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WILSON, ARKANSAS |
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Wilson is a city in Mississippi County, Arkansas, United States.
The community is located in the Arkansas Delta and is surrounded by
fertile cropland historically used to produce cotton. Wilson started as
a company town in 1886 by Robert E. Lee Wilson, who would build a cotton
empire and run it from the city. The Wilson Company would become so
successful that all of the town's buildings were rebuilt in Tudor
Revival architectural style following Wilson's son's honeymoon to
England in 1925. Wilson did not incorporate until 1959. Lee Wilson and
Company remained in the Wilson family until 2010.[3] The community has
seen a rapid decline in economic activity and population since the
advent of mechanization on the farm, reducing the need for manual labor
to produce cotton. The population was 903 at the 2010 census. The town
is incorporated and does not have an owner.
Wilson started as a company town for Robert E. Lee Wilson's
nearby logging and sawmill operation founded in 1886. The village
prospered when Wilson decided to use the cleared land for agriculture
instead of selling it after logging. In 1900, a major archaeological
find occurred near Wilson when James K. Hampson discovered the Island 35
Mastodon.[4] All residents of Wilson except the postmaster and railroad
employees had access to company doctors for $1.25 annually ($19.13 in
2019 dollars), a rarity in the poverty-stricken Arkansas delta.[5] The
company also employed people to work in Wilson's basic service
industries, such as dry cleaning and automobile repair, keeping the
standard of living high.[6] Tudor-inspired post office, 2010
After Wilson's son, Wilson Jr., and his wife returned from their
England honeymoon enthralled with the Tudor style in 1925, all
subsequent public buildings were built with Tudor architecture,
including retrofits to all existing public structures.[5] The town
incorporated in 1959, selling the houses to the renters living in them
and gaining access to tax income it was previously excluded from as a
company entity.[7] As technology advanced on the farm, fewer employees
were needed and many moved from Wilson to seek other employment.
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