[billr]

Just curious if anyone that lives or have lived around Salem can help me out with some information.

Back around 1950 when I was about 12 years old we lived just a couple miles outside of town at Salem AR. on the road that went toward the lake and Mountain Home.

My dad use to take me squirrel hunting with him across the other side of the highway on a mountain which had a huge round crater that covered the top of the mountain. I was told by people back then that it was an old volcano that had long since been dead.

We moved from there when the Bull Shoals dam was nearing completion as that is where my father worked. For decades after that I never returned to the area until last year when I was visiting the Hardy Ar area looking at real estate. My wife and I took a trip over to Salem and I tried to find the area where I had lived as a youngster, but things had changed so much I had no luck. I believe that perhaps even the highway had been rerouted at some point over the years and possibly no longer goes by that old home place.

I did ask a few people if they knew anything about an old volcano that had existed in the area, and no one I talked to knew anything about it. I know that the mountain existed and the huge crater did exist. Of course going from childhood memory, I am not certain but I would think that the crater was something like a half mile or less in diameter and something like perhaps 75 to 100 feet from the rim to the bottom. Of course it was forested very well with oaks, hickory and other tress. I know that the squirrel hunting there was great.

Can any of the old timers or anyone else tell me if they know of the mountain I am talking about? I realize it is not life or death, but this old mind would like to know.

BillR

[Bull Winkus]

You might be remembering Salem Knob. It is a lone peak on the north side of town that might be mistaken for an old volcano.

I think the adults were either mistaken or were simply stoking a child's imagination about the volcano. As far as I know, there are no volcanos in Arkansas, dormant or otherwise. And, I'm pretty sure that goes for Missouri and Oklahoma as well.

Plenty of springs though.

[Stormcrow73]

Originally Posted by Bull Winkus

You might be remembering Salem Knob. It is a lone peak on the north side of town that might be mistaken for an old volcano.

I think the adults were either mistaken or were simply stoking a child's imagination about the volcano. As far as I know, there are no volcanos in Arkansas, dormant or otherwise. And, I'm pretty sure that goes for Missouri and Oklahoma as well.

Plenty of springs though.

Totally right there Bull. The geology of Arkansas is almost entirely uplifted sedimentary rock which was once the bottom of a large, warm shallow ocean. Now, if you go a few hours north into Missouri to the St. Francois Mountains, you can find the remnants of extremely ancient volcanic activity. All that's left are the very roots of a huge vast mountain range that once was highly volcanically active. It's the oldest mountain range in North America, they make the Appalachians and Ozarks look like younguns and the Rockies mere infants compared to the age of these. Saint Francois Mountains - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[SwinerBock]

Ok, true, there are no volcanos in Arkansas, at least volcanos the way we think of them. There is, however, ONE ancient volcanic pipe in Arkansas, so we aren't TOTALLY devoid of any volcanic features.

Splitting hairs, I know. It's the Friday of a reeeeaally slow week for me....

[Stormcrow73]

Originally Posted by SwinerBock

Ok, true, there are no volcanos in Arkansas, at least volcanos the way we think of them. There is, however, ONE ancient volcanic pipe in Arkansas, so we aren't TOTALLY devoid of any volcanic features.

Splitting hairs, I know. It's the Friday of a reeeeaally slow week for me....

Ahh, well yes that is true. Took me a while to figure out what you were talking about!

[billr]

OK so there is no history of volcanoes in the area, but I am now confused about how such a huge crater came to be on the top of that mountain. I can remember hearing the term Salem Knob although I am not sure that was the place I am talking about. I can clearly remember us going down into the crater and walking the floor of it hunting. To get back out you had to go back up the wall of that crater. Of course the walls of it were No longer steep and could be walked, but was steep enough that you could tell it was a crater and not just a valley.

Where we lived was on the north side of town, but very close to town. If you were to leave downtown Salem going to where we lived which was toward Viola we lived on the right side of the highway not more than two or three miles from town and the mountain was across the highway which would have been on the left. Of course Salem was smaller back in the 1950s.

Is Salem Knob the one that now has some towers mounted on it?

Thanks for the interest and the information.

BillR

[Bull Winkus]

Are you talking about Hot Springs?

[SwinerBock]

Originally Posted by Bull Winkus

Are you talking about Hot Springs?

If your question is directed at me, the answer is no. The Crater of Diamonds in Murfreesboro is an old volcanic pipe. Volcanic pipes in general are known for producing diamonds.

[Bull Winkus]

Oh! I believe that would be called a fumarole, but definitely volcanic in nature. But for the diamonds, I don't believe there is any outward sign of it.

OH, and while we're on this subject, isn't there a place in Arkansas where two rivers cross each other without mixing?

[RogMar]

Perhaps what could be mistaken for a volcanic crater is a sink hole.

They're all around on the hill where I live and they're quite large. I have one near my road that if it was on top would most certainly resemble a volcanic top.

From what I understand, caverns run through these hills *all over*, winding like a snake up & down. Over time, some of the caverns collapse, and that causes the sink hole.

I do hope someone from the Salem area can answer the OP's question.