Ark-La-Tex
Ark-La-Tex | |
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The Ark-La-Tex (a portmanteau of Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas; also stylized as Arklatex or ArkLaTex) is a socio-economic
which flows along the Texas–Oklahoma state line into Southwestern Arkansas and Northwest Louisiana.The population estimate of the 40-county core region as of 2018 is 1,498,647 people, up from 1,043,570 in 2010.
The counties in the area's western section are largely part of the East Texas region (except for McCurtain County, Oklahoma, which is part of the Choctaw Country tourist region) and mainly encompass the Tyler–Longview–Lufkin–Nacogdoches television market area, while the counties and parishes in the eastern half of the region are included in the Shreveport–Texarkana television market. However, some Arkansas counties—under certain, looser definitions of the Ark-La-Tex region—in northwesternmost areas of the southwestern section of the state are included in the Little Rock viewing area.
Etymology
Although use of the term to refer to the tri-state region dates back to the early 1900s, the name "Ark-La-Tex" was popularized regionally by a Shreveport Chamber of Commerce promotional campaign developed in 1932–33 to increase tourism in the area.[4]
The campaign, dubbing the area as "The Land of Arklatex", was based on the idea that "the interests of all the people in the Tri-state area of South Arkansas, North Louisiana and East Texas are practically identical in matters pertaining to agriculture, industry, commerce and trade, and education." The region is alternatively, although seldom in most media and promotional parlance, referred to as "Arklatexoma", which more inclusively encompasses McCurtain County and other parts of extreme Southeastern Oklahoma that lie along the Red River.[5][6]
Geography
The Ark-La-Tex covers over 14,000 square miles (36,000 km2) across the four-state area;
The Red River is the principal
Definition
As with all vernacular regions, the Ark-La-Tex has no official boundaries or status and is defined differently by various sources.[1][8] Most definitions of the Ark-La-Tex delineate the region as encompassing 40 parishes and counties, and most weather radars suggest a 40-county or -parish area.[9][10]
Louisiana (13 parishes)
Arkansas (10 counties) |
Oklahoma (one county)Texas (16 counties) |
Alternate definitions can include eight additional Texas counties (Lamar, Delta, Hopkins, Franklin, Wood, Smith, Cherokee, and Angelina), include the Monroe, Louisiana metropolitan area and Ouachita Parish, Louisiana (which is considered part of the Ark-La-Miss region), exclude the counties encompassing the El Dorado, Arkansas micropolitan area, or exclude McCurtain County, Oklahoma. McCurtain County is usually included in the region's areal definition, primarily for media distribution purposes, even though the Oklahoma Department of Tourism and Recreation formally defines it as being part of its Choctaw Country tourism region.[11] Another alternate definition is solely the vicinity of the Ark-La-Tex region's three principal cities, Shreveport, Longview, and Texarkana.
Climate
The Ark-La-Tex is situated in a humid subtropical climate (Köppen climate classification Cfa) typical of the Southeastern United States, albeit occasionally interrupted by intrusions of cold air during the winter months. Rainfall is abundant, with the normal annual precipitation averaging over 51 inches (1.3 m) in some areas (such as Shreveport), with monthly averages ranging from less than three inches (76 mm) in August to more than five inches (130 mm) in June. Portions of East Texas within the region receive more rainfall, 35 to 60 inches (890 to 1,520 mm), than the rest of the state.[12] Due to the flat topography of some areas and the prominence of smaller waterways that are prone to backwater flooding from the Red River, communities occasionally experience severe flooding events. A notable occurrence of severe flooding occurred in March 2016, after torrential rains caused a rapid rise of many local waterways, displacing upwards of 3,500 people from their homes across Caddo and Bossier parishes and adjacent areas of Northwest Louisiana that lie along the Red River.[13][14] Freezing rain and ice storms occasionally occur during the winter months.
Severe thunderstorms with heavy rain, hail, damaging winds and tornadoes occur in the area during the spring and summer months, although severe weather can also occur during the winter months. The region is in the western section of the "Dixie Alley" tornado climatology region, where tornadogenesis is most often attributed by high precipitation supercell thunderstorms—within which tornadoes are often partially or fully wrapped in curtains of heavy rain, impairing them from being seen by storm spotters and chasers, law enforcement, and the public—due to an increase of moisture from proximity to the nearby Gulf of Mexico. Some areas of the region, such as Bossier City, average a slightly above normal rate of tornadoes when compared to the national average. The winter months are normally mild; Shreveport, in particular, averages 35 days of freezing or below-freezing temperatures per year. Ice and sleet storms occasionally occur during this timeframe. The summer months are hot and humid, with high to very high relative average humidity, often as a result of moisture being advected from the Gulf of Mexico; in Shreveport, maximum temperatures exceed 90 °F (32 °C) an average of 91 days per year.
The National Weather Service (NWS) operates a Weather Forecast Office in Shreveport, which provides local weather forecasts and warnings, watches and advisories for hazardous weather conditions for 39 counties and parishes within the greater Ark-La-Tex region.
Communities
Largest cities
List of cities with over 3,500 people:
Metropolitan and micropolitan areas
Metropolitan statistical areas
MSA | Primary city/cities | State(s) | Counties or parishes |
Total area | Population (2019)[15] |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Shreveport–Bossier City metropolitan area | Shreveport Bossier City Mansfield |
Louisiana | Bossier Caddo DeSoto |
2,699 sq mi (6,990 km2) | 394,706 |
Greater Longview metropolitan area | Longview | Texas | Gregg Rusk Upshur |
1,807 sq mi (4,680 km2) | 286,657 |
Greater Texarkana metropolitan area | Texarkana, AR Texarkana, TX |
Texas Arkansas |
Bowie, TX Miller, AR |
1,560.48 sq mi (4,041.6 km2) | 151,675 |
Micropolitan statistical areas
μSA | Primary city/cities | State(s) | Counties or parishes |
Total area | Population (2010) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Natchitoches, LA Micropolitan Statistical Area | Natchitoches | Louisiana | Natchitoches | 1,299 sq mi (3,360 km2) | 39,566 |
Ruston, LA Micropolitan Statistical Area | Ruston Grambling |
Louisiana | Lincoln | 472 sq mi (1,220 km2) | 46,735 |
Nacogdoches, TX Micropolitan Statistical Area | Nacogdoches | Texas | Nacogdoches | 981 sq mi (2,540 km2) | 64,524 |
Marshall, TX Micropolitan Statistical Area | Marshall | Texas | Harrison | 916 sq mi (2,370 km2) | 65,631 |
Mount Pleasant, TX Micropolitan Statistical Area | Mount Pleasant | Texas | Titus | 426 sq mi (1,100 km2) | 32,334 |
Magnolia, AR Micropolitan Statistical Area | Magnolia | Arkansas | Columbia | 767 sq mi (1,990 km2) | 24,552 |
Hope, AR Micropolitan Statistical Area | Hope | Arkansas | Hempstead Nevada |
1,362 sq mi (3,530 km2) | 31,606 |
El Dorado, AR Micropolitan Statistical Area | El Dorado | Arkansas | Union | 1,055 sq mi (2,730 km2) | 41,639 |
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
Education
Colleges and universities
The region contains
The Shreveport–Bossier City area is home to several colleges; among them, the
The Texarkana metropolitan area is home to
The area also houses several
Media
Newspapers
- Athens Daily Review – Athens (Daily, except Sundays and Mondays)
- Bossier Press-Tribune – Bossier City (Bi-weekly)
- The Daily Sentinel – Nacogdoches (Daily/Morning)
- Longview News-Journal – Longview (Daily)
- Lufkin Daily News– Lufkin (Daily)
- Marshall News Messenger– Marshall (Daily/Morning)
- McCurtain County Gazette – Idabel (Daily/Morning)
- Natchitoches Times – Natchitoches (Daily/Morning)
- Ruston Daily Leader – Ruston (Daily, except Saturdays)
- Texarkana Gazette – Texarkana, AR (Daily/Morning)
- The Times– Shreveport (Daily/Morning)
- Tyler Morning Telegraph – Tyler (Daily/Morning)
TV
Shreveport/Texarkana (Northwest Louisiana and Southwest Arkansas)
|
Tyler/Lufkin (East Texas)
|
Radio
AM stations
Arkansas
Louisiana
|
Texas
Oklahoma
|
FM stations
Arkansas
Louisiana
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Texas
|
Oklahoma |
Transportation
Airports
General and limited commercial aviation is additionally available at several smaller airfields in the Ark-La-Tex;
Major highways
The Ark-La-Tex is an integral point on the United States Interstate Network, with three major interstate highways—Interstate 20, Interstate 30, and Interstate 49—servicing the region, connecting five of the region's largest cities, Tyler, Longview, Marshall, Shreveport and Bossier City. Interstates 20 and 49—the latter of which has its northern terminus at the intersection of the former of the two Interstates—bisect Shreveport, intersecting with I-220 and LA Highway 3132 (which both serve as bypass routes connecting the northern and southern parts of Shreveport) on the city's west side, with U.S. 171 in downtown Shreveport, and with I-220 in central Bossier Parish (north of Barksdale Air Force Base, at which point it begins sharing an overlap with U.S. 71 as it traverses eastward towards Monroe).
The region is a point within the planned extension of the otherwise presently disjointed
Interstates
U.S. Routes |
Texas highwaysState highways
State highway loops
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Louisiana state highways
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Arkansas state highways
Oklahoma state highways |
River transportation
Notable people
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Notes
- ^ The population of the Ark-La-Tex is estimated by tallying the population of the major cities and metropolitan statistical areas within the socio-economic tri-state region.
References
- ^ a b c Campbell, Courtney (2020-03-09). "Visit Texas, Arkansas and Louisiana at the Same Time at This Roadside Marker". Wide Open Country. Retrieved 2020-08-29.
- ^ News-Journal, Longview (27 January 2019). "Editorial: Dallas Fed report makes clear Tyler-Longview a force to be reckoned with". Longview News-Journal. Retrieved 2020-03-21.
- ^ "At the Heart of Texas: Tyler–Longview". www.dallasfed.org. Retrieved 2020-08-29.
- ^ "The Times from Shreveport, Louisiana on September 24, 1932 · Page 2". Newspapers.com. 24 September 1932. Retrieved 2020-08-29.
- .
- ^ "S'PORT C. OF C. TO LAUNCH AD CAMPAIGN SOON". Ruston Daily Leader. September 29, 1932. p. 1.
- ^ "Calculate Area on Map, Google Maps Area Calculator". CalcMaps. Retrieved 2020-08-20.
- ^ "About". ArkLaTex News. Retrieved 2020-08-29.
- ^ KTBS. "KTBS Mega 3 Radar". KTBS. Retrieved 2020-08-29.
- ^ "Interactive Radar". ArkLaTexHomepage. 2019-06-12. Retrieved 2020-08-29.
- ^ "Oklahoma Map". TravelOK.com - Oklahoma's Official Travel & Tourism Site. Retrieved 2020-08-29.
- ^ "Weather". Handbook of Texas. Retrieved on September 28, 2009
- ^ Vagell, Quincy; Dolce, Chris; Erdman, Jon. "Over 23 Inches of Rain Triggers Historic Flash Flooding, River Flooding In Parts of the South". Retrieved 11 March 2016.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Flooding, evacuations continue in Caddo and Bossier parishes". shreveporttimes.com. Retrieved 2016-06-13.
- ^ Bureau, US Census. "Metropolitan and Micropolitan Statistical Areas Totals: 2010-2019". The United States Census Bureau. Retrieved 2020-08-29.
- 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.
- .
- .
- ^ "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.")
- ^ "In Memory of Wilfred Roy Cousins". Journal of the Senate of the State of Texas, First and Second Called Sessions of the Seventieth Legislature, Volume 4, Legislative Document, 1987: 310. 1987.
- ^ Revised laws of Louisiana. F. F. Hansell. 1897. p. 345. Retrieved January 15, 2020 – via Google Books.
- ^ "Henderson State University – Encyclopedia of Arkansas". Encyclopedia of Arkansas. Retrieved January 15, 2020.
- ^ Walkenhorst, Emily (October 25, 2019). "HSU trustees OK beginning merger with ASU System". Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Retrieved January 15, 2020.
- ^ "Wiley College (1873- ) - The Black Past: Remembered and Reclaimed". The Black Past. 20 November 2007. Retrieved January 15, 2020.
- ^ Staff. "I-69, SIU 15 Project Site". Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development. Archived from the original on August 30, 2007. Retrieved August 31, 2007.
- ^ Staff. "Interstate 69 Shreveport to El Dorado". Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department and Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development. Archived from the original on March 20, 2003. Retrieved August 31, 2007.
- ^ "About the Port". The Port of Caddo-Bossier. Retrieved January 15, 2020.