks and the Texas High School Tigers. Every fall as school started and game timed neared, students would paint up their cars, fly flags from their radio antennas and cruise the streets—often with raw eggs to pelt any car from the other side of the line. While most recall good clean fun back in the 1940s and 1950s, as the years rolled by the pranks escalated— sometimes to the point where real property damage was done. The police started cracking down on the hijinks and while the rivalry is still there, the outward expression is somewhat more subdued— no doubt a welcome change for a lot of folks.
These days the State Line represents more of an economic divide than anything else. While the Arkansas side benefitted from early prosperity, most new development in the past several decades has gone to the Texas side. That became especially true following the opening of Interstate 30 in 1971. The area around I-30 gradually became the new focus of shopping and entertainment options, sending Downtown into a long, slow decline.
But there is new life Downtown and hopes for a brighter future for the Twin Cities’ traditional hub. Businesses have opened, loft conversions provide living space and the historic Grim Hotel is scheduled to be converted into apartments by the end of 2019.
Our two Texarkanas have adopted a number of slogans over the past 150 years. At one time the words “Gateway to the Southwest” greeted travelers on U.S. 67 as it became Broad Street. And of course everyone knows that Texarkana is “Twice as Nice.”
But one we seem to have forgotten comes from around the 1940s. In the booster spirit citizens were urged by signs painted on city buses to “Pull for Texarkana or Pull Out.” That still sounds good to us. It’s a reminder that though we are two cities in two states, divided by a thin line, we are one community. Working together, focusing on our common goals for the common good, we can make both Texarkanas a better place to live.
Founded in 1873 on the junction of two railroads, the city has always been a place on the go. Though railroad still plays a role in the local economy, Texarkana has become a nexus of freeway development. With upgrades coming to Texarkana Regional Airport and the Twin Cities’ being within driving distance of other airports, the ability to move things is great in the area.
“For years, the transportation network serving Texarkana has been an attraction to commercial development. Texarkana was built with a transportation backbone. Further development of I-49, I-69/369 and I-30 will establish Texarkana as a crossroads for personal and commercial traffic well into the future,” said Jerry Sparks, economic developer for Texarkana, Texas. “The nature of that growth will be determined by both market forces and the community, but realizing the opportunity that these transportation routes affords our community and taking advantage of it will be key to our continued success.”
“Red River Army Depot, our area’s largest employer, has served the men and women of the armed services in a wide variety of ways, its current mission being repair and support of many of the U.S. Army’s vehicles,” Sparks said. “Cooper Tire (& Rubber Co.) has an established reputation for building quality tires at the Texarkana, Ark., plant that get shipped worldwide. Locally owned manufacturers like Mayo, Ledwell, JCM and others have excellent reputations in their respective fields.”
In the future, he said, developing the area should involve building on its existing strengths, as well as building and refining new ones. “Transportationrelated industries are the heart of this area, and we should continue to capitalize upon this,” Sparks said. “Having lots of industries like this should bring related industries to us. Warehousing, distribution, traditional manufacturing and agricultural feature strongly in this region. With Texas A&M (University)-Texarkana growing, we will be able to attract more industry that is dependent upon the technical degrees available at the school.”
Workforce training, along with a friendly atmosphere, is important in drawing new businesses to the area, he said.
“Texarkana has also been a hub for healthcare, education and restaurant/ shopping experiences,” he said. We can continue to capitalize on these industries by focusing on workforce training, customer service and hospitality.”