DODDRIDGE, Ark. - For generations of southwest Arkansas residents, Saturday morning in Doddridge was the highlight of the week.
Men gathered on benches outside Miss Bricker’s for cold drinks and ice cream, families packed the Etchison store, and 10-year-olds could walk out of the local shop with a single-shot .22 rifle and enough spare change for a treat.
The community stretches back to 1818 when the Choctaw traded furs with the white frontiersmen at the Sulphur Fork Trading Post on a bluff overlooking the Red River.
Trappers loaded their pelts onto boats bound for New Orleans in exchange for knives, pots, and pans.
As the trading post era gave way to railroads, the nearby Spring Bank ferry transformed Doddridge into a thriving hub for southwest Arkansas well into the mid-20th century.
Among the colorful local history being celebrated is the legend of "Mr. Doody," a town banker whose institution was forced to close after a robbery.
Following the heist, Doody moved into two abandoned school bus bodies nearby and grew a long beard, vowing never to shave until he caught the culprit.
He lived out the rest of his life in the community, dying without ever finding the robber or shaving his beard.
By the 1960s, the railroad departed, taking with it local jobs and younger generations seeking work elsewhere.
Community members hope visitors will soon reconnect with the town's history.