Ark-La-Tex
The Ark-La-Tex region (a portmanteau of Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas; also stylized as Arklatex, ArkLaTex) is a U.S. socio-economic region where the three Southern states of Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas abut. The region contains portions of Northwest Louisiana, Northeast Texas, and South Arkansas. The largest city and center of the region is Shreveport, Louisiana. Other major cities in the Ark-La-Tex include Tyler, Texas; Longview, Texas; Marshall, Texas; and Texarkana.
Ark-La-Tex | |
---|---|
Downtown Shreveport, Louisiana in 2014 | |
Downtown Tyler, Texas skyline in 2012 | |
Broad Street Texarkana, Arkansas in 2016 | |
Country | |
State | |
Principal cities | |
Population (2010) | |
• Total | 1,043,570 |
Time zone | UTC−6 (CST) |
• Summer (DST) | UTC−5 (CDT) |
Area code(s) | 318, 430 and 903, 870, 580 |
Most of the Ark-La-Tex is located in the Piney Woods, an ecoregion of dense forests of mixed deciduous and conifer flora. The forests are periodically punctuated by sloughs and bayous that are linked to larger bodies of water such as Caddo Lake or the Red River. The Ark-La-Tex covers roughly 46,500 square miles (120,000 km2) with an estimated 2010 population of 1,043,570.
Origin of the term
According to one source, the name "Ark-La-Tex" was first promoted for the region by a Shreveport Chamber of Commerce campaign in 1932-33.[1]
Communities
Largest cities
List of cities over 2,500 people:
Louisiana
City | Parish | Population |
---|---|---|
Arcadia | Bienville | 2,919 |
Blanchard | Caddo | 2,899 |
Bossier City | Bossier | 62,745 |
Eastwood | Bossier | 4,093 |
Grambling | Lincoln | 4,949 |
Greenwood | Caddo | 3,219 |
Haughton | Bossier | 3,454 |
Homer | Claiborne | 3,237 |
Jonesboro | Jackson | 4,704 |
Mansfield | DeSoto | 5,001 |
Many | Sabine | 2,853 |
Minden | Webster | 13,082 |
Natchitoches | Natchitoches | 18,323 |
Red Chute | Bossier | 6,261 |
Ruston | Lincoln | 21,859 |
Shreveport | Caddo, Bossier | 200,975 |
Springhill | Webster | 5,279 |
Vivian | Caddo | 3,671 |
Winnfield | Winn | 4,840 |
Texas
City | County | Population |
---|---|---|
Atlanta | Cass | 5,675 |
Athens | Henderson | 12,710 |
Bonham | Fannin | 10,127 |
Carthage | Panola | 6,779 |
Clarksville | Red River | 3,883 |
Crockett | Houston | 7,141 |
Daingerfield | Morris | 2,560 |
Gilmer | Upshur | 4,905 |
Gladewater | Gregg, Upshur | 6,228 |
Hallsville | Harrison | 3,775 |
Henderson | Rusk | 13,712 |
Hooks | Bowie | 2,769 |
Jacksonville | Cherokee | 14,544 |
Kilgore | Gregg, Rusk | 12,975 |
Longview | Gregg, Harrison | 80,455 |
Lufkin | Angelina | 35,067 |
Marshall | Harrison | 23,523 |
Mount Pleasant | Titus | 15,564 |
Mount Vernon | Franklin | 2,662 |
Nacogdoches | Nacogdoches | 32,996 |
New Boston | Bowie | 4,550 |
Paris | Lamar | 25,171 |
Pittsburg | Camp | 4,497 |
Sulphur Springs | Hopkins | 15,449 |
Texarkana | Bowie | 36,411 |
Tyler | Smith | 96,900 |
White Oak | Gregg | 6,469 |
Culture
The culture of the Ark-La-Tex region, and especially its music, shows a mixture of influences from the related, but distinct, cultures of its surrounding states. The music of the area is marked by country and blues sounds typical of the music of the Southern United States, the Western music of Texas, and the well-documented music of New Orleans and Acadiana in Louisiana.[2] The area had a significant role in the development of country and rock and roll music beginning in the 1940s. On March 1, 1948, Shreveport radio station KWKH launched a country music variety show called the Ark-La-Tex Jubilee, followed a month later by the long-running and influential Louisiana Hayride program.[3] Hayride director Horace Logan and regular performer Webb Pierce started a music publishing company called Ark-La-Tex Music.[4][5]
Drummer Brian Blade, a Shreveport native, included a song entitled "Ark.La.Tex." on his 2014 album Landmarks, exploring the mixture of musical influences in his home region.[6]
Media
TV
- KLTV - Tyler (ABC affiliate)
- KYTX - Nacogdoches (CBS affiliate)
- KFXK - Longview (Fox affiliate)
- KCEB - Longview (Me-TV affiliate)
- KETK - Jacksonville (NBC affiliate)
- KTRE - Lufkin (ABC affiliate)
- KTAL - Texarkana/Shreveport (NBC affiliate)
- KMSS - Shreveport (Fox affiliate)
- KSHV - Shreveport (MyNetworkTV affiliate)
- KPXJ - Shreveport (CW affiliate)
- KSLA - Shreveport (CBS affiliate)
- KTBS - Shreveport (ABC affiliate)
- KLTS-Shreveport (PBS affiliate)
- AETN - Arkadelphia/El Dorado (PBS affiliate)
- KTVE - El Dorado (NBC affiliate)
Radio
- 93.7 KXKS-FM - Kiss Country - "#1 For New Country"
- 94.5 KRUF-FM - K945 - "#1 Hit Music Channel"
- 95.7 KLKL-FM - The Greatest Hits of All Time
- 96.5 KVKI-FM - AC - "Shreveport-Bossier's Best Variety While You Work"
- 97.3 KQHN-FM - Today's Best Music - "Q 97.3"
- 98.1 KTAL-FM - Rock - "98 Rocks"
- 98.9 KTUX-FM - Rock - "Highway 98.9"
- 99.7 KMJJ-FM - R&B - "The BIG Station"
- 100.7 K264AS (KRMD-AM) - Sports Talk Live - "The Ticket"
- 101.1 KRMD-FM - Country - "You, Me and KRMD"
- 101.7 K2689GO - (KEEL-AM) - News/Talk
- 102.9 KVMA-FM - Smooth R&B - Magic 102.9 - "Shreveport's Classic Soul Station"
Notable people
References
- Bonnye E. Stuart, Louisiana Curiosities: Quirky Characters, Roadside Oddities & Other Offbeat Stuff (Globe Pequot, 2012), ISBN 978-0762769773, pp. 5-7. Excerpts available at Google Books.
- See generally Kip Lornell and Tracey E. W. Laird, eds., Shreveport Sounds in Black and White (University Press of Mississippi, 2008), ISBN 978-1934110423, and in particular the introductory section entitled "The 'Ark-La-Tex' and Music Research" at pp. xii-xvii. Excerpts available at Google Books; other excerpts also available at Amazon.com here.
- Tracey E. W. Laird, Louisiana Hayride : Radio and Roots Music along the Red River: Radio and Roots Music along the Red River (Oxford University Press, 2004), ISBN 978-0195347180, p. 6. Excerpts available at Google Books.
- "Webb Pierce" in Michael Erlewine, ed., All Music Guide to Country: The Experts' Guide to the Best Recordings in Country Music ( Hal Leonard Corporation, 1997), ISBN 978-0879304751, p. 364. Excerpts available at Google Books.
- "KWKH Maps Big Build-Up on Hillbillies", Billboard, August 30, 1952, p. 19.
- "Brian Blade Finds A 'Landmark' In His Shreveport Roots", Weekend Edition, April 27, 2014.("... my depiction musically of this region where we live, you know, where Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas meet here at the northwestern corner of Louisiana. I guess in terms of the structure of the song - these sort of three different moods - it unfolds in this very small way - these seeds. Then all of a sudden, you cross a line and the landscape changes immediately.")