Swifton (Jackson County, AR)

In middle of town there sets an older building built of brick that had once been a schoolhouse that had consisted of the whole grade school age of Swifton before they had to consolidate with Tuckerman School District in 2004. Currently in the twenty-first century it is the home of middle school students from all over the Jackson County School District which consists of Grubbs, Tuckerman, and Swifton combined. The school is an example of what a thriving town this was when the railroad was first finished in the area in the late 1800s, and that like other small towns in Jackson County once the advent of technology came about in the twentieth century the economy of the area began to decline. The town of Swifton exists on the right side of railroad coming from Tuckerman, AR, and to local residents in the twenty-first century its still their own thriving community with a rich history.

Railroads are what made Jackson County, AR and like all the other towns that existed or are still existing such as Swifton, they are still holding onto that rich community that it once was during thriving eras of booming commerce and business.

Swifton became known as another one of the cities that developed around the railroad and was added a landmark for the Arkansas Rock ‘n’ Roll Highway 67. On November 27, 1820 Henry Hileman who served in United States Army during the War of 1812 had received a track of land for his service on what would eventually become known as Swifton. Many settlers would join Hileman in the area and establish a Methodist church in 1860, but the actual number of residents would not increase until the construction of the railroad. When the Cairo and Fulton Railroad came through Jackson County in 1873 it had established sawmills every five miles along the line to support wood for the railroad ties and fuel for the wood burning engines. The granddaughter of descendant from one of the original settlers came in 1965 telling how her grandmother Mary Swift had passed down for generations how her family was the one of original families from Swifton stating that her family had owned a sawmill in the community and the community and the name of the town came from her last name of Swift.

Swifton became incorporated into Jackson County in 1890, consisting of a one-room log building built out in a cattle pasture near the city used for a schoolhouse. This same schoolhouse was replaced with a two-story building in the city in 1891, then in 1918 another schoolhouse would be built made of brick which would stay standing until 1966. Swifton in the early twentieth century had the only telephone with long-distance service, and was in the general store owned by Julia Sanford. Seven residents from the community would form the Swifton Telephone Company bringing additional service to the area around 1909, and was privately owned during 1954 when it was sold to the Public Service Corporation of Tuckerman. The Swifton Sentinel a local newspaper for Swifton was published for a short time in 1910. The only ever recorded F-5 tornado that has struck Arkansas occurred near Swifton tearing through Jackson County on April 10, 1929. Many rock and roll acts such as Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, and Conway Twitty performed at the King of Clubs roadhouse north of Swifton in the 1950s. Due to the roadhouse, the Arkansas General Assembly was what got Swifton added into the U.S. Highway 67 Rock ‘n’ Rock Highway in 2009, but in December of 2010 the King of Clubs had burned to the ground. Swifton would eventually be consolidated along with Grubbs and Tuckerman to form the Jackson County School District in 2004, but Swifton still holds the middle school serving around 180 students, while Tuckerman caters to the elementary school and high school for the district.

Swifton has also made a name for themselves through national and local figures who made it big from their little town. First, Joel Anderson who grew up in Swifton spent this whole career at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock (UA Little Rock) starting at the lowest level as an assistant professor, working his way up to professor, dean, provost, vice chancellor, and finally retiring as the chancellor. Second, born in Swifton in 1922, George Kell had played for five major league baseball team from 1944-1957, was selected ten times for the All-Star team, and was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1983. One of Kell’s brothers Frank died in World War II serving in the U.S. Army in Europe under the occupation of Germany, and his other brother Skeeter was just as talented as him in the baseball field, also playing the major leagues. Mr. Kell spent forty years as the television and radio announcer for the Detroit Tigers until his retirement from baseball, operated his own farm in Swifton, and owned a dealership in Newport that was named after him and is still operation today. Kell passed away in 2009 at his home in Swifton, and in 2010 the Swifton post office was renamed in his honor. Third, Mr. Kell was not the only baseball figure that came out of Swifton, a man named Bobby Winkles was also born in Tuckerman but went to school in Swifton. Mr. Winkles was the coach for the Arizona State University baseball team from 1959-1971, became a major league baseball coach, managed the California Angels from 1973-1974, and then the Oakland Athletics from 1977-1978. Under his leadership his teams lost 213 games and won 170 games.

In twenty-first century Swifton consist of mostly residents of European ancestry but eight were counted as African American, and nine Hispanic. The town currently has six churches: Full Gospel Deliverance Ministry, Baptist, Church of Christ, Assembly of God, Methodist, and Abiding Faith, one café, two liquor stores, and a honky tonk (bar). There are two properties listed on the National Register of Historic Places in Swifton: the Phillips 66 Station (built roughly 1925), and the New Home School (built around 1915).

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Hulen, J.W.. 1918-Swifton High School, Jackson County Historical Society . Accessed May 2nd, 2023. https://jacksonhistory.net/1918-swifton-high-school/.

Hulen, J.W.. 1917-Swifton Soldier, Jackson County Historical Society. Accessed May 2nd, 2023. https://jacksonhistory.net/tag/swifton/page/3/.

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