Communities throughout the Arkansas Delta often battle against a rising tide of economic woes. As factories close and labor-intensive jobs leave small towns, populations dwindle in many rural cities.
For decades, outside investments from banks and charitable organizations helped stimulate marginal growth, but most of the heavy lifting necessary to revitalize communities must be done by the people who live there.
Helena-West Helena is part of Phillips County in the Arkansas Delta. According to U.S. Census data, the county’s population decreased over 17 percent in the last ten years, which means by some estimates the population is less than half of what it was in the 1950s. However, new community-led efforts in Helena-West Helena seek to make the area’s history and culture a catalyst for investment and growth.
Organizers haven't set a date yet but the restoration of the Johnny Cash home in Dyess is on track to open in 2014.
The project by Arkansas State University also includes restoration of a nearby theater and the Dyess Colony administration building. The structures should be ready for visitors in fall of next year.
The home is being renovated to look as it did when the Cash family moved to the Dyess Colony in 1935 in the middle of the Great Depression.
The City of Helena-West Helena in Phillips County, Arkansas is no stranger to the hardships that have plagued many communities across the country during the economic downturn.
