Entry Type: Place - Starting with S

Shannon Hills (Saline County)

Shannon Hills is a city in northern Saline County, adjacent to the southern portions of Little Rock (Pulaski County). Incorporated in 1977, Shannon Hills is largely a bedroom community, with few businesses and no industry. The population of northern Saline County centered around communities such as Benton (Saline County) for much of the county’s history. The area that would become Shannon Hills remained unclaimed and undeveloped until after World War II. Around 1960, plans were announced to create a housing development at that location, and a dedication ceremony was held to mark the ground-breaking. Of the houses standing in Shannon Hills, almost none were built before 1960; roughly ten percent were built in the 1960s, thirty percent in the 1970s, few …

Sharp County

Sharp County, in northern Arkansas, was established in 1868. Though long known as a location for good hunting and timber, it has remained rather sparsely populated, though the resort town of Cherokee Village is one of the state’s leading retirement communities, and Hardy is a well-known tourist destination. Pre-European Exploration Local tradition holds that Wahpeton Hill in what is now Hardy was home at one time to Osage and Sioux . However, the Osage, though they likely hunted in the area, maintained no settlements, and the real Wahpeton Sioux lived farther north in South Dakota and Canada. Archaeological finds in the area do include a large variety of arrowheads, spear points, pottery, and handicrafts linked which give convincing proof of …

Shaw (Saline County)

Located six miles south of present-day Benton (Saline County) on Highway 35, the unincorporated community of Shaw is one of Saline County’s oldest settlements. Shaw’s northern boundary follows Highway 35 to Peacock Hill. Its eastern boundary takes in the original post office, named for French explorer Henri de Tonti. Its western boundary is a heavily wooded area adjoining the town of Haskell (Saline County). To the south, Shaw’s borders include some of northern Grant County. The founder of the community, Hiram M. Shaw, was born on December 24, 1805, in what was then Walker County, Georgia. In 1857, he and his wife, Elizabeth Arnold Shaw, moved their family to Arkansas, becoming some of the first white settlers in what is …

Sheridan (Grant County)

Sheridan, the county seat of rural Grant County, which lies approximately thirty-four miles south of Little Rock (Pulaski County), was named after Union general Philip Sheridan when the town was incorporated twenty-two years after the Civil War. Today, Sheridan is a growing community with expanding industries and one of the state’s largest school districts. Pre-European Exploration through European Exploration and Settlement The first inhabitants of Grant County are believed to have lived as early as circa 12,000 BC. Three Indian mounds on the John Ratliffe farm about twelve miles west of Sheridan were excavated by the late Francis Posey, an early settler, in the 1800s. He removed parts of a skeleton, ashes, projectile points, shells, and a piece of a …

Sherrill (Jefferson County)

Sherrill is a town in Jefferson County on State Highway 15 between Altheimer (Jefferson County) and England (Lonoke County). Like many Arkansas towns, Sherrill was created by the railroad industry late in the nineteenth century, although it did not incorporate as a town until 1935. Augustus S. Smith, a native of South Carolina, purchased many acres of land in Jefferson County in 1859; the land featured the rich soil of the Arkansas River Valley. That year, he transported about 200 slaves to his new plantation in Arkansas, where they worked in the cotton fields until their emancipation at the end of the Civil War. Many of these freed slaves remained on the same farmland, working as tenant farmers in the …

Sherwood (Pulaski County)

Sherwood is a city in Pulaski County central Arkansas just north of North Little Rock (Pulaski County). In 1990, Sherwood was named the fastest-growing town in Arkansas, in terms of both population and area, as it has annexed land many times over the years. Sherwood began in the late 1800s as a small farming community known as Sylvan Hills. Few families lived there until the early 1900s. For many years, they had no running water, electricity, or utilities. Around 1923, the first running water was carried through pipes from three springs on a farm belonging to the Koehler family. Many descendants of their family still live on Koehler Lane in Sherwood. The oldest standing home in the original city limits …

Shiloh (Scott County)

Shiloh is an unincorporated community located in southwestern Scott County. Established about one mile west of the Nella community, Shiloh was likely named after the biblical place mentioned in Genesis. Agriculture and the timber industry have traditionally contributed to the culture and economy in Shiloh. Prior to European exploration, the area surrounding Shiloh was a wilderness. Several species of wildlife that no longer inhabit the area, such as elk, wolves, and buffalo, were present throughout the region. Numerous archaeological sites and burial mounds can be found along the banks of prominent waterways such as the Fourche La Fave River. Archaeological findings have provided evidence of early inhabitants dating to the Archaic, Woodland, and Mississippian periods. Further archaeological evidence has indicated …

Shiloh Historic District

The Shiloh Historic District near downtown Springdale (Washington and Benton counties) comprises thirty-two acres of structures, trails, and sites reflecting Springdale’s early history—from about 1830 (when the community was called Shiloh) through the early twentieth century. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on August 31, 1978, for its significance in early settlement, architecture, and industry. The district is roughly bounded by Spring Creek; Johnson Avenue; and Shiloh, Mill, and Spring Streets. By city ordinances, Springdale formally established the Shiloh Historic District in 1978, created an appeals procedure in 1978, and removed from the district 10.38 acres along Main Street in 1991. The original district included eighteen structures, a number of which have historic/architectural significance; twelve sites …

Shiloh Museum of Ozark History

The Shiloh Museum of Ozark History in Springdale (Washington and Benton counties) serves the public by providing resources for finding meaning, enjoyment, and inspiration in the exploration of the Arkansas Ozarks. The museum takes its name from the pioneer community of Shiloh, which became Springdale in the 1870s. In 1881, a five-year-old Nebraska boy named Guy Howard found an arrowhead in the family garden, sparking an interest in Native American lore that would last a lifetime. The Howard family moved from Nebraska to Springdale by covered wagon in the 1890s, and Guy Howard soon discovered that the Ozarks were full of American Indian artifacts. His collection grew and grew. By the 1920s, local people were flocking to the Howard home …

Shirley (Van Buren County)

The town of Shirley rests on the Middle Fork of the Little Red River in northeastern Van Buren County. Established by the railroad, the town has become an agricultural center for the region with a focus also on recreation and tourism. The rocky and wooded hills of the Ozarks have been sparsely populated for most of recorded history. When the land that would become Arkansas was acquired by the United States in the Louisiana Purchase, Osage hunters and fishers were the primary visitors to the land that would become Shirley. Changing treaties first recognized the Osage as owners of the land, later gave it to the Cherokee, and ultimately removed both the Osage and the Cherokee west to what is now …

Shorter College

aka: Bethel Institute
Shorter College in North Little Rock (Pulaski County) is a two-year institution of higher learning with a liberal arts curriculum that has expanded to include para-professional programs. Founded as Bethel Institute in 1886 by the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME) to educate former slaves and to train teachers, the college occupies three and a half blocks at 600 Locust Street, east of Interstate 30. A thirty-three-member board of trustees, chaired by the bishop of the AME’s Twelfth Episcopal District in Arkansas and Oklahoma, oversees the school. Classes were first held in the basement of Bethel AME Church at 9th and Broadway in Little Rock (Pulaski County) on September 15, 1886. Rising enrollment led to acquisition in 1888 of a two-story frame building …