23 articles
Alexandria, Louisiana
Alexandria, Louisiana: parish seat of Rapides Parish on the Red River near the state's geographic center; founded by Alexander Fulton in 1805; 2020 population 45,275; regional hub and major ICE deportation-flight airport.
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Baton Rouge, Louisiana's capital city on the east bank of the Mississippi River, named for a 1699 red-pole boundary marker; consolidated city-parish government since 1947, population 227,470 in 2020.
Bentonville, Arkansas
Bentonville, Arkansas: Benton County seat and Walmart headquarters town, population about 63,000 (2025), home of Crystal Bridges Museum, the new 350-acre Walmart Home Office, and the Plan Bentonville growth code.
Conway, Arkansas
Conway, Arkansas, county seat of Faulkner County, the City of Colleges (UCA, Hendrix, Central Baptist), incorporated 1875, grown from 64,134 in 2020 to an estimated 72,328 in 2025.
Covington, Louisiana
Covington, Louisiana: parish seat of St. Tammany Parish on the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain, about 40 miles from New Orleans. Founded July 4, 1813 as the Town of Wharton by John Wharton Collins; renamed 1816 for General Leonard Covington; known for its ox-lot historic district.
Eureka Springs, Arkansas
Eureka Springs, Arkansas, an Ozark Mountain city and one of two Carroll County seats, founded in 1879 as a mineral-spring resort, population about 2,200, with its entire town on the National Register of Historic Places and a tourism-driven economy.
Fayetteville, Arkansas
Fayetteville, Arkansas: second-largest city in the state and county seat of Washington County, home of the University of Arkansas (founded 1871). Settled 1828, renamed from Washington Courthouse in 1829; fast-growing Ozark city of about 101,858 residents.
Fort Smith, Arkansas
Fort Smith, Arkansas: the state's third-largest city (90,855 in 2025) at the Arkansas-Poteau river confluence, home of two 19th-century frontier forts, Judge Parker's federal court, and the Fort Smith National Historic Site.
Harrison, Arkansas
Harrison, Arkansas: county seat of Boone County in the Ozarks, population 13,069 (2020). Known for the 1905 and 1909 race riots that made it a sundown town, nearby Knights of the KKK compound, and Buffalo National River headquarters.
Hope, Arkansas
Hope, Arkansas: county seat of Hempstead County in southwest Arkansas, a railroad town founded in the 1870s and named for James Loughborough's daughter; birthplace of Bill Clinton and Mike Huckabee, known for record watermelons; population 8,952 (2020).
Hot Springs, Arkansas
Hot Springs, Arkansas: Garland County resort city of about 38,000 built around 47 thermal springs, home to Hot Springs National Park, Bathhouse Row, baseball spring training origins, and the 1832 Hot Springs Reservation.
Houma, Louisiana
Houma, Louisiana: parish seat of Terrebonne Parish and hub of the Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux MSA. Founded 1834, named for the Houma people; 2020 census population 33,406, declining since.
Jonesboro, Arkansas
Jonesboro, Arkansas: county seat of Craighead County on Crowley's Ridge, largest city in northeast Arkansas and fifth in the state, home of Arkansas State University and St. Bernards, founded 1859, population 83,296 (2025 estimate).
Lafayette, Louisiana
Lafayette, Louisiana: parish seat of Lafayette Parish on the Vermilion River, heart of Acadiana's Cajun and Creole culture. Founded as Vermilionville, renamed 1884; consolidated city-parish government; 2020 population 121,374; oil-based economy diversified into tech and health care.
Lake Charles, Louisiana
Lake Charles, Louisiana: parish seat of Calcasieu Parish, sixth-largest Louisiana city (84,872 in 2020), named for settler Charles Sallier, home of McNeese State University, hit by Hurricane Laura in 2020.
Little Rock, Arkansas
Little Rock, Arkansas: capital and largest city of Arkansas on the Arkansas River, named for the 1722 'la petite roche' outcropping; site of the 1957 Little Rock Nine Central High desegregation crisis; 2020 population 202,591.
Mena, Arkansas
Mena is a city in western Arkansas and the county seat of Polk County, founded in 1896 as a railroad town in the Ouachita Mountains.
Monroe, Louisiana
Monroe, Louisiana: parish seat of Ouachita Parish on the Ouachita River, twin city of West Monroe. Population 47,702 (2020), 35.9% poverty rate, regional hub for health care, education, and Delta Air Lines history.
Natchitoches, Louisiana
Natchitoches, Louisiana: city in Natchitoches Parish founded 1714 by Louis Juchereau de St. Denis, the oldest permanent settlement in the Louisiana Purchase, on Cane River Lake, home to Northwestern State University.
New Orleans
New Orleans, Louisiana: Gulf Coast port city founded 1718 by Bienville, capital of French Louisiana, later Spanish and American. Known for Mardi Gras, jazz, Creole culture, subsidence and flood risk, and a tourism-driven economy.
Pine Bluff, Arkansas
Pine Bluff, Arkansas: county seat of Jefferson County and largest city of southeast Arkansas's Delta region, founded 1819 on the Arkansas River, once a cotton and railroad center, now home to UAPB and the Pine Bluff Arsenal.
Rogers, Arkansas
Rogers, Arkansas: a Benton County city founded in 1881 as a Frisco Railroad stop, named for railroad manager Charles Warrington Rogers; 69,908 residents in 2020, growing fast in Northwest Arkansas.
Shreveport, Louisiana
Shreveport, Louisiana: parish seat of Caddo Parish on the Red River, founded 1836 and named for Henry Miller Shreve, who cleared the Great Raft. Population 187,593 (2020), declining; economy anchored by Barksdale AFB, Amazon data centers, casinos, and tourism.