Paron (Saline County)

Paron is an unincorporated community in Holland Township of Saline County located approximately seventeen miles north of Benton (Saline County) and thirty miles west of Little Rock (Pulaski County). Its exact location is along Arkansas State Highway 9, at the intersection with Kanis Road (Little Rock’s 12^th Street) in the Ouachita Mountains on the North Fork of the Saline River. Most native Saline County residents, however, consider Paron to be a widespread area, located anywhere west of the North Fork, north of the intersection of Arkansas State Highway 9 and 298, east of the Garland/Saline County line, and south of the Perry/Saline County line.

The earliest settlers of the 1820s and 1830s encountered a rugged wilderness area, where most residents farmed, hunted, trapped, and practiced subsistence farming. The mountains and cheap land attracted many, and by the 1850s and 1860s, numerous others settled in the area.

Settlers most associated with early history included those of the Brazil, Fowler, Holland, and Barron families. By 1828, Valentine Brazil was living in Union Township in the northern section of Saline County. Along with Moses, Moses Jr., Richard Sr., Richard Jr., Aaron, Alfred, Andrew J., and Robert Brazil, he was listed on the 1840 Saline County Census in Union Township. As the population grew, a post office was established in 1853 and was given the name “Brazils” in honor of the first postmaster, Moses Brazil, thereby giving that name to the small community.

Early settler Wylie B. Fowler moved from Perry County in 1844, establishing a farm in what would become Paron. The local cemetery is named Fowler Cemetery after the family, and his son Wylie Jr. became postmaster at Brazils in 1889.

By 1852, the family of William T. Holland settled in Union Township, which was later divided, with the northern portion named Holland Township in his honor.

Numerous men of these early families served in Saline County companies of the Arkansas militia. Their first duty was with the First Arkansas Mounted Gunmen during the 1836 Indian Wars protecting Arkansas’s western border, serving at Forts Towson, Gibson, and Coffee in Indian Territory. Later they served in Company I, First Arkansas Mounted Volunteers in the Mexican War in 1846–1847, fighting at the Battle of Buena Vista in Mexico on February 23, 1847. Sons of these pioneers fought during the Civil War, primarily in Saline County Confederate units, with some serving in Arkansas Union regiments as well.

The oldest structure still extant in the Paron community, the Barron-Craig House, is also the second-oldest log structure still standing in Saline County. It was built by John T. Barron in 1857, and Thomas Y. Craig bought the house and farm upon moving into Holland Township in 1876. Craig opened a general merchandise store that became a primary business in the 1880s. Due to this, the community came to be known as “Craigtown,” although it was never an official name or incorporated as such. The post office south of Craigtown was still known as Brazils and remained open until 1924. As the area grew, a new post office was established just north of Brazils and named Paron in 1909, giving its name to the small community as well as much of Holland Township.

After the Civil War and Reconstruction, the economy of the region settled back into farming, hunting, and trapping. However, the extensive lumber resources of the region were in demand in Little Rock, resulting in a huge timber industry for the region that has lasted into the twenty-first century. The timber boom fueled a growth in population, and numerous logging camps and sawmills provided jobs. A direct road into Little Rock, 12th Street/Kanis Road, linked the mountain community to the capital city, followed by railroad lines to haul lumber to Little Rock.

During the Great Depression of the 1930s and into the 1940s, the U.S. government’s Works Progress Administration (WPA), Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), and Public Works Administration (PWA) created jobs. Specific projects in the area centered around road and bridge construction and improvements, the building of the Paron School, and the large-scale construction of a new water source for Little Rock, Lake Winona. The U.S. Forest Service managed the huge forests of the region.

Church functions, Masonic lodge activities, dances, and events revolving around the local school were mainstays of social life. With few actual churches in the region, religious meetings were held by circuit-riding preachers of various denominations. A church was present as early as 1873 and called the Paron church with no distinction as to denomination. This is known due to the chartering of Paron Masonic Lodge No. 309 of Free and Accepted Masons on October 14, 1873, with meetings held in “the Paron church.” Lodge No. 309, the longest sustained community organization, remained in existence until 2016, when it merged with Congo Lodge No. 743.

In 1964, Camp Paron was established as a ministry of the Arkansas Baptist State Convention, providing space for camps, conferences, and retreats. Churches in twenty-first-century Paron are North Fork Missionary Baptist Church and Paron Church of Christ, with Buffalo Apostolic, Amazing Grace, and Smyrna churches in outlying areas.

From the 1900s into the 2000s, most social functions revolved around activities of the Paron school district. Activities centered on the popular Paron High School Lions basketball teams but also included school pageants, carnivals, and fundraising events. The district consolidated with Bryant Public Schools in 2004, closing its high school in 2006 and elementary in 2015.

In the twenty-first century, timber and farming are still the primary industries in Paron, but the community is experiencing population growth from the metropolitan and suburban areas nearby. Better accessibility and modern roads allow a quiet, rural environment coupled with the option to commute to jobs in Little Rock, Benton, and Hot Springs (Garland County).

For additional information:
“Barron-Craig House.” Arkansas Register of Historic Places. https://www.arkansasheritage.com/arkansas-historic-preservation-program (accessed October 24, 2024).

Benton Courier, Centennial Number, March 25, 1937.

Dunnahoo, Pat. “The Old Craig House in Saline County Holds a Wealth of Unusual State History.” Arkansas Gazette, July 14, 1968, p. 6E.

Goodspeed’s Biographies of Saline County, Arkansas. Saline County, Arkansas Genealogy. https://www.argenweb.net/saline/Goodspeed.html (accessed October 24, 2024).

Krueger, Marlo B. “Barron-Craig House, Paron, Arkansas.” The Saline 39 (Spring 2024): 39–47.