Pine Bluff is the largest city and county seat of Jefferson County, Arkansas, United States. According to 2006 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the city is 52,693, ranking it as the seventh most populous city in the state. According to the 2007 US Census Estimate, Pine Bluff now has a population of 50,667.
History: Pine Bluff was prospering by the outbreak of the Civil War with wealth built on the commodity crop of cotton cultivated on large plantations by enslaved African-American laborers. The city had one of the largest slave populations in the state by 1860 and Jefferson County, Arkansas was second in cotton production in the state. However, when Union forces occupied Little Rock, a group of Pine Bluff citizens requested Major General Frederick Steele send Union forces to occupy their town for their protection from bands of confederate bushwhackers who were terrorizing them. Union troops under Colonel Powell Clayton arrived September 17, 1863 and stayed until the war was over. Confederate General J.S. Marmaduke tried to expel the Union Army in the Battle of Pine Bluff October 25, 1863, but was repulsed by a combined effort of soldiers and former slaves. In the final year of the war, the first African American regiment in the civil war to experience combat, the 1st Regiment Kansas Volunteer Infantry (Colored) (composed primarily of runaway slaves from Arkansas and Missouri) was dispatched to guard Pine Bluff and was eventually mustered out there.
As personal fortunes increased from the 1870s onward, community leaders constructed large Victorian-style homes west of Main Street. Meanwhile, the reconstruction era of the 1870s brought a stark mix of progress and challenge for African Americans. Blacks were elected to county offices and the state legislature for the first time in history as the heavily black Pine Bluff/Jefferson County electorate stretched its political muscles. Several black business were also opened including banks, bars, barbershops, and other establishments. Conversely, in 1866, after an altercation in a refugee camp in Pine Bluff between blacks and whites, 24 black men, women and children were found hanging from trees in one of the worst mass lynchings in U.S. history. With the lynchings of Armistad Johnson in 1889, John Kelly and Gulbert Harris in 1892 in front of the Jefferson County Courthouse, along with the formal adoption of Jim Crow laws by the state of Arkansas, the atmosphere was grim toward the end of the 19th century for many African Americans . This made the appeal of Bishop Henry McNeal Turner's "Back to Africa" movement attractive to numbers of local African American residents who purchased tickets and/or sought information on emigration (Arkansas had 650 emigrants depart to the African nation of Liberia more than any other state in the United States. The majority of these emigrants came from Jefferson, St. Francis, Pulaski, Pope, and Conway counties.)
The city is situated in the southeast section of the state in the Arkansas Delta with the Arkansas Timberlands region to its immediate west. Its topography is largely flat with wide expanses of farmland surrounding it. Pine Bluff is home to a number of creeks, streams, bayous (Bayou Bartholomew is the longest bayou in the world and is the second most diverse stream in the United States), and larger bodies of water such as Lake Saracen, Lake Langhofer (Slack Water Harbor) and the Arkansas River.
Agriculture is a mainstay in Pine Bluff. Jefferson County is located in the heart of a rich agricultural area in the Arkansas River Basin. The leading products include cotton, soybeans, cattle, rice, poultry, timber and catfish.
Pine Bluff retains a healthy, diverse cultural climate. The Pine Bluff Convention Center is one of the state's largest meeting facilities. The Arts and Science Center features theatrical performances and workshops for children and adults. Pine Bluff did also boast the only Band Museum in the country but it has closed. Other areas of interest include downtown murals depicting the history of Pine Bluff, the Pine Bluff/Jefferson County Historical Museum, Arkansas Entertainers Hall of Fame and the Arkansas Railroad Museum.
Pine Bluff has a full complement of educational facilities. The Pine Bluff School District includes elementary magnet schools to meet special interests in the fields of math, science, foreign language, communications, and fine and performing arts. Watson Chapel School District d Dollarway School District also serve the city as well as a number of private schools. The University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff (UAPB) is the second oldest public educational institution in the state of Arkansas, and the oldest with a black heritage. It maintains one of the nation's few aquaculture research programs and the only one in the state of Arkansas. It also houses the University Museum and Cultural Center dedicated to preserving the history of UAPB and the Arkansas Delta. The newly accredited Southeast Arkansas College features technical career programs as well as a 2-year college curriculum.
Carl Redus became the first African American mayor in the city's history in 2005.
Because Hispanics could be counted in other races, the totals above could possibly be more than 100%. If you would like a detailed listing of all ethnic groups in the U.S., please Click Here.
A small percentage of the businesses listed on BlackCityInfo.com may not necessarily be black owned and operated but have received favorable reviews from users who have visited the establishment, or from the owners themselves who warmly seek out African American patronage.
BEAUTY CARE - BLACK HAIR SALONS - MULTICULTURAL
Ana's Hair Salon - Category: Hair Salons - 3107 West 28th Avenue, Pine Bluff, AR 71603 (870) 541-9333
Black Creations - Category: Hair Salons - 613 S Hickory St, Pine Bluff, AR 71603-2241 (870) 534-4535
Destiny the Salon of Purpose - Category: Hair Salons - 47 North Richard, Pine Bluff, AR
Natural Reflections - Category: Natural Hair Salons - 4004 Robinhood Lane
Pine Bluff, Arkansas (870) 872-2613
Tramell's Beauty & Barber - Category: Hair Salons - 2700 West Pullen Street Pine Buff, AR 71601 (870) 535-7863
BLACK BUSINESSES - SERVICES - VENDORS ETC.
Alan K Minor CPA - Category: Legal/Financial - 106 S Main St. Pine Bluff, AR 71601-4320 (870) 535-8000
Matthew Henry CPA - Category: Legal/Financial - P O Box 6293 Pine Bluff, AR 71611-6293 (870) 536-6946
University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff - Category: Historically Black College - 1200 N University Mail Slot 4789 Pine Bluff, AR 71601 (870) 575-8000 - (visit website)
DINING - CATERING
Kibb's Bar-B-Que - Category: BBQ - 1400 S Blake St
Pine Bluff, AR 71603 (870) 535-8400 - (reviews)
Mother's Soul Food Seafood Diner - Category: Soul Food Restaurants - 3006 W 6th Ave Pine Bluff, AR 71601 (870) 850-0901
R & B Soul Food - Category: Soul Food Restaurants - 2904 W 13th Ave, Pine Bluff, AR 71603-1304 (870) 534-2872 - (visit website)
The Wood Shed BBQ - Category: BBQ - 9621 Highway 270
Pine Bluff, AR 71602 (870) 247-7424 - (visit website)
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