Woodson, Arkansas, population 403

Woodson is a predominantly black town (71%) few miles southeast of Little Rock.

My wife and I lived a few miles west of Woodson from February 2009 until November 2014. The Woodson-Hensley area once was cotton farms, with swamps in some places. Lots of cypress trees in the shallow swamps.

Woodson Lateral is a main road from Arkansas Highway 365 to U.S. Highway 167. When my wife and I lived there, we were not aware of The Ghost of Woodson Bridge. Here is a link to a not well-written or well-acted video called The Ghost of Woodson Bridge:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKnRhI-Bug8

Here is a link to written accounts:

https://www.prairieghosts.com/hwy365.html

The Encyclopedia of Arkansas says of Woodson:

“Early in the twenty-first century, residents of Woodson began an effort to revitalize their community. They participated in a National Night Out program, applied to the Central Arkansas Planning and Development Commission for a sewer system, and called for stricter law enforcement from the Pulaski County Sheriff’s Office. At that time, the community included eight churches and one store and had recently built a new post office and a park. It also had paved its streets and built a line providing natural gas to homes. The population in the early twenty-first century was about 450 and was mostly African American.”

http://www.encyclopediaofarkansas.net/encyclopedia/entry-detail.aspx?entryID=7291

That account is putting the best face on accomplishments by others. “The community” did not build the post office or pave the streets or build a natural gas line. The State of Arkansas paved streets, USPS built the post office, and a gas company laid in gas lines.

Roland, Arkansas, Zip Code 72135

Roland is a populated place in western Pulaski County in central Arkansas.

Here is a satellite view: https://www.google.com/maps/@34.9021703,-92.5006123,893m/data=!3m1!1e3 indicating not much is there. People who live in Roland prefer their isolation from Little Rock.

In 2010, Roland’s population was 2,623, or so says http://www.city-data.com/zips/72135.html

Wikipedia, though, gives the 2010 population as 746.

Other City Data data for Roland:

Men 49.6 percent; women 50.4 percent

White population 2,438; black 93; American Indian 10; Asian 6; native Hawaiian or other Pacific islander 1; some other race, 2; two or more races, 20; Hispanic or Latino 43.

Households receiving food stamps/SNAP in last 12 months, 90.

Cars and other vehicles per household: None, 12; one, 219; two, 530; three, 140; four, 71; five+, 42.

In 2011, 25 households had less than $10,000 income; 106 households had $200,000 or more income.

Also in 2011, 21 houses were valued at less than $10,000, while 14 were valued at $1 million or more.

Foreign-born population, 24, all of whom are naturalized citizens.

(Weird that a community of 2,600 – or under 750 – would have 21 houses valued under $10,000 and 14 valued at more than $1 million.)

More data here:

http://arkansas.hometownlocator.com/ar/pulaski/roland.cfm also with numbers significantly different than city data numbers.