Welcome to the Encyclopedia of Arkansas

This Day in Arkansas History

May 26, 1890

Ted Richmond, who established the Wilderness Library on Mount Sherman in Newton County, was born in Ogallala, Nebraska. His career as a journalist led him to the Arkansas Ozarks. Realizing that people of the area had few resources for reading material, he appealed through letters for donations of books and magazines, which he carried by backpack to his Wildcat Cabin to establish what he called the Wilderness Library. He ran the library for twenty-five years. In 1956, Richmond left his library forever, and seemingly never returned to his beloved Ozark hills again. To this day, stories abound regarding his sudden disappearance. Richmond died in Texarkana, Texas, on December 3, 1975, where he is buried.

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About the Encyclopedia

The CALS Encyclopedia of Arkansas is a free, authoritative source of information about the rich history, geography, and culture of Arkansas. It is updated regularly to ensure the people of Arkansas have an accurate and accessible resource to explore our heritage. We invite you to browse our text entries and media galleries to learn more about the people, places, events, legends, and lore of the 25th state. We are continually adding new entries, photographs, maps, videos, and audio files, so check back frequently to see what’s new.

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Our overview page covers everything you would want to know about our beautiful state, including state symbols, demographics and more!

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