ZIP Code 71601

Pine Bluff is the eleventh-largest city in the state of Arkansas and the county seat of Jefferson County. The city is situated in the Southeast section of the Arkansas Delta and straddles the Arkansas Timberlands region to its west. Pine Bluff has numerous creeks, streams, and bayous, including Bayou Bartholomew, the longest bayou in the world and the second most ecologically diverse stream in the U.S. Large bodies of water include Lake Pinebluff, Lake Langhofer (Slack Water Harbor), and the Arkansas River. The area along the Arkansas river had been inhabited for thousands of years by indigenous peoples of various cultures. They used the river for transportation as did European settlers after them, and for fishing. By the time of encounter with Europeans, the historical Quapaw were the chief people in the area, having migrated from the Ohio River valley centuries before. In 1824, many other American settlers began to join Joseph Bonne on the bluff. Jefferson County was established by the Territorial Legislature on November 2, 1829, and began functioning as a county April 19, 1830. The Quorum Court voted to name the village "Pinebluff Town" on October 16, 1832. The small town served as a port for travel and shipping, arriving from downriver ports such as New Orleans. From 1832-1838, residents would see Native American migrants on the Trail of Tears waterway who were being forcibly removed by the US Army from the American Southeast.

History

The city of Pine Bluff was founded on a high bank of the Arkansas River heavily forested with tall pine trees. The city was prospering by the outbreak of the Civil War; most of its wealth was based on the commodity crop of cotton. It was also a station on the passage of Seminole and Black Seminoles, who were forcibly removed from Florida to the Territory. After the war, freed slaves worked with the American Missionary Association to start schools for the education of blacks, who had been prohibited from learning to read and write by southern laws. Founded as Arkansas's first black public public college, today it is the University of Arkansas at Pinebluff. The first railroad reached Pine Bluffle in December 1873, and the first gas furnishing company was formed in 1873. The state's economy remained highly dependent on cotton until the 1930s, when the state began to recover from the effects of the war and the trauma of slavery and exploitation. The town is located on the banks of Arkansas River, which was once a main route for travel between New Orleans and the Gulf of Mexico. It is now the site of the U.S. Air Force base at Little Rock, which is located just across the river from the town of Fayetteville. The Arkansas Industrial School, a historically black college, opened in 1872, and later became a magnet school for high school and college students. The University ofArkansas at PineBluff is the state's first public university, founded as a public college in 1874.

Geography

Pine Bluff is the largest city in a three-county MSA as defined by the U.S. Census Bureau including Jefferson, Cleveland, and Lincoln counties. The Pine Bluff MSA population in 2000 was 107,341 people. The city has a total area of 46.8 square miles (121 km²), of which 45.6 sq miles (118 km²) is land and 1.2sq miles (3.1km²) (2.65%) is water. One of the world's longest individual levees at 380 miles runs from Pinebluff to Venice, Louisiana. The area is also a component of the Little Rock-North Little Rock Combined Statistical Area which had a population of 902,443 people in the 2014 U.S. census estimate. The community was named for a bluff along the Arkansas River; the community is on the Mississippi Alluvial Plain and the Arkansas Delta runs well into the city. A series of levees and dams surrounds the area to provide for flood control and protect from channel shift. The town is located in the Ouachita National Forest, which is part of the National Forest System. It is also home to the Arkansas State Park, one of the largest state parks in the United States, which covers an area of more than 2,000 square miles. The state park is home to a large number of endangered species, including bats, birds, and bats that can be found in the area. The Arkansas River runs through the city, and the city is on its western border.

Demographics

As of the 2010 U.S. census, there were 49,083 people, 18,071 households, and 11,594 families residing in the city. The racial makeup of the city was 75.6% Black or African American, 21.8% White, 0.63% Asian,0.01% Pacific Islander, and 1.1% from two or more races. The city's population was spread out, with 25.5% under the age of 18, 13.4% from 18 to 24, 24.3% from 25 to 44, 24% from 45 to 64, and 12. 4% who were 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.49 and the average family size was 3.14. The median income was $30,415, and the median income for a family was $39,993. In the city, the per capita income for the population was $17,334. About 45.6%. of those under age 18 and 13.7% of those age 65 or over were below the poverty line, including 45. 6%. of the population were under the Age of 18 and 14.7. of those aged 65 or older, including 10.4%. of people 65 and older who were older than 65. There were 20,923 housing units at an average density of 447.1 per square mile (172.6/km²) The city has a population of 41,253 people.

Crime

Pine Bluff had 23 murders in 2020 - a rate of 56.5 murders per 100,000 people. The national average was 6.5. Pine Bluff will have 29 homicides in 2021. The state will have a population of 1.2 million in 2021, the national average is 1.3 million. The murder rate will be higher in 2021 than it was in 2010. The homicide rate will also be higher than in 2010, when it was 22.7. The number of murders will be at a higher rate than in 2008, when there were 22.9. The rate of murders in 2010 was at a lower level than it is today, at 16.2. The increase is due to a higher murder rate in 2010 than in 2009, when the murder rate was 14.2%. The national murder rate is at a low level of 8.5 per cent. The murders will increase to 17 per cent in 2021 and 18 per cent by 2023. It will be the highest number of homicides in the state in 20 years, and the highest in the U.S. in 2028 and 2029. It is also the highest rate in the world, according to a report by the Bureau of Justice and Statistics. The U.N. has a murder rate of 6.4 per cent, the lowest in the industrialized world. It was the same rate in 2008 and 2009, and it is expected to be the same in 2027 and 2028. It has been the highest since the early 1990s.

Economy

Jefferson County is located in the heart of a rich agricultural area in the Arkansas River Basin. The leading products include cotton, soybeans, cattle, rice, poultry, timber and catfish. It is the large number of paper mills in the area that give Pine Bluff its distinctive odor. In 2009, Pine Bluffs was included on the Forbes list of America's 10 most impoverished cities.Saracen Casino Resort was the first purpose-built casino in Arkansas. Completed in 2020 at a cost of $350 million, it will employ over 1,100 full-time staff. It will be the first casino to be built in the state since the opening of the Bismarck, North Dakota, casino in 1883. The casino is expected to be completed by the end of the decade and will employ more than 1,000 full-year staff. The county is home to the U.S. Army's 7th Ranger Training School. It was founded in 1881 and is the oldest Ranger Training Center in the United States. It has been in operation since 1883 and is one of the oldest training centers in the world. It also has the world's largest military base, with more than 2,000 troops stationed in the region. The region's largest employer is the Jefferson Regional Medical Center, which has more than 3,000 employees. The area is also home to Tyson Foods, Evergreen Packaging, the Pine Bluffed Arsenal and the Union Pacific Railroad. The U.P. Railroad is the second-largest railroad in the country.

Arts and culture

The Pine Bluff Convention Center is one of the state's largest meeting facilities. The Arts and Science Center features theatrical performances and workshops for children and adults. Other areas of interest include downtown murals depicting the history of Pinebluff. The King Cotton Holiday Classic returned to the Convention Center on December 27, 2018, as part of the Delta Celebration Series of Festivals and Events. The Arena is set to undergo a half million dollar renovation in the near future. The city once boasted the only Band Museum in the country but it has closed. It was home to many future NBA players, including Corliss Williamson and Jason Kidd. It is now home to the Arkansas Entertainers Hall of Fame and the Arkansas Railroad Museum. It also boasts the Pine Bluffed/Jefferson County Historical Museum, the Arkansas Train Museum and the Arkanas Museum of History and Industry. It once had the country's only band museum but it closed in the 1980s. It has since been replaced by the Arkansas Band Museum, which is open to the public but closed to the general public. It's also home to a number of other museums, including the Arkansas Museum of Art and the Museum of Science and Industry, which was opened in the early 1900s. The Arkansas Railroad museum is also located in the city and is open for tours. It features the Arkansas Railway Museum, a former rail line that was built in the 1800s. There is also a museum dedicated to the railroad company, which dates back to the early 19th century.

Government

Pine Bluff is governed by the mayorcouncil government system. The mayor, city attorney, city clerk and treasurer are all elected at large. The Pine Bluff City Council is the legislative body of the city. The city also has ten commissions for citizens to serve upon, with approval required by both the mayor and city council. As the county seat of Jefferson County, the city also hosts all functions of county government at the Jefferson County Courthouse in downtown Pinebluff. It also has four boards and one commission that fills their own vacancies: Arkansas River Regional Intermodal Facilities Board, Arts and Science Center for Southeast Arkansas Board of Trustees, Cemetery Committee, Library Board and Taylor Field Operations Facilities Board. It is also the home of the Arkansas River River River Authority, which is responsible for much of the river's navigation and water management. It has also been the site of the National Guard since the 1950s, when it was first established as a military base. It was also the location of the U.S. Army Signal Corps, which was based in the area until the 1960s. It now has its own base of operations, the Arkansas Army National Guard, which has been based there since the 1970s. In the 1990s, it was the location for the National Park Service, which still has a base in the region. The U.N. Peacekeeping Force is based there, and has been there since 1998. It will be based there until the end of the century.

Education

Pine Bluff is served by three school districts: Pine Bluff School District, Watson Chapel School District and White Hall School District. The city formerly hosted Catholic schools: St. Joseph Catholic School Grades 512, opened in 1993, closed in 2013. The first school in Arkansas for black children to be established was St. Peter's Catholic School, established in 1889 by St.Joseph Church Pastor Monsignor John Michael "J.M." Lucey as the Colored Industrial Institute. It closed in 1975, and reopened as an elementary school (Grades Preschool through 6) operated by the School Sisters of Notre Dame in 1985. It was the last Catholic school established for black students in the State of Arkansas. In December 2020 the Dollarway School District should merge into the Pine Bluffs School District as of July 1, 2021. The Pine Bluffed and Jefferson County Library System maintains its main library in the Civic Center in downtown. The library system also operates the Watson Chapel Dave Burdick Library in the Watson chapel neighborhood. There are two private schools in the city: Ridgway Christian School (K312th) and Maranatha Baptist Academy K3-12. In addition to the Main Library, PBJCLS branch libraries can also be found in the City's Watson Chapel area, as well as in White Hall, Redfield, and Altheimer. The Main Library contains an extensive genealogy collection, including the online obituary index of the Pinebluff Commercial.

Infrastructure

Pine Bluff is served by a network of five U.S. and five state highways radiating from the city. Interstate 530, formerly part of US 65, connects Little Rock to southeast Pine Bluff. Daily commercial air freight and passenger services, along with scheduled commuter flights, are available at the Clinton National Airport (formerly Little Rock National Airport), Adams Field, (LIT), some 40 minutes driving time. Water is pumped from 12 wells that pump from the Sparta Sand Aquifer to three water treatment plants capable of producing 20,000,000 US gallons (76,000, 000 L) per day (total) Water is then distributed to approximately serving over 18,000 customers via 388 miles (624 km) of water distribution mains. Water supply is at medium susceptibility to contamination. Wastewater system includes 450 miles (720km) of pipe and 52 lift and lift stations to collect municipal wastewater and convey it to Boyd Point Treatment Facility (BPTF) The utility has been awarded by the National Association of Clean Water Agencies for its performance for the past three years. The city's municipal airport, Grider Field (PBF), is located four miles southeast of the city, and serves as home base for corporate and general aviation aircraft. Charter, air ambulance and cargo airline services are also available. Current freight rail service to and through Pine Bluffle is provided by the Union Pacific Railroad. The state prison system is based in the "Pinebluff Complex," as are the headquarters of the Arkansas Correctional School system.

Air Quality, Water Quality, Superfund Sites & UV Index

The Air Quality index is in Pine Bluff, Jefferson County, Arkansas = 83. These Air Quality index is based on annual reports from the EPA. Higher values are better (100=best). The number of ozone alert days is used as an indicator of air quality, as are the amounts of seven pollutants including particulates, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, lead, and volatile organic chemicals. The Water Quality Index is 68. A measure of the quality of an area’s water supply as rated by the EPA. Higher values are better (100=best). The EPA has a complex method of measuring the watershed quality, using 15 indicators such as pollutants, turbidity, sediments, and toxic discharges. The Superfund Sites Index is 100. Higher is better (100=best). Based upon the number and impact of EPA Superfund pollution sites in the county, including spending on the cleanup efforts. The UV Index in Pine Bluff = 5.2 and is a measure of an area's exposure to the sun's ultraviolet rays. This is most often a combination of sunny weather, altitude, and latitude. The UV Index has been defined by the WHO (www.who.int/news-room/questions-and-answers/item/radiation-the-ultraviolet-(uv)-index) and is uniform worldwide.

Employed

The most recent city population of 41,253 individuals with a median age of 34.7 age the population dropped by -10.07% in Pine Bluff, Jefferson County, Arkansas population since 2000 and are distributed over a density of 933.71 residents per square mile of area (360.50/km²). There are average 2.52 people per household in the 18,095 households with an average household income of $32,251 a year. The unemployment rate in Alabama is 10.30% of the available work force and has dropped -1.80% over the most recent 12-month period and the projected change in job supply over the next decade based on migration patterns, economic growth, and other factors will increase by 26.10%. The number of physicians in Pine Bluff per 100,000 population = 183.9.

Weather

The annual rainfall in Pine Bluff = 51.7 inches and the annual snowfall = 2.7 inches. The annual number of days with measurable precipitation (over .01 inch) = 97. The average number of days per year that are predominantly sunny = 218. 93 degrees Fahrenheit is the average daily high temperature for the month of July and 33 degrees Fahrenheit is the average daily low temperature for the month of January. The Comfort Index (higher=better) is 31, where higher values mean a more pleasant climate. The Comfort Index measure recognizes that humidity by itself isn't the problem. (Have you noticed nobody ever complains about the weather being 'cold and humid?) It's in the summertime that we notice the humidity the most, when it's hot and muggy. Our Comfort Index uses a combination of afternoon summer temperature and humidity to closely predict the effect that the humidity will have on people.

Median Home Cost

The percentage of housing units in Pine Bluff, Jefferson County, Arkansas which are owned by the occupant = 48.91%. A housing unit is a house, apartment, mobile home, or room occupied as separate living quarters. The average age of homes = 39 years with median home cost = $92,070 and home appreciation of 5.52%. This is the value of the years most recent home sales data. Its important to note that this is not the average (or arithmetic mean). The median home price is the middle value when you arrange all the sales prices of homes from lowest to highest. This is a better indicator than the average, because the median is not changed as much by a few unusually high or low values. The property tax rate of $7.40 shown here is the rate per $1,000 of home value. If for simplification for example the tax rate is $14.00 and the home value is $250,000, the property tax would be $14.00 x ($250,000/1000), or $3500. This is the 'effective' tax rate.

Study

The local school district spends $4,775 per student. There are 14 students for each teacher in the school, 396 students for each Librarian and 446 students for each Counselor. 2.98% of the area’s population over the age of 25 with an Associate Degree or other 2-year college degree, 12.46% with a master’s degree, Ph.D. or other advanced college degree and 5.53% with high school diplomas or high school equivalency degrees (GEDs).