Alsonia is a major metropolis in the U.S. state of Arkansas. Alsonia is located in what seems to be the middle of nowhere, around 83 miles east of Texarkana and about 100 miles south of Little Rock. Despite this, the city is the most popular in the state of Arkansas, with a population of 903,185 as of the 2020 census. This also makes it the fourth most populated city in the southeast United States, only trailing behind Jacksonville, Margarita, and Kokomo.
Alsonia is heavily reliant on its French and Spanish history with one of its statues, the Jacques Marquette Memorial, being an honorary statue to the French missionary. Museums related to French and Spanish history are located around the city, as well as sculptures of historical events and influential people in America, such as a theme park themed around the first and second Great Awakening. These historical venues, alongside many other parks and entertainment venues, make Alsonia one of the top tourist destinations in the Southeast.
Alsonia also has a diverse highway system, with its main freeway, Interstate 28, acting as a connector from Montgomery, AL to Oklahoma City, OK. In Alsonia, it takes the form of the Pastor George Whitefield Freeway and runs for about sixteen miles with eight lanes. Its main at-grade highway, U.S. Route 267 connects from U.S. Route 167 east of Alsonia all the way to Fort Worth and Dallas in Texas. In Alsonia, U.S. Route 267 takes the form of Vanderbilt Highway and runs for about 18 miles with six lanes. The designation of Vanderbilt Highway remains as it runs westward out of the city and ends after it enters Texas in Texarkana.
History[]
An artwork of Alvaro Vandilla and the Natchez tribe of Indians exploring the Southeast. Illustrated by an unknown artist.
Spanish Exploration[]
Along with Hernando De Soto and Luis de Moscoso Alvarado, an aspiring Spanish explorer named Alvaro Vandilla explored America with them as their accomplice until telling DeSoto about his new goal of finding a spot to settle in the New World on 4 March 1541. From then, he separated from them and went on to explore America, creating little settlements here and there with the Natchez tribe of Indians until reaching southern Arkansas, where he found a rich set of minerals, such as water from the nearby Ouachita River, wheat and trees to build huts; and much more. A settlement was built there and was reportedly called Almaro. Vandilla went on to continue expanding his settlement with his newfound materials. He died there on 19 August 1556 to the flu. Further exploration plans were made to explore the northern reaches and gain more resources and to make more settlements, but his death halted those plans. His fellow Indians went on to support the settlement for over a century, with Vandilla's descendants succeeding him as the city governors. Almaro became the first successful European settlement in Arkansas as a result from its economic gain and longevity.
French Infiltration[]
In 1681, as an attempt to expand New France, Robert La Selle explored the Mississippi River as an attempt to claim it and the Mississippi Alluvial Plain for New France. He, and his partner, Henri de Tonti, succeeded in June of the following year. This caused a conflict of New France and the settlement, with Henrio Sa'Lavelle, one of Vandilla's descendants, playing a major part in it. Sa'Lavelle and his troops tried their best, but the New French Army was too much for them. The French ended up taking Almaro, and despite being in ruins, leaving the perfect opportunity to destroy it, they decided to rebuild the city, under the assumption that it would help expand their empire. They continued to treasure it for years to come as their centerpiece. It eventually became the most popular settlement there.
Post-French and Indian War; The End of Almaro[]
"The Beginning of the End" illustration documenting the War for Almaro; 1783 CE.
After the French and Indian War, and through 1762's Treaty of Fontainebleau, Almaro was given back to Spain. It, alongside with the Arkansas Post, tampered America's land titles, which would lead to the War for Independence, leading over to Colbert's raid of the Arkansas Post in 1783. The Post was safe, what happened afterwards wasn't... not for Almaro, that is. Colbert and the Chickasaw went on to target Almaro next and then went on to raid it, causing an even fiercer battle than in Arkansas Post. It got so fierce to the point that it was eventually documented as the War for Almaro. Unfortunately for the governor Marcado El Conquistador, he and his building were decimated in 1784, thus marking the end of Almaro after over 241 years of history. It was eventually burnt to a crisp in 1785, never to be seen again until later on in history.
Refoundation in Arkansas[]
Alsonia in 1904, shortly after it was officially designated as an incorporated city.
Resettlement on the former location of Almaro began as early as 1892, just 56 years after Arkansas was admitted to statehood. An explorer named James Gendry was exploring southern Arkansas to find new places to settle in. He crossed the Ouachita River to discover shortly after the rich number of materials and minerals available for usage, just like Vandilla did four centuries ago. He eventually went on to notify his fellow explorers about this unique area and started building a small settlement where Almaro first stood. All the huts and buildings were finished by the turn of the 20th Century; on approximately April 18th, 1900. On the following year, the new settlement started to attract people and finally got its name: Alsonia, a redoing of the name of the former settlement that stood in the same area, Almaro. Later on, in June of 1903, the city was officially recognized by the United States as an official city of Arkansas, and from there, the city could do nothing else but grow for the following twenty or so years. The city was connected to Little Rock in 1912, thus allowing trade and transportation to run rampant throughout the city.
The Great Depression[]
Alsonia in the Great Depression (1934)
The city was lively, and things were going well, until the Great Depression struck them in 1930, which raised unemployment and lowered crop demand. It put all expansion projects that were ongoing at the time on hold until further notice due to Alsonia entering debt. Like other cities, unemployment rose to an all-time high, which is what caused the city to go into debt, as it was starting to rapidly grow at the time. By the end of the Great Depression in 1939, Alsonia was in great financial despair, but would recover shortly after.
Recovery[]
During World War II, Alsonia became a major spot in Arkansas to gain materials from, especially considering the fact that there was a massive, global conflict going on. It also became a spot for refugees to hide in. By 1945, the same year as the end of World War II, Alsonia bounced back to a normal financial state, and expansion of the city continued.
Alsonia's First Highway[]
Vanderbilt Highway in 1949.
By the mid-1940's, Alsonia was growing extremely rapidly despite the aforementioned delay the Great Depression brought upon. With a sudden influx of traffic imminent, the city decided to incorporate the currently-under construction U.S. Route 267 as a connector to Fort Worth, as well as provide a main throughway for the city. It was unanimously agreed to be named Vanderbilt Highway a few days before construction began. The section of highway was finished on July 7th, 1947, and the entire U.S. Route was finished on April 3rd, 1962. The highway immediately relieved what would be a traffic jam crisis, and tourism and travel only increased from there when the entire U.S. Highway was finished in 1962, allowing residents from Fort Worth, Dallas, or Arlington to travel to the developing city. Its first freeway, the Alvaro Vandilla Freeway, would follow not long after, beginning construction on August 5th, 1942, and finishing on July 7th, 1956.
Interstate 28 and the Pastor George Whitefield Freeway[]
Interstate 28 / Pastor George Whitefield Freeway under construction in the northwesternmost region of Alsonia (1962).
While Alsonia was casually benefitting from the tourism it was getting, the city was looking for more ways to expand into other areas, such as through the Interstate Highway System or through other means. One of those means would be through the Interstate Highway System that was established in 1956, just six years ago at the time. Interstate 28, which was originally considered as a non-signed freeway called the Pastor George Whitefield Freeway, was taken into consideration first, with plans to connect the city to Oklahoma City for the Interstate and to have the Pastor George Whitefield Freeway run for the first sixteen miles. Construction began on February 16th, 1965, and ended on August 4th, 1969, for the freeway, and March 7th, 1975, for the Interstate overall. The Interstate alleviated more traffic in Alsonia, while also providing more materials for it in the process. The Interstate also provided even more goods to be transported from Oklahoma City and Tulsa, and increased tourism overall. The city hit the 450,000-population barrier by 1980.
Alsonia's Entertainment Boom[]
In 1981, thanks to the amount of money and tourism Alsonia got from U.S. Route 267 and Interstate 28, the government decided to build a bunch of entertainment venues and attractions, such as a museum related to Alsonia's interesting history, parks and recreational areas around the city, and a theme park themed around the Great Awakenings. In addition, Alsonia's hotel businesses and the amount of them as a whole increased by a lot, resulting in three to five-star hotels all around the downtown area, as well as some in the outskirts of the city. As a result, Alsonia gained even more tourism than ever before and officially crossed the 600,000-population barrier by 1988.
The Skybreacher and Alsonia's Downtown Renovation[]
The Skybreacher today.
As the city grew, so did the demand for more workplaces and more office buildings. The city hall decided to build multiple skyscrapers around the city, including one skyscraper called the The Skybreacher, which would be considered the third tallest building at the time at a height of 1,892 feet, just four feet shy of Margarita's Ybor Tower. This, alongside with the aforementioned renovation of Downtown Alsonia, would provide more areas for residents to settle in, as well as more workers more workplaces to work in. Construction on The Skybreacher and the renovation of the downtown area began on July 19th, 1992, and, for The Skybreacher, ended on April 19th, 1999. As for the renovation, it ended on October 14th, 2002, although buildings are being renovated and constructed left and right in the downtown area as of now.
The Millennium Boom[]
Through Alsonia's new countdown event that was set on The Skybreacher called The Warm Welcome to the New Year, Alsonia celebrated the transition of centuries and millennia from 1999 to 2000. Another economic and tourism boom came for the city early in the decade, with a sudden increase in tourism and residency getting the city's higher-ups to expand in all directions. Interstate 28 was also agreed to be extended to Montgomery, Alabama. The boom ended in 2005, and Alsonia was left with a financial surplus as well as a population gain of about 100,000, thus elevating the city further to a population of about 750,000. From here on out, Alsonia began to be classified as a tourist destination for Americans all around the country.
Alsonia's 100th Anniversary[]
In 2003, two years before the end of the Millenium Boom, Alsonia celebrated its 100th Anniversary. To celebrate, it announced new parks and more amenities around the city that were set to be finished in, at the earliest, 2008, three years after the boom would end. Events were set around the city that related to its French, Spanish, and American history. The last of those amenities to be finished was a SeaWorld Theme Park that was located near the downtown area of the city. It was finished in 2016 and features eight rides, a separately themed area around the popular children's series SpongeBob SquarePants, and around ten to fifteen food stores, including a Hard Rock Cafe somewhere around the middle of the park. The population increased to around 820,000 by 2017.
COVID-19 Pandemic[]
From 2020 to 2021, Alsonia faced economic despair through the COVID-19 pandemic. As unemployment rose to an all-time high for the city since the Great Depression ninety years ago, the city faced an economic depression. Despite this, the city was unable to drop to debt due to the constant tourism for the city.
Recovery[]
In 2022, the pandemic was starting to wane, thus causing the city to alleviate some restrictions that they set when the pandemic rose, such as frequent quarantine as well as forcing COVID testing for doctors. Vaccines became available on the same year. In May 2023, COVID no longer became a worldwide threat, thus causing Alsonia to lift all previous COVID restrictions, thus causing life to go back to what it was like before COVID. In October of the same year, it was reported that Alsonia's economy went back to normal, and in fact went above its average for the month.