Lake Dick, Arkansas Explained

Official Name:Lake Dick, Arkansas
Pushpin Map:Arkansas#USA
Pushpin Label:Lake Dick
Pushpin Label Position:left
Subdivision Type:Country
Subdivision Name:United States
Subdivision Type1:State
Subdivision Name1:Arkansas
Subdivision Type2:County
Subdivision Name2:Jefferson
Unit Pref:US
Timezone:Central (CST)
Utc Offset:-6
Timezone Dst:CDT
Utc Offset Dst:-5
Elevation Ft:203
Coordinates:34.2508°N -91.8394°W
Area Code:870
Blank Name:GNIS feature ID
Blank Info:77430

Lake Dick is an unincorporated community in Jefferson County, Arkansas, United States. Lake Dick is northeast of Pine Bluff and south of Altheimer.

The Resettlement Administration, a New Deal program which supported farming projects, established the community on the shore of Lake Dick in 1936. The administration built the community's buildings in the next two years and relocated 80 farming families from throughout Arkansas to the community. Unlike most Resettlement Administration farming communities, which divided farmland among their residents, Lake Dick was a cooperative farming project; families jointly participated in producing crops on community farmland according to a work schedule. Roughly one-third of the community's original buildings are still in place; most of the others, particularly the houses, have been relocated to other nearby settlements.[1]

The community was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1975.

Education

It is a part of the Pine Bluff School District.[2] The schools serving Lake Dick are Park/Greenville School for preschool, James Matthews Elementary School, Robert F. Morehead Middle School, and Dollarway High School.

Lake Dick was previously in the Altheimer School District.[3] The Altheimer-Sherrill district was created in 1979 when the Altheimer and Sherrill districts merged.[4] In 1993,[5] that merged into the Altheimer Unified School District (operator of Altheimer-Sherrill High School).[6] [7] This district merged into the Dollarway district on July 10, 2006.[8] Altheimer-Sherrill High closed in 2007, with students moved to Dollarway High.[9] Altheimer Martin Elementary School closed in 2013.[10]

In December 2020 the Arkansas State Board of Education ruled that the Dollarway School District should merge into the Pine Bluff School District as of July 1, 2021; the post-merger school district operated all existing schools from both districts.[11] Accordingly, the attendance boundary maps of the respective schools remained the same for the 2021–2022 school year, and all DSD territory became a part of the PBSD territory.[12] The exception was with the pre-kindergarten levels, as all PBSD areas are now assigned to Forrest Park/Greenville School, including the territory from the former Dollarway district.[13] In 2023 the district announced that Dollarway High would merge into Pine Bluff High School, and that Morehead Middle School would become the only middle school for all of the Pine Bluff School District.[14]

See also

Further reading


Notes and References

  1. Web site: Kirk. Dianna. National Register of Historic Places Inventory - Nomination Form: Lake Dick. National Park Service. June 4, 2014. September 10, 1974.
  2. Web site: 2020 CENSUS - SCHOOL DISTRICT REFERENCE MAP: Jefferson County, AR. U.S. Census Bureau. June 29, 2021. - The map shows Dollarway School District as not yet merged into Pine Bluff School District; the merger occurred on July 1, 2021.
  3. Web site: Arkansas Department of Education school district maps, 1952-1954 Jefferson County, 1952-1954. Arkansas Digital Archives. Arkansas State Archives. (Download) - See dot for Lake Dick.
  4. Web site: Goatcher. Truett. School District Consolidation Will Save Millions of Dollars: Fact of Myth?. Arkansas Association of Educational Administrators. January 1999. 14 (PDF p. 17/27).
  5. "Altheimer Unified School District No. 22 Jefferson County, Arkansas General Purpose Financial Statements and Other Reports June 30, 2001." Legislative Joint Auditing Committee, Arkansas Legislature. Retrieved on August 2, 2017. page 3 (PDF p. 5/22).
  6. Web site: General Highway Map Jefferson County, Arkansas. Arkansas Department of Transportation. February 25, 2021. May 8, 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200508202700/http://www.arkansashighways.com/maps/Counties/County%20PDFs/JeffersonCounty.pdf. dead. - See Sweden on the map.
  7. "SCHOOL DISTRICT REFERENCE MAP (2010 CENSUS): Jefferson County, AR." U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved on July 31, 2017. Compare with the highway map. Note that the map indicates a separate boundary for Altheimer Unified schools, but the district already consolidated with the Dollarway School District in 2006.
  8. "ConsolidationAnnex_from_1983.xls ." Arkansas Department of Education. Retrieved on July 31, 2017.
  9. Web site: Colvin. Eplunus. Closing schools took life out of Altheimer, residents recall. Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. October 2, 2020. February 24, 2021.
  10. News: Hardy, Benjamin. School's out forever. Arkansas Times. July 28, 2016. July 31, 2017.
  11. Web site: Howell. Cynthia. State votes to combine Dollarway, Pine Bluff schools. Arkansas Democrat & Gazette. December 11, 2020. February 23, 2021.
  12. Web site: Annexation/Transition FAQ. Pine Bluff School District. February 23, 2021.
  13. Web site: Murrel. I. C.. Dollarway alumni honor district. Arkansas Democrat Gazette. June 28, 2021. July 4, 2021.
  14. Web site: Murrell. I. C.. Pine Bluff School District will consolidate junior, senior highs this fall. Arkansas Democrat Gazette. March 1, 2023. March 3, 2023.