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
Region
Downtown Shreveport, Louisiana in 2014
Downtown Tyler, Texas skyline in 2012
Broad Street Texarkana, Arkansas in 2016
Country United States
State Arkansas
 Louisiana
 Oklahoma
 Texas
Principal cities
Population
 (2010)
 • Total1,043,570
Time zoneUTC−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
CityParishPopulation
ArcadiaBienville2,919
BlanchardCaddo2,899
Bossier CityBossier62,745
EastwoodBossier4,093
GramblingLincoln4,949
GreenwoodCaddo3,219
HaughtonBossier3,454
HomerClaiborne3,237
JonesboroJackson4,704
MansfieldDeSoto5,001
ManySabine2,853
MindenWebster13,082
NatchitochesNatchitoches18,323
Red ChuteBossier6,261
RustonLincoln21,859
ShreveportCaddo, Bossier200,975
SpringhillWebster5,279
VivianCaddo3,671
WinnfieldWinn4,840

Texas
CityCountyPopulation
AtlantaCass5,675
AthensHenderson12,710
BonhamFannin10,127
CarthagePanola6,779
ClarksvilleRed River3,883
CrockettHouston7,141
DaingerfieldMorris2,560
GilmerUpshur4,905
GladewaterGregg, Upshur6,228
HallsvilleHarrison3,775
HendersonRusk13,712
HooksBowie2,769
JacksonvilleCherokee14,544
KilgoreGregg, Rusk12,975
LongviewGregg, Harrison80,455
LufkinAngelina35,067
MarshallHarrison23,523
Mount PleasantTitus15,564
Mount VernonFranklin2,662
NacogdochesNacogdoches32,996
New BostonBowie4,550
ParisLamar25,171
PittsburgCamp4,497
Sulphur SpringsHopkins15,449
TexarkanaBowie36,411
TylerSmith96,900
White OakGregg6,469

Arkansas
CityCountyPopulation
ArkadelphiaClark10,714
AshdownLittle River4,723
CamdenOuachita12,183
De QueenSevier6,629
El DoradoUnion18,491
HopeHempstead10,095
MagnoliaColumbia11,577
MenaPolk5,737
NashvilleHoward4,627
PrescottNevada3,868
TexarkanaMiller29,919

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
  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. "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.
  5. "KWKH Maps Big Build-Up on Hillbillies", Billboard, August 30, 1952, p. 19.
  6. "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.")

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