One Horse Store (Arkansas County)

One Horse Store is a small, unincorporated community in south-central Arkansas County, just west of Pecan Bayou, that derives its name from a store that existed there for seventy years.

Don Milliken, a native of Kentucky, had operated general stores in Arkansas County, first in Hagler and then in Bayou Meto, where he also served as postmaster. In 1926, Milliken built a store and a house at the intersection of Highways 11 and 276. After these were constructed, he is said to have told his wife, “Well, Mary, we have a new home and a store, but all we have left is one old horse.” The tale of this observation was much repeated, giving the store its memorable name.

Milliken later opened a second One Horse Store some five miles to the northwest, turning over management of the original store to his son, George. Milliken sold the original store in 1939 to relatives, who then sold it to Jim Orrick. Orrick ran the store for twenty-eight years, marketing the name with enough skill to prompt a story in the Pine Bluff Commercial and an article with photographs by Ernie Deane in the Arkansas Gazette. The Commercial’s photograph of the front of the store and featuring Orrick’s horse Candy as the “one horse” attained some fame and attracted more visitors.

The store eventually closed and was razed in February 1997. Remaining at the crossroads were two homes, some farm buildings, and the volunteer fire company’s shed. While the store is long gone, One Horse Store’s name remains as the title for the U.S. Geological Survey 1:24,000 quadrangle map for the area.

For additional information:
Deane, Ernie. “A Visit to a Real One-horse Store.” Arkansas Gazette, June 28, 1964, p. 5E.

U.S. Geological Survey. One Horse Store Quadrangle, Arkansas, 1972: 7.5 minute series (topographic). Washington DC: USGS, 1974.

West, Ellen. “The One-Horse Store.” Grand Prairie Historical Society Bulletin 40, nos. 3–4 (1997): 25–27.

Dan Boice
University of Arkansas at Monticello