Hughes, Arkansas, Zip Code 73248, 32% poverty

Hughes is in St. Francis County, over by the Mississippi River. The city’s 2010 population was 1,441, a decline of 426 from the 2000 census.

Demographics show Hughes 67.76% black, 29.41 white, 1.16% Asian and 0.7% Hispanic. By the U.S. government, “Asian” can be a person from anywhere between Turkey and Japan, and “Hispanic” takes up Mexico, Central America and South America, as well as Spain. So there is a lot of leeway in the numbers, even when the numbers are small.

By the 2000 census figures, per capita income in Hughes was $10,039. About 31.7% of families was below the poverty line. For old folks, the figure was 31.5%.

A weird thing – the 1950 population was 1,686, but 10 years later dropped to 196, then in 1970 jumped to 1,872. Those are government figures; trust them as you will.

http://www.encyclopediaofarkansas.net/encyclopedia/entry-detail.aspx?search=1&entryID=997 shows 1,960 people in 1950; 1,872 in 1960; -- in 1970; and 1,919 in 1980.

Here is a picture of downtown Hughes:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hughes,_Arkansas#/media/File:Hughes_AR_022.jpg

St. Francis County demographics show a population 49.01% black, 48.3% white and 4.88% Hispanic. About 23% of county families and 27.5 percent of the total population lives below the poverty line.

The late Sonny Liston was born in St. Francis County. As a heavyweight boxer, Liston won 50 of 54 fights, 39 by knockouts.