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East End (Saline County)
East End is the largest unincorporated community in Saline County. Named for its geographical location in the eastern end of Saline County, it is home to a branch of the Saline County Library and historic locations such as Salem Cemetery and Marylake Monastery.
Some of the land in what is now East End belonged to Hiram B. Cole in the early 1800s. By the early 1840s, two of the Cole children were buried in Salem Cemetery on Arch Street. Later, two acres of land were given to the community to be used as a burial site. In 1865, Joseph Marion Haynes and his family moved to the area. In 1869, the Cole family gave the land to Salem Methodist Church, and they used the land until 1940, when the church transferred the title of the property to the first cemetery committee. There was a seven-member committee charged with the care of Salem Cemetery.
The community of East End was originally known as Slate or Craig’s Mill. A post office was established there in 1879 at Craig’s Mill and in 1888 at Slate. The Slate post office closed in 1916, after which mail was sent to Hensley (Pulaski County).
By the mid-1800s, the Tull brothers—Thomas, Samuel, and William—owned 460 acres near the present-day community of East End. In 1895, the brothers built a dam across Clear Creek to form a fifty-acre spring-fed lake. By 1902, the Tull brothers were operating a cotton gin, which ran on hydropower from the dam. The Tulls sold the property to William Baxley in 1906. Baxley built a grist mill that ground corn into meal for local farmers. In 1912, the dam broke, allowing the lake to drain and making the grist mill impossible to operate. Baxley abandoned the property, and in 1923, Circuit Judge Richard M. Mann bought it for $2,300. Judge Mann repaired the dam and delineated an area in the lake for swimming and built a clubhouse there. In 1925, he sold the property for $23,000 to the Al Amin Shrine Temple of Little Rock (Pulaski County).
In 1926, the Shriners laid the foundation for a stone castle on a hill to be used as a country club for members in Little Rock. The hundred-pound stones were hauled into Saline County from Pinnacle Mountain. After the stock market crash of 1929, the Shriners defaulted on their loan and sold the property to the notorious medical quack Dr. John R. Brinkley in 1937. Brinkley used the property as his hospital until he filed for bankruptcy, and his associate, Dr. H. D. Osborn, continued Brinkley’s work. Osborn also maintained the golf course, which in its day was the second largest in the state. The estate was taken over by Baptist Hospital and used as a convalescent home before it went up for sale again. It then became a Christian boys’ camp before being sold again to the Carmelites, who in 1952 founded Marylake Monastery.
About 1900, East Union moved its church building to its present location on Springlake Road. In 1934, Jack Hogue held a three-week-long tent revival near the present-day elementary school. From that revival sprouted another church, East End Baptist. Trinity Pentecostal Church on Springlake Road was founded by Luther Bradford in the late 1940s. Later, Lorance Drive Church of Christ, Springlake Church of the Nazarene, and East End Assembly of God were established in the area.
In around 1928, a new school was built on Arch Street Pike (Arkansas Highway 367). Walter Ball, a local storeowner, held a contest to name the school. The newly named East End School was formed after several smaller schools with names such as East Union, Duck Creek, Lone Star, Blunt, and Fairview were consolidated. The East End School District was accepted into the Sheridan School District in 1948.
Steel guitarist Zane Beck, who played with Elvis Presley in the 1950s, and bass guitar player Chuck Bailey built a small recording studio on Beck’s property. Eventually they found partners who helped them found Zane Beck Studios in the 1970s, located behind J&F Produce on Arch Street. After Zane Beck died in 1985, the studio changed names and owners several times. The building has been used by acts such as New Kids on the Block, Willie Nelson, Gennifer Flowers, and KATV meteorologist Ned Perme, who used it to record his song “Christmastime in Arkansas.” In 2018, the studio closed but was reopened as East End Sound in 2024 under the ownership of Travis Grigg.
By the 2000 federal census, the community of East End was home to 5,623 people. In March 2000, the Mayberry family founded local newspaper the East Ender. Their aim was to create a historical document that could be passed down from generation to generation.
On June 1, 2023, the Saline County Library announced that it was building its third branch in East End. Prior to that point, residents of East End had to get their library materials delivered to lockers at Sanders Ace Hardware. The new East End Branch opened on April 1, 2024, in a suite owned by the same company that owns Sanders Ace Hardware.
For additional information:
The East Ender: The Best of 2000–2005. N.p.: 2005.
“We are Expanding!!! East End Branch Coming Soon.” Saline County Library, June 1, 2023. https://www.salinecountylibrary.org/we-are-expanding-east-end-branch-coming-soon/ (accessed January 23, 2025).
Cody Lynn Berry
Benton, Arkansas
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