ARKANSAS: Decrepit Towns That Are Surprisingly Amazing - Johnny Cash's Childhood Home Visited

all right everyone I am in rural uh Northeast Arkansas let me show you on the map like I usually do you can see Memphis straight South that is the Tennessee Border those squiggly lines to the right of me Jonesborough to the uh West and North a bit biggest Arkansas city in this area I am in the Arkansas Delta Rich farmland in the town of dice now I've driven around dice a little bit honestly it's not much to look at but don't let that fool you this town is a significant place in history it began in 1934 as an agricultural resettlement colony in fact the original name was dice colony it was set up by President Roosevelt's New Deal the idea was to put destitute Farmers back to work now uh to qualify for the program you had to be first of all a farmer you had to be destitute and you had to be white uh if you did qualify you would get a parcel of land 20 to 40 acres roughly you would get a farmhouse uh privy a Smokehouse and a chicken coop and um around 500 were to be selected for it if I remember correctly anyway in 1935 a couple that was selected for this program went by the name of Ray and Carrie cash now Ray and Kerry had several kids including a young three-year-old by the name of Johnny of course we all know Johnny went on uh went on to become one of the greatest musical recording artists in history so going to be seeing a lot of Johnny Cash stuff including his boyhood home but before we do that let me tell you about the town the median age is 27. gender breakdown 50 50 male female surprising element to that is six percent of the men have been widowed zero percent of the women that's an upside down number It's usually the other way around race breakdown is this 72 percent White 23 Hispanic two percent black three percent other per capita income fifteen thousand three hundred that's 294 dollars a week median household income 42 200. it's about a little over 800 a week poverty is pretty high 19 percent children 17 and under 14 of them live at or below poverty and folks 65 and older same number 14 percent live at or below the poverty line see a couple dogs here just kind of hanging out now they've got a downtown here of sorts that's been somewhat restored at least partially so I'm gonna go take a look at that and of course going to see Johnny Cash's boyhood home um anyway uh yeah so here is I guess you would call their downtown let's go up here and take a look what do you guys think oh I don't think I gave you the population numbers yet better do that Peak population was in 2000 by the way uh 515 people today there's a little over 300 329. it's a nice looking theater isn't it dice theater I think it's cool that they had one in this town Johnny Cash Redemption of an American icon yeah I think many of us have seen that movie uh let's see dice colony yeah established in 1934 by President Roosevelt nice colony home to 500 families stricken by the Great Depression selected on the base of need farming knowledge and physical fitness these Pioneers each cleared land for Farms with the government subsidized help of 40 acres and a mule so there you go not sure what this building was it's pretty Grand though isn't it Town Hall it says Dice Town Hall but I don't know it says Town business is transacted in the South wing this town is so small I'm not sure if they need anything this big it's beautiful though isn't it and uh this used to be a commissary I guess it's no longer here the big store burned in June 1957. that's beautiful too that's all that's left of it yeah that's too bad there's that building over there this says it's dice City Hall as well maybe this is where they actually conduct business not sure I've got a really old building here that's it's just in a very poor state cool uh all right uh look around the town a little bit then we'll head over to Johnny Cash's boyhood home now there's the downtown they have a recreation center here looks like and a car wash let's look at some of the uh residential streets looks like a gas station here pretty sure maybe it's an operation can't tell possible there's something up here you can really see the poverty here though um said 19 percent thank you it sure seems higher driving around this town we got up here an abandoned home here and there there's one okay dice High School um yeah I know kids don't go to high school here anymore they go uh I want to say Lepanto Lepanto is that is that how you say it oh wow and this one here is in not much better shape I had read that some of the homesteads of that era you know the diced Colony era are still standing um I was going to kind of look for them not sure how you can tell if you're seeing one or not some of these houses like that one there is much newer it's unlikely that was one Beach Street [Music] I'm guessing some of the much older homes like maybe this one could have been in a shade hopefully you can see it uh yeah those are not in good shape a little bit windy today um yeah that might have been one uh a lot of poverty here though I mean I don't think anybody can argue with me on that wow now I'm thinking this might be a candidate for one of those homes built during that new deal resettlement program that looks old enough doesn't it that actually might be one uh not this one that that's actually just a trailer with a stuff added to it all right everyone I'm approaching the childhood home of Johnny Cash this is the house he grew up in ages three to 18. we all know him as a musical Superstar sold over 90 million records in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame the Country Music Hall of Fame The Gospel Music Hall of Fame I remember the first time I ever heard a song by him my dad was a huge fan and uh we were driving home from work you know I used to help my dad at his job he was a carpet layer and he put in the eight track it was a Johnny Cash album and he said listen to this song boy and uh it was the song Was A Boy Named Sue and I became a big Johnny Cash fan from that point on I'm not sure if we can go in right now let me get out and see let's see Johnny Cash boyhood home it's a bit windy today so uh you may hear some wind share hopefully not too much it says it's supposed to be open today it appears that it's not it is uh Tuesday about 10 A.M but there's a lock on the gate here it doesn't look like I'm gonna go or be able to go inside I wanted to I was going to show you guys the inside of his house here uh Johnny Cash 1932 2003 was one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century uh here since the locals knew him as J.R all right well we can't go in so I'm gonna get back in the Bronco there's his house there um anyway you know Johnny Cash had a lot of great songs some of the greatest in history you know Walk the Line uh Ring of Fire to name a few for me his greatest song was his last one or one of his last ones the song Hurt now he didn't write that song Trent rezner of Nine Inch Nails did and let me preface this by saying I am a huge Nine Inch Nails fan I've seen him in concert twice but I never cared for the Nine Inch Nails version of hurt I just didn't think it was musically that interesting a song uh Trent wrote it it was about uh or when he wrote it it was about drug addiction and you know self-harm Johnny Cash took the song and made it about his life completely changed the way it sounds he that song was proof that sometimes it's better to let someone else sing your song because what Johnny Cash did to that song was incredible um when he recorded the song he was near death he was at the end of his life and he knew it and when you listen to the song and you watch the video you can see him pour all of that into the vocal uh all the highs and lows of his life they incredible success and all the terrible things that happened you know of his own doing drug addiction and failures in Romance Etc uh when you watch the video you can see it he's it was filmed in a museum a Johnny Cash Museum that has long since faded and died he's surrounded by all this stuff and he's just looking at it and he sings about being at the end of life and how meaningless meaningless all this stuff was or is how it really means nothing when it's about over and uh you know you can hear the Frailty in his voice like I said he was near death he died less than a year after recording the song and filming the video very powerful his longtime wife June Carter she appears in it for a few seconds but oh wow those few seconds were powerful as she looked at him singing about his life being almost over and how all of this crap that he has means nothing now or is about to mean nothing but it's a simple video him playing guitar in this Museum surrounded by all his things and uh if you've never seen it go on to you or you're on YouTube now but type in Hurt Johnny Cash the video and watch it finish watching my video first of course but then go watch it because it is powerful one of the best ever filmed and um you know just for laughs watch The Nine Inch Nails version and tell me Johnny Cash didn't take that song into a whole other place Trent resner himself said that he cried when he saw the video and heard the song he said it felt like some guy had taken his wife away from him the love of his life he said in that instant when it finished playing he knew that the song no longer belong to him that it belonged to Johnny Cash and he's right Johnny Cash made that song amazing and it was an incredible end as far as that performance is concerned through his life because like I said he died less than a year later anyway enough of that sorry guys but uh I love Johnny Cash high school I went through a heavy metal phase but I still listened to Johnny Cash and uh Glen Campbell too in the previous video listen to those guys love them and so for me it was a pretty incredibly exciting to be at these two places last video on this one all right well on to the next town all right everyone I am entering the town of Lepanto just a few miles away from Dice most likely where the good people of dice get their groceries and gas in fact there's a gas station right there 319 for a gallon of gas here in rural Arkansas it has about 1700 people in it Peak population was year 2000. there are 2100 people a little over so for some reason the past 20 years the town of start has started losing population interesting Town nonetheless and uh wow what an amazing looking downtown I'm gonna actually get out and walk here let's get a better look at it what do you guys think I think I can just park here I don't know I hope so but anyway wow look at this that's totally cool yeah I'm gonna get out not a lot of people here this Tuesday about 10 30 A.M a little bit windy it's cool about 55 degrees Fahrenheit 17 degrees Celsius for all of those of you in Europe and Australia interesting looking downtown oh this wind's kicking up let me tell you about the town anyway back into this little corner here median age is 43. gender breakdown 52 percent male 48 female eight percent of the males here are widowed 13 of the females are widowed just pretty high uh the U.S average of widowed females is eight percent let's see the race breakdown should I let this truck go by because he's loud all right race break down 72 percent White 11 black five percent Hispanic 12 mixed that's pretty high number yeah a lot of um not a lot but there's some empty storefronts here let's see what else uh per capita income 19954 comes out to 384 dollars a week median household incomes 38 900. 748 dollars a week uh is this a bar look at this must be 21 to enter please have ID ready that's all it says though looks like it's closed down poverty fifteen percent it's not super super high U.S average is a little over 12 percent kids 17 and under 29 of them live in poverty though median home value is 59 500. again really low home value uh I mean the price of a new car these days and get a house here pretty cheap uh if you guys are John Grisham fans any of you and read his books the movie from the book a painted house was filmed here and in fact the house is here in town I'm gonna go see it before I leave uh the in the book it actually took place in Black Oak Arkansas that rings a bell right yeah Black Oak Arkansas where the band came from gonna go there next that's where the book took place but they actually filmed it the movie here in this town now John Grisham himself was born in nearby Jonesborough that's actually where we're staying well that's where our hotel is I'm gonna try to take a look at this at that town real quick at the end of this video I'm gonna try guys this video is getting really long already though I can tell anyway stick around a bit they've got a river running through town can't remember the name of it I'll have to look it up when I get back in the car but it looks like it's bursted its banks doesn't it what do you guys think but there's some good fishing in there uh the name of that river is Little River actually said it on the map that it was left hand shoot of Little River so it looks like it's an overflow bypass of some sort anyway there's the police department Christine yeah Little River that's what it says here okay let's check out a residential street or two what do you guys think it's still winter early March so there's not a lot of leaves on the trees but you could imagine driving down this and it being quite beautiful uh sadly there's trash on the ground really hate to see that not just a little there's a lot man people they know not what they do don't they why would you throw trash on the ground in this beautiful spot I do know they have a regular grocery store here but they also have the trifecta it looks like Dollar General and then uh yep Family Dollar Dollar Tree and they have a Sonic all right everyone this is it a painted house the actual house used in the movie John Grisham wrote the book and the house was basically a recreation of a home he grew up in there's downtown straight that way give you an idea acclimate you to where I'm at uh just take a quick look they just have it out here I don't think you can tour it or anything but uh yeah if you like that book and enjoyed the movie here it is this is the house this is where they filmed it well I showed you the Family Dollar and uh well the others but here's another supermarket Countryside supermarket that actually sells gas here in town for those of you who are always wondering I get a lot of requests to show the grocery store so there it is all right I'm gonna head to the next town say the sign Black Oak before we hit uh Black Oak though should we check out the Tiny Tiny Town of Rivervale why not it's a good name for it it's on the river Vale population 46. there you go not much to the town as you can see uh it's a store here at one time clearly not in business today though see what else is over here Rivervale Sand and Gravel ah look at this you see if I can get you a good look at everything here let's see it doesn't look like there's much more to the town though let's have the river here well a lot of the houses have a lot of Chunk in their yards that's just something you see here in Arkansas cruising down a residential street here in Rivervale check out the dogs they're real quiet let's see another yard filled with a lot of stuff I guess you would call this what an Arkansas flea market what do you guys think that is a tremendous amount of stuff and I hope you can see that on the porch that's right a cat that was been looking for one finally there he is anyway uh yeah this Rivervale is an interesting town not just humans a couple of dogs a cat and a horse so how about that it's got this whole feel to himself it looks like and of course a church Rivervale Baptist Church so there's that let's get on our way to Black Oak all right everyone I am entering the town of Black Oak Arkansas Peak population 1940 there are 329 people here today there are a little over 200 median age is 43. gender breakdown 51 male 49 female about even race break down 72 percent white 27 Hispanic one percent other poverty is pretty high in this town 25 percent median home value 59 200 now that all being said this is the town where the rock band Black Oak Arkansas originated the band were high school classmates formed here became pretty popular uh sold a few million records I heard them as a kid uh from my dad he had an eight track a couple of Black Oak Arkansas a tracks so as a kid I I heard their music I didn't love them they were fine I didn't hate them either anyway they got a cool mural here I want to show you real quick uh let's see welcome to Black Oak let me get sideways here point out the window but you can see a picture of the band here it looks like yeah there is that's the band right there Black Oak Arkansas um John Grisham lived here for a short time he went to elementary school here for half a year I believe take another drive through the town here and in fact that book The Painted house was set here they will set here in Black Oak they just filmed it in the panto but this is where if you read the book where it takes place that's what's left of the downtown not a whole lot here pretty much abandoned looks like this might have been a garage at one time well I'm not sure what this is uh maybe someone can fill in looks like quite an operation for uh such a tiny little town doesn't it anyway I said no trespassing so I'm going to get on out of here like I said this video I think or if I didn't say it I think this video is getting pretty long so I'm gonna head to the last town now even though it's actually not a town it is a city all right everyone I am in Jonesboro Arkansas you can see downtown stretches that way I'm going to take a walk and explore it a bit but first this Craighead County Courthouse built in 1934. Art Deco the only Art Deco structure in the city unsurprisingly on the national register I wanted to show you that first and head into this beautiful quaint downtown and as I'm there I will tell you about this city let's take a look at this beautiful quaint downtown here in the fifth largest city in Arkansas population of the city is 81 969 almost 82 000 people that is the 2022 estimate that's Peak population I was looking at the census figures and as far as I can tell the city has never lost population healthy growing City and look at that cold menu or mural oh boy you can feel the wind here though you can probably hear it in the camera let me get over here side of this building all right here we go um median age here is 33. gender breakdown 53 percent female 47 male let's see the race breakdown 65 White 21 black six percent Hispanic one percent Native American one percent Asian six percent other about that mural huh that's pretty cool yeah it's great downtown all the storefronts have businesses shops and restaurants uh you can see for yourself it's really nice anyway a bit more per capita income 26 883. that comes out to 517 dollars a week sold income is forty five thousand five hundred eight hundred and seventy five dollars a week let's see poverty is 23 percent said home to Arkansas State University and most likely the top employer and uh that may be skewing the numbers down a bit I'm sure there are full-time students here median home value here is 197 thousand six hundred I guess I'll wait for this truck to go by making all that noise all right metro area population 135 300. so there's that too I've already told you that John Grisham was born here or did I tell you that well if I didn't yes John Grisham the famous author was born here in Jonesboro and uh Wes bitly who is a pretty well-known actor if you watch Yellowstone you are familiar with him he's the uh the son who's a lawyer who's estranged at last viewing for me I haven't I haven't watched the new season yet he was also an American Beauty he was excellent in that he was born here too more of the downtown and it just kind of ends right there and you're out of downtown it's beautiful though I look up the street pretty cool mural or heard of what's probably wild horses making a run you got a little bit of artwork here too this is a college town so um [Music] you know what that means pubs and bars and uh and usually some really cool artwork in the streets all right everyone so that's going to be the end of this video I'm going to head up into Missouri Southeast Missouri uh that video will be next thank you

Channel: Lord Spoda

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Id: Q6uFlaRaocs

Length: 38min 10sec (2290 seconds)

Published: Wed Mar 08 2023