Pleasant Valley

Posted Tuesday, September 2, 2008, at 11:45 AM

"Another Pleasant Valley Sunday, Sunday.

You're in status symbol land."

-- Pleasant Valley Sunday

The Monkees

History can be fascinating, particularly to someone like me whose family history can be traced back in the state and nation for centuries.

So I am somewhat chagrined to say that at the tail end of August when I saw workers putting up signage for Pleasant Valley just west of Berryville, I did not know what was going on.

Had a new community incorporated and gone under my journalist's radar?

Taking place over the Labor Day weekend, it took a while for me to learn the answer to that question, which, incidentally, was "no." But it started me to thinking.

Back when I worked for the Northwest Arkansas Morning News, the community of Little Flock incorporated to prevent the growing towns of Bentonville, Rogers and Pea Ridge from taking it in to their city limits.

With one of the Pleasant Valley signs located at the western city limits of Berryville, I wondered it the same situation existed for Pleasant Valley.

Then again, perhaps it was like my old hometown of Highfill, which was once incorporated, but let the incorporation lapse due to lack of anybody filing to run for mayor and council, only to be resurrected again in the 1960s. Now it is a growing community, expanding its city limits and including the Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport.

I just didn't know.

It turns out that neither scenario is exactly right. Yes, Pleasant Valley is a historic reality. No, it is not an incorporated town.

It seems the closest thing to the meaning of the signs is that they are a type of historic marker. Official state maps still show a region marked as Pleasant Valley, so the highway commission put up the signage at the request of a resident.

As for incorporation, it may be too late. Being so close to Berryville, probably a large portion of the historic community is already part of the City of Berryville.

Still, its good to know that Pleasant Valley exists, if only as a place name, in the 21st Century.

Comments
Showing comments in chronological order
[Show most recent comments first]

Hit it right on the nose!! The Pleasant Valley sign is an official historical marker of sorts. Like Maple, Pleasant Valley still exists on MapQuest as well as most other internet mapping sites. The sign, without population number, designates an unincorporated community. At one point, Pleasant Valley had a school and does have a cemetary, but it is not marked. It is interesting to note that if a community no longer appears on an official county map, the AHTD will not put up a sign. So much for places like Springlawn, Kirtley, or Thompsonville. They dropped off the map once Carroll County entered the 20th century. However, there is still hope for Cabanal, Gobbler, and Pleasant Ridge, and High. Dean could use a sign as well but the highway department still has Dean named as Omega.

-- Posted by kingtuna57 on Wed, Sep 17, 2008, at 1:22 AM

Two Cents' Worth

E. Alan Long

- Recent posts
- Archives
- Blog RSS feed

- Comments RSS feed

- Login

I've been in journalism actively since 1974, with my first letter to the editor published in 1959. I'm a rarity, being a native Northwest Arkansawer with roots in these hills dating back to 1834. "Two cents' worth" traditionally means "to contribute one's opinion and dates from the late 19th Century. It is apparently related to the days when postage was two cents, which in the U.S. was between 1883 and 1932, with the exception of a brief period during World War II. In recent decades it has obtained a secondary definition, "of little value," and indicating the writer's modesty about the value of one's contribution.

Hot topics

The winter of '68
(1 ~ 3:58 PM, Dec 3)

Never underestimate ...
(0 ~ 3:16 PM, May 13)

An apology as life goes on
(0 ~ 1:13 PM, Mar 31)

A new judge
(0 ~ 11:28 AM, Mar 31)

Genealogy for fun, if not profit
(2 ~ 10:19 PM, Mar 5)