October 9, 1955

The Little Rock Air Force Base was activated. The first bank in Jacksonville (Pulaski County), the Jacksonville State Bank, had been organized in 1949. Founding member Kenneth Pat Wilson was president of the bank for many years. Wilson and other citizens of Pulaski County in 1951 began to approach the U.S. Air Force to locate an air base in central Arkansas. The citizens of Pulaski County raised funds and purchased the land near Jacksonville to donate for the base.