Downtown Walnut Ridge

Our mission: We will provide a personal experience in a caring, safe and beautiful small-town atmosphere. "You are more than a (credit card) number!"

Our town's physical assets include:

• Two-story buildings surrounding a very broad Main Street with on-street parking available; it “looks like a downtown” with continuous storefronts, most with original facing, and even some old signage.
  
• Working Passenger Railroad – Amtrak passes through, and the passenger terminal shares quarters with the Lawrence County Chamber in the old depot, which is fully restored and listed on the National Historic Register.
• Rails-to-Trails linear park connecting to twin city of Hoxie and eventually to College City and airport area
• Times-Dispatch building in historically preserved old Post Office building; it also is on the National Historic Register
• 1960’s era courthouse – very soon historic
• Beautiful antebellum-style pillared mansion turned into a funeral home
• Historic post-vaudeville-era theatre

Other strengths of our downtown:

People (organization)

• Independent business owners who view their business as a service to their neighbors
• Caring churches who seek to serve God through meeting the needs of others.
• Responsive local governments that seek to maximize “bang” and minimize “buck”

In short, our small town has an extremely high level of “social capital” waiting to be tapped.

Details (design)

Additionally, the streetscape ambiance and convenience of Downtown Walnut Ridge already includes these design features added within the last ten years:

• Sidewalks with wheelchair- and stroller- accessible corners
• Streetlights in an historic style
• Banners with welcoming and holiday designs, as seasonally appropriate

Support (promotions)

The general citizenry of Lawrence County has a sense of pride and allegiance to their county seat. Many “buy local” when they can. Civic groups, businesses, organizations and individuals turn out en masse for events such as the Iron Mountain Festival. Fundraiser events for charities are perennially well-attended.

Anchors (economic restructuring)

Our downtown, while perhaps not the hotbed of economic activity that some remember from the 1940's (we have some extraordinary citizens with terrific memories!), nevertheless has many thriving enterprises. Churches, banks, city and county government, law offices, insurance and real estate offices, pharmacies, fitness center, three eating establishments, butcher shop, bookstore, car sales, funeral home, furniture stores, newspaper, political party headquarters, second-hand retail stores, martial arts and dance studios, and more… regularly bring residents downtown. In addition, the public library will soon move back downtown, and a public meeting room has been renovated for use next to the library.

Location, location, location

Downtown Walnut Ridge is easy to get to by “plane, train, or automobile.”

• It is only 6 miles away from the Walnut Ridge Regional Airport
• Amtrak passenger service stops right in downtown. U.S. Highways 412 and 67-Business intersect in downtown, and U.S. Highway 63 connects nearby in the twin city of Hoxie
• It is within plausible travel distance for many people. It is centrally located in Lawrence County (population about 17,000), only 30 minutes from Jonesboro, Arkansas (pop. ~ 55,000) and 2 hours from Memphis, Tennessee (pop. ~ 1 million).

Downtown Walnut Ridge is also close to “quality of life” features that make the community such a wonderful place to live:

• Park system featuring Stewart Park, a multi-acre complex with soccer fields, baseball and softball diamonds, aerated pond with covered fishing point on bridge, mile-long walking trail through wooded scenery, grills and covered picnic areas, tennis and basketball courts, playground equipment, and a swimming pool. Other parks nearby include Hoxie City Park (with a caboose!), and the newest park under construction, the Rails to Trails linear park.
• Healthcare - Lawrence Memorial Hospital, two nursing home/rehabilitation centers and numerous doctor’s and dentist’s offices
• Choice of two award-winning public schools within three miles of downtown—Walnut Ridge Public Schools and Hoxie Public Schools
• Higher education – Williams Baptist College, a four-year, liberal arts college (6 miles from downtown); Black River Technical Community College in Pocahontas, AR (12 miles); and Arkansas State University in Jonesboro, AR (25 miles)

Who We Are

The Downtown Walnut Ridge team is composed of people who care. This includes YOU! Comittees are now forming to focus on the:

• People (organization)
• Places (design)
• Image (promotion-marketing)
• Times (promotion-special events), and
• Business (economic restructuring)

...of Downtown Walnut Ridge.

Please join the fun! Submit your info on the "Contact Us" page now.