Cabot, Arkansas

Before the city of Cabot existed, an 1862 typhoid epidemic took the lives of about 1,500 Confederate soldiers previously under Allison Nelson who were camped at Camp Nelson in the hills surrounding Cabot and Austin. In 1905, 428 poorly marked graves were exhumed by a group of Confederate veterans and moved to a new site at Camp Nelson Confederate Cemetery. Marble gravestones were placed over each grave and a large marble obelisk was erected to honor the dead. In 1982, a group of volunteers from Cabot began maintaining the cemetery, which had fallen into disrepair.

The city of Cabot sprang up as a small settlement around a refueling station on the Cairo & Fulton Railroad after it bypassed Austin. The settlement first appeared in 1873 and is thought to have been named after railroad executive George Cabot Ward. The First Baptist Church was established in 1876, and the Cabot United Methodist Church in 1881. G. W. Grandberry began publication of the first newspaper in 1885, named "The Guard". Grandberry, along with James Milton Park served as the towns medical doctors. By 1889 businesses began growing alongside the railroad tracks. Businesses included six general stores, two drugstores, a hotel owned by James Charles Boyd, James Adam's livery stable, and the Neely brothers cotton gin.[4] The Bank of Cabot (later merged into Centennial Bank) was founded in 1903. The city of Cabot was officially incorporated November 9, 1891, as the 139th city in Arkansas.

Cabot was often overshadowed in northern Lonoke County by what at the time was the much larger city of Austin (originally named Oakland). However, Cabot experienced growth during the 1950s and 1960s, due to its proximity to the Little Rock Air Force Base in nearby Jacksonville which opened in 1955, as well as due to the "white flight" occurring in response to the racial discord in Little Rock, Arkansas caused by school desegregation and its following crisis.[5]

In 1972, the Little Rock School District, slow to comply with the 1954 US Supreme Court case Brown v. Topeka Board of Education, was forcibly ordered by federal courts to immediately desegregate the school district. As a result, tensions rose and during the 1980s and 1990s Little Rock school district teachers repeatedly went on strike. A "white exodus" occurred with many residents choosing to relocate to smaller communities around Little Rock, including Cabot, Benton, Bryant, Conway, and Maumelle instead of choosing to continue supporting full integration. Over time, new arrivals to the state chose to live in these towns (now veritable suburbs) because, by some educational indicators, the school districts were more successful.

Cabot received many of the families that were relocating during that time period. As a result, a "commuter culture" developed because many residents that had children in Cabot schools made the commute to Little Rock to work daily. 40% of military personnel working at the Little Rock Air Force Base in Jacksonville live in Cabot because of the higher cost of living in Little Rock and Jacksonville.[6] This, coupled with the perceived higher quality of life and easily accessed work opportunity, has resulted in a "boomtown."[7] As more people moved to Cabot to join the commuter culture, the tax base grew and, as a result, the Cabot School District steadily developed into one of the top-performing districts in the state.

Currently, the Cabot School District encompasses the north end of Lonoke County. The bulk of the county's population today can be found in approximately the same area, containing the county's most populous and second most populous cities — Cabot and Ward, respectively — in addition to Austin, which are among Arkansas' fastest growing communities.[8]

Southward view of the Cabot Mini-Mall along First Street in downtown Cabot in December 2006

A devastating tornado hit downtown Cabot during the afternoon of March 29, 1976, killing five people and destroying multiple buildings.[9][10] During the rebuilding of the city, it was decided to build a new city hall, municipal courtroom, library (since relocated), and police station on the site of the debris-filled dividing point between the east and west sections of Main Street, creating City Plaza. Arkansas Highway 89, which follows the same path as West Main Street in Cabot, was redirected around City Plaza along one block of Second Street, to continue its path along Pine Street just south of the Cabot High School campus.

Cabot's population has more than quintupled from the 1980s to today, from under 5,000 residents to over 26,000. New housing starts, as seen by new subdivided developments, now cover the town.

On August 10, 2006, Cabot Junior High School North experienced a devastating fire which was believed to have started as a small electrical fire in the library caused by a faulty light bulb. Although there were 100 people in the building at the time, there were no injuries.[11] The building burned from 2:30 p.m. to about 9:00 p.m., and the structure was a total loss. Cabot Fire and Police Departments say that this is one of the worst structure fires to have ever occurred in Cabot. The school was only about eight years old. It was rebuilt and reopened about three years later.[12]

The climate in this area is characterized by hot, humid summers and generally mild to cool winters. According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Cabot has a humid subtropical climate, abbreviated "Cfa" on climate maps.[13]

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 26,569 people, 9,780 households, and 6,967 families residing in the city.

As of the census of 2010, there were 23,776 people, 5,432 households, and 4,329 families residing in the city. The most recent United States Census Bureau estimates available (from July 2014) indicate the city's population at 25,627. The population density was 798.2 inhabitants per square mile (308.2/km²). There were 5,712 housing units at an average density of 298.8 per square mile (115.4/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 96.56% White, 0.33% Black or African American, 0.40% Native American, 0.88% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 0.49% from other races, and 1.30% from two or more races. 1.87% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.[18]

There were 5,432 households, out of which 47.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 65.7% were married couples living together, 10.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 20.3% were non-families. 17.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 5.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.78 and the average family size was 3.14.

In the city, the population was spread out, with 31.5% under the age of 18, 7.6% from 18 to 24, 34.0% from 25 to 44, 19.0% from 45 to 64, and 7.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females, there were 95.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.9 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $49,389, and the median income for a family was $53,933. Males had a median income of $37,450 versus $26,209 for females. The per capita income for the city was $19,020. About 5.6% of families and 7.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 7.9% of those under age 18 and 10.4% of those age 65 or over.