"Preserving History, one memory at a time."

A Natural State Underdog: The Story of the 1973 Vaster Pirates

The 1986 film Hoosiers is the token basketball underdog story. A disgruntled coach who pushes his team to compete at a high level and ultimately win the Indiana state championship. Of course, this film was based on the true story of the Milan Indians of Milan, Indiana who made quite the Cinderella run back in 1954. Why bring up the cinematic masterpiece that was Hoosiers ? Because down in the southeastern corner of Arkansas, a similar storyline was developing. In 1973, the

A Town Built With Memories

Down in Ashley County, where the Mississippi River Delta meets the southern timberlands, lies a dried up little town on the brink of despair. Fountain Hill, Arkansas is but a small speck on a roadmap, and most likely more of a pass-through than a destination for most traveling on highway 425. However, it wasn’t always this way. The town used to thrive with an active community scene including stores, churches, a bank, eating joints, and even its own school district. While the

Welcome to a Glimpse of History

At the Arkansas School District Research Project, our mission is to preserve the memories that were made in many small schools across the state. We believe that a school is the center of the community, especially in rural settings and small towns. Over 200 communities have been affected by school closures in the past sixty years, resulting in loss of population, closures of businesses and the diminishing of the small town lifestyle. We collect stories and share them with you in order to shed light on a way of life that is no longer a reality for many. We hope that through these stories and pictures many of you who view this site will be able to relive your formative years in a positive sense. From mascots and school colors on a hardwood floor to the communities that thrived around these institutions, the lives lived and memories made in these schools and surrounding communities will not be forgotten.