March 9, 2011

The town of Leslie (Searcy County) was settled in the late 1830s by pioneer Sam Leslie. It was originally known as Wiley’s Cove, but the name was changed in 1887 with the establishment of a post office. As shown in this 2007 photograph, the town of about 500 is a far cry from the bustling city of several thousand it had been in the early 1900s. At that time, the local timber was crafted into whiskey barrels at area stave mills that employed approximately 2,000 workers.