[ArkansasBound]

I've been in the rebel store across from Wal-Mart. I heard the elderly man who ran it has died from cancer and the building was up for sale the last time I went by.

If it's the same antique store owner you're talking about, he told me that they
lynched black people in the area as late as the seventies. What the heck?
WHAT black people in the area? There wouldn't have been any. Was that supposed to scare me away?

"Even the people who had moved in from other parts of the state did not like new people moving in" No kidding. That's who we've had the most
trouble with. People who weren't even born here.

We've finally moved here for good. We got here last weekend. The move
was long and stressful, and we have a lot of things to do. It's even more stressful cause our house is not finished on the inside. We had to fire the idiot builder last fall for lying, stealing, and cooking the books to try to get more money out of us. So now the interior needs insulation, walls, floor,
everything.

I came up here for the scenery and the lower cost of living. I didn't expect the people here to be any more sociable or nice than anywhere else. People are people.

Now I'll be job hunting and having to put up with people harping about there
ARE NO JOBS, and ya have to know somebody who knows somebody who knows somebody before you can get one. Sheesh! But so far this is all better than driving in Austin traffic and sucking in the car fumes and paying
high taxes.

[ArkansasBound]

A few years ago we found out that our great, great, great uncle was govenor of Arkansas, and that he got them to name the town of Yellville after him for a price of $50, but he got killed in a war before he paid. My brother and cousin went to Yellville and paid the $50. Last Oct. my cousin, two brothers, sister and myself went to Yellville, and were in the parade, most everyone was very nice to us, they even had us on stage and introduced us as decendents of Archiball Yell, but they never put our pictures on their website, they still have old pictures of the turkey trot, so I feel like they really didn't care about us visiting. I don't plan to go back.

I read about that somewhere............do you live in Arkansas or are you from out of state? I would think that would be a fairly big news item for the town.
I guess you just can't figure out what people do or think.

[hsubon]

I would not move to yellville on a dime bet.
it is a backward town that is the steriotype of arkansas that people make fun of.
Moderator cut: personal attack
There are many other towns that are much more welcoming. Eurika springs, hot springs.
Even mountain home is better than eurika springs. you will just get boad todeath.

[Greenmon]

HOwdy Folks, My wife and i moved here goin on 3yrs, She lived in Austin ,TX, many years,and i am a native Californian,(yep thats right not wanted anywheres !) We moved here cause my wifes mom was sick, then died,but we fell in love with the area , Wildlife, clean air,water, and yes Mostly nice people ! Yes we have met a couple of nuts, but we have made some very great friends here as well. Oh and we are Jewish thats right , how many do yah think are up here ? So far we have had such a pleasant time , enjoying mild winters and summers. Lakes and rivers abound . I get to see turtles and frogs giving us a chorus most spring and summer nights,( yes i know the difference between insects and frogs ! hehe) ALL i can say is just relax and enjoy, dont take anyone too seriously , most just want to see what your made of. Have Fun, feel free to contact us we will give yahs as much info as possible. Best Wishes .

[calbound]

We are from Georgia and Tennessee, and Michigan.

[Barn]

We're considering moving to Yellville from here in West Virginia.

We heard that you can hardly walk around in the woods out there since the poisioness snakes are so pleantyful. Is that true?

We have snakes here, but it sounds pretty bad there in rural Arkansas especially in the ozarks.

[Bull Winkus]

Originally Posted by ArkansasBound

After having studied the North Central part of Arkansas for about a year as a relocation area, my husband and I purchased some land near Yellville. We are currently living out of state. We have been gradually (as money permits) getting ready to move there. We are white.

My husband has been driving up there off and on to oversee the building of our house. I've only been up there twice, and recently I have finally been able to get up there to see the house. It's beautiful! But, unfortunately
some of the 'locals' don't appreciate our being there. And some of these 'locals' aren't even originally from Arkansas.

My husband had been experiencing trouble from the neighbors ever since they knew we'd bought the land. They would tell him how horrible the wildlife is (bears EVERYWHERE), hundreds of snakes, endless insects, lights in the
night, thieves breaking in everywhere, bad storms, tornadoes, NO JOBS to be
found anywhere, very little pay IF we DID get a job, lousy stores, lousy hospitals, no help from anyone, everyone would rip us off. And during some of his trips, there would be someone out in our woods making wild animal
noises when he was camping out.

I met some more neighbors on another street. They had come over and introduced themselves to my husband earlier on. Frankly, at a certain point my husband didn't want to talk to ANYONE up there. These people gave me the same runaround........bears, thieves, people who were dangerous and might try something REALLY bad. One person is originally from out of state and has been in Yellville for years, and they have been terrorized (their own words) all that time! GOSH, you'd think they would have been run off by now. But THEY are pulling the same stuff on us.

But, thank God, most of the people in Yellville just stared at us and left us alone.

We ate at a restaurant near Yellville, and I just couldn't resist making a comment. I told the waitress we were from out of state, to see how she would react. She said well, as long as we weren't from Illinois. Them thar Illinois people are the meanest! A woman from Illinois opened a business across the street from the restaurant and she was just darn MEAN! I said what in the world had this woman done to HER? Well, she said, nothin' exactly, she just heard she was mean. Wow, such compassion for other people! I'm from Illinois originally, but I didn't mention it, or mention my opinion that I've run into some Arkansans who were just darned mean. And, she lost 2 customers. I'll never eat there again.

So, it is quite apparent that some locals don't care for outsiders. I have met 2 other 'locals' who said one couldn't get a job up there unless they personally knew the employer. I have never heard such nonsense!

I'm sure a lot of the factories in the area are from out of state. I wonder if the locals are appreciative of the outsiders providing jobs for them. HEY, maybe I'll stand a better chance of getting a job if the employer is an OUTSIDER too!

During tourist season I have no doubt the town appreciates these horrible 'outsiders'.

We have spent too much money and time in this relocation, and we intend to move there.

So, to the 'outsiders' who want to relocate to the Yellville area, just take what people might say to you with a grain of salt. Some want to run you off.

And, in my opinion, some of the locals are racist. We have a friend of 'color' who has gone up there with us, and if looks and subtle comments could kill, our friend would be dead.

We're white outsiders, which is bad enough to the locals, but if I was of a different race, I'd think twice about living in Yellville. And of course that is MY opinion.

So this is my observation and opinion, and I have had several years of observation. This can ALSO be said of other states and towns. There are people like this ANYWHERE you go.

On a final note, if anyone is considering having a house built, make absolutely sure the building contractor is officially licensed and checked out. We have
friends there who took someone's word that he was a licensed builder, and
it turned out he WASN'T. He'd lied to my friends. They were too trusting. But everything turned out well anyway. But be careful.

Yellville was the first place I went as far as to get a realtor involved showing me houses. I can't really testify as to the friendliness of the people. I didn't have time to get around to meeting all of them. Everybody I did talk to was more than friendly, though usually busy with their every day lives.

In reading your little rant, it did strike me that most of what they were saying was somewhat true, even if a little exaggerated. There are snakes, and in the case of newly established property the snakes do not know it doesn't belong to them anymore. As far as insects go, there's wasps and bumble bees, ticks and chiggers. The woods are not infertile. There's plenty of wild life making a nice living without human intervention. All of these things might seem to be quite a bother to someone who isn't used to it; someone more used to city living.

I don't think you're going to find many factories in or near Yellville. You might find some back towards Mountain Home. Work is scarce unless you're good at starting your own business, or can do freelance.

Perhaps they were speaking from the heart, giving their opinions based on their experiences having come from a more sterile environment. Perhaps they really were trying to warn you, and you were misinterpreting their intentions. If that's the case and you can tolerate the snakes, insects, critters and vermin, then you should do well.

Good luck, though. I think you'll end up loving the area and the people. You just need to make new friends and avoid the snakes.

[Synopsis]

Originally Posted by sbernard

Just guessing, but I'd say the locals were pulling your leg to some degree. I live thirty miles from Yellville and I've found every one there to be very warm and genuine. Jobs will be hard to come by because there aren't a lot of employers.

I used to work with a woman who'd moved here from Enid, Oklahoma. I've never been to Enid, but after knowing her I don't need to go there. She rambled for hours about how things were 'back in Enid'. How they did things in Enid, how great things were in Enid, how much better Enid was than where she'd moved to.

Like I said, I've never been to Enid, but I already hate it. And, that's how a lot of people are that come here. To the locals, this is home and we like it fine. If someone else comes here and doesn't like it, they're free to move back to wherever they came from. Over the last thirty years the area has been inundated with newcomers from all over the US and some locals are feeling a little outnumbered.

Try not to take it too seriously and just be yourself. It's probably the same almost anywhere you go. Come here with a good friendly attitude, act like you're glad to be here and you'll be treated like a real person by your newfound friends.

I'm from Oklahoma and if I encountered a person like the woman from Enid I'd say, "Well then, GO BACK TO ENID!"

I lived in Danville Arkansas back in the 80s and found it to be a really nice place.

Beautiful countryside, nice people; I loved it. Unfortunately I was young and making little money working for Arkla Gas so I moved back to Oklahoma.

But, I'll never forget the good times I had in Arkansas.

[Stormcrow73]

Originally Posted by Barn

We're considering moving to Yellville from here in West Virginia.

We heard that you can hardly walk around in the woods out there since the poisioness snakes are so pleantyful. Is that true?

We have snakes here, but it sounds pretty bad there in rural Arkansas especially in the ozarks.

No, not really true at all. There ARE highly documented pockets of high occurence of copperheads though. It's believed they MAY have some breeding phase migration to a specific location and if you happened to purchase a piece of property where they gather then you will encounter many more than average. Having been herping in W.VA and the areas around Boone and Marion Counties AR, they are VERY comparable in typical occurence of venemous snakes. AR may have a slightly higher rate of occurence and I'm pretty sure we have more species here but unless you're out looking for them specifically, I doubt you'll notice a lot more.

Here are some websites for you to check out:

http://www.snakesofarkansas.com (looks like they are temporarily down)
Snakes

[luvarkansas]

I've only seen one copperhead (or any poisonous snake, for that matter) in the 20 or so years I've been stomping around in the Arkansas woods (a lot of the stomping not confined to marked trails). And that one was out in the middle of the the road!