Thursday Thirteen # 23 - 13 things about Bauxite Arkansas

Thirteen Things about where I live in Bauxite, Saline County, Arkansas.  A little over two years ago when we were looking at land for our mobile home we had no idea that we’d find ourselves in a small little town with so much history behind it.  Bauxite was a mining town back in the day.  Bauxite is located in Saline County east of Benton, between Bryant and Benton along Highway 183 on the banks of the North Fork Saline River near Hurricane Creek. Bauxite is part of the Central Arkansas area.  CASPR and Channel 11 reporter, Liz Massey, met at this historical building to investigate the rumors of a haunting upstairs in the old Masonic Lodge.  Today, it’s just a small town of old and young country folk working hard to provide for their families.  All that remains are the Community Center, the High School and decades of fond memories.  So, I’d like to share a little history of my new hometown with you.

1…Bauxite, Arkansas was known as the “Aluminum Capital of the World.”

2…The Bauxite Community Center was constructed in 1926 by the Aluminum Company of America.

3…In its peak, Bauxite was home to more than 7,000 people who lived and worked there to mine and refine bauxite ore, the raw material for aluminum.  Today, the population is approximately 435 people.  There are probably more people buried in the cemeteries in Bauxite than there are people that are alive and well.

4…There was no police department or jail.  At one time, the police was the Alcoa police.  Alcoa is the plant that produced aluminum.

5…In the 1950’s and 1960’s, the houses and businesses were removed.

6…In 1968, hundreds of people stopped by the Bauxite Post Office to pick up their mail.

7…Bauxite ceased to exist as of June 30, 1969 but not to the United States Postal Service.

8…When the Bauxite Post Office first opened, there was no such thing as zip codes.  The old post office closed in the Spring of 1999.  The new post office is in Highway 183 across from the site of the old Rock Island Train Depot (just a few blocks away from the old one.)

9…In the 1970’s and 1980’s, only a small area was strip mined.

10.Mining is complete, land has been beautifully reclaimed, but the town is gone forever.

11.Dr. Gordon Scott Bachus wrote a book about Bauxite called A Written and Pictorial History of Bauxite.  It is available at the Bauxite Museum.  The Museum is located at 6706 Benton Road in Bauxite.  The phone number is (501) 557-2997.

12.The Museum is staffed by volunteers and is located in the Community Center.  It is open to the public every Wednesday from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. and on Sunday from 1:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.

13.The annual Bauxite Reunion is held in May on the Saturday before Memorial Day at the Community Hall beginning at 1:00 p.m.

*Some information taken from this website.

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