In 1941, Jacksonville’s population was about 400. No natural
gas,
street lights, or water and sewer system existed. There was a
telephone switchboard, and electricity was provided to stores
and
homes from a branch line of the Arkansas Power and Light
(AP&L)
company. Governor Homer Martin Adkins, who led the state during
the
war years, hailed from Jacksonville.
On June 5, 1941, the Arkansas Gazette carried the news that
a
fuse and detonator plant, called the Arkansas Ordnance Plant
(AOP),
was to be built in Jacksonville. The land near Jacksonville
was
taken over by the government by condemnation proceedings, and
Jacksonville became a boom town. Housing was in very limited
supply, and people lived wherever they could, even in their
cars,
until a trailer park and housing addition were built. The AOP
stayed in production from 1942 to 1945.
To deal with the changes the AOP was to bring,
Jacksonville
incorporated on September 6, 1941, and elected John H. Bailey
as
the first mayor. The first action of the new town officials was
to
seek a sewer and water system.
After the AOP closed in 1945, businesses bought and leased
several of the AOP buildings, and Jacksonville began to develop
a
more industrially based economy.
