Reform (Saline County)

Reform is an unincorporated rural community in Holland Township of Saline County, located in the Ouachita Mountains near the intersection of Buffalo Road and Reform Road; it is approximately six miles west of Paron (Saline County) and a mile southwest of the spillway of Lake Winona. The community takes its name from a group of community-minded citizens who wanted to bring reforms to their isolated community in the late 1800s.

Early settlers moving into this area found a rugged mountain wilderness nestled in the Alum Fork area of the Saline River. No roads existed except narrow pathways carved solely by settlers as they migrated into the area. Most created subsistence farms, supplemented by trapping and hunting, with no industry of any significance in the area until after the 1880s.

Early settlers of the area included members of the Henslee, Taylor, and Greene families. During the Civil War, neighbors served on opposing sides. Afterward, survivors returned to their previous lifestyle of farming with little to no industry other than local efforts of a few individuals. By the 1880s, the forests of the region were the site of logging and lumber production to meet the high demand in Little Rock (Pulaski County) and other populated areas. Logging and sawmill operations dominated into the 1930s and the outbreak of World War II. Additionally, during the Great Depression, many locals were employed in New Deal programs such as the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) and Public Works Administration (PWA), providing labor for the construction of roads, bridges, and Paron School, as well as Lake Winona to supply water for Little Rock and North Little Rock (Pulaski County). The building of the lake required the relocation of several families of the Walnut Bottom community as well as their cemetery to the immediate vicinity of Reform.

The town’s name originated with the first established post office in the neighborhood in the 1880s. A group of leading settlers consisting of J. P. Taylor, W. H. Taylor, Billy Taylor, Eli Cole, Doc Chastain, A. J. Dyer, Turner Garrett, D. Dyer, and Alvie Howard petitioned the county for the name Reform out of a desire to lift the standards of home and community along many lines of progress. Local ministers such as Martin Greene, Joseph Taylor, George DuVall, and Joe Donham played a crucial role in these efforts. Community and faith leaders pushed for road building and better schools; conservation of woodlands, wildlife, and game and fish; and promotion of higher moral standards of living. Many of the goals became realities during the New Deal programs during the Great Depression.

After World War II, the timber and lumber industry dominated the region, providing jobs for residents and improved infrastructure to facilitate this important industry. Although farming was the primary activity for locals, the log camps, sawmills, and short line railroad construction helped sustain the population into the late twentieth century. Improved roadways also allowed citizens to seek employment in the cities of Little Rock, Perryville (Perry County), Benton (Saline County), and Hot Springs (Garland County).

The social life of the community revolved around the local churches and Paron School until the twenty-first century. The Walnut Bottom Church located at Reform provided services initially, and by the twenty-first century, the active churches in the area were the Buffalo Church, North Fork Missionary Baptist Church, and Unity Landmark Church. Paron Public School consolidated with the Bryant School District in 2004, with buildings of the Paron School transformed into the substance rehabilitation facility Peake State Recovery.

In the twenty-first century, stock raising and timber are still prevalent, while some citizens find employment in nearby cities.

For additional information:
Benton Courier, Centennial Number, 1937.

“Reform.” Benton Courier, December 29, 1932, p. 3.

“Saline County Atlas.” The Saline 5 (September 1990): 114–115.

Anthony Rushing
Benton, Arkansas