 The City of Conway was founded by A. P. Robinson, who came to Conway shortly after the Civil War. Robinson was the chief engineer for the Little Rock-Fort Smith Railroad (now the Union-Pacific). Part of his compensation was the deed to a tract of land, one square mile, located near the old settlement of Cadron. When the railroad came through, Robinson deeded a small tract of his land back to the railroad for a depot site. He laid off a town site around the depot and named it Conway Station, in honor of a famous Arkansas family. Conway Station contained two small stores, two saloons, a depot, some temporary housing and a post office.
Conway was designated the county seat of Faulkner County in 1873, the same year that the county was created by the legislature. In October 1875, Conway was incorporated and, at that time, had a population of approximately 200. When originally incorporated in 1875, Conway was just one square mile surrounding Conway Station on the Little Rock and Fort Smith Branch of the Cairo and Fulton Railroad. By 1959, Conway encompassed 6.9 square miles. During the next 30 years Conway grew rapidly annexing a total of 15.4 square miles. During the 1990's grew even faster, adding 12.2 square miles. Conway now encompasses approximately 40 sqaure miles. Almost all area annexed has been through petition by the property owners.
For many years Conway flourished as a trade center for a large rural agricultural area. Hendrix College was established in Conway in 1890. Three years later, in 1893, Central College for Girls was established, and Conway was on its way to becoming an educational center. The University of Central Arkansas was founded in Conway in 1907 as the Arkansas Normal School. Its economy was firmly established upon agriculture and the educational institutions until World War II.
After the war, diversification of the economy was started by Conway businessmen, and several small industries were attracted to Conway. Subsequently, additional state institutions were located in Conway, including the headquarters for the Office of Emergency Services, the Human Development Center, and the Arkansas Educational Television Network.
Conway has a sizable industrial / technological base. Industry located in Conway include: Kimberly Clark, Amtran, Virco, Baldwin Piano, and Carrier. Computer database giant Acxiom calls Conway their headquarters.
History of Faulkner County
Faulkner County was formed from portions of Conway and Pulaski Counties. Faulkner County became the sixty-ninth county in Arkansas on April 12, 1873, by Act 44 of Arkansas' Nineteenth General Assembly. In 1875 the county lost some of its territory back to Pulaski County, but at the same time gained land from Pulaski County in another location. The residents in these areas did not get a vote in the decision; it was done by the legislature. The county is located in the central part of the state and contains approximately 647 square miles (including land and water areas). The county was named after a well known Arkansaspolitician, Sanford "Sandy" Faulkner, who was also known as te "Arkansas Traveler". In the territory that preceeded Arkansas' statehood, there were settlers near Greenbrier, Quitman, and Mayflower. The Cadron settlement, which was located at the site of an early French trading post on the arkansas river, was the most established. It dates back to about 1808 and came close to being chosen as the capitol of the Arkansas Territory. A group of Cherokee Indians being removed to the Indian Territory, stopped at the Cadron Settlement on their way along the "Trail of Tears". Several died of cholera while they were there and were buried nearby. The Cadron area flourished until the railroad bypassed them in 1871. Cadron Creek Park near Conway is located at the site of the Cadron settlement. A mural at the park depicts the settlement that was once there.
A majority of the early settlers in the area came because of the agricultural land. Figure No. 2 shows an early resident's observation on land types in the region. People settled near the areas of Greenbrier and Mayflower because of the soils, timber, flowing streams, and climate. In the 1900's cotton was the predominant crop, and the first industries in the area were the cotton gins. Cotton ginning continued in the county until 1972. As time went on, grains (especially corn) became popular crops.
The Soil Conservation Service and the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCCs) had a major impact on Faulkner County during the Great Depression. Soil fertility depletion and erosion had become a serious problem by the early 1930's. Lake Bennett and Woolly Hollow Recreation Center (Woolly Hollow State Park) were created to control soil erosion and conserve water. The Soil Conservation Service sponsored camps to help farmers in the area. One of these camps was set up in Damascus.
Until the Civil War, water transportation was the main form of transportation in Arkansas and towns grew up in areas close to a navigable body of water. After the Civil War, railroads came to the area and train depots often became the focus of economic activity. Therefore, towns needed to be in close proximity to the railroads in order to survive. The railroads were vital to the beginnings of Faulkner County and Conway. In 1853, the Cairo & Fulton Railroad was chartered with plans to construct a railroad from Cairo Illinois to Fulton Arkansas. The company also decided to build a line known as the Little Rock & Fort Smith Railroad (LR&FS). The survey of the LR&FS route was completed in 1854. The route would start in Little Rock, continue in a northwesterly direction crossing Cadron Creek, continue on to Russellville, and cross the Arkansas River at Dardanelle, then continue south of the river to Fort Smith.
Colonel Asa Robinson was appointed as the chief engineer of LP & FS railroad construction. The track was planned to pass over Cadron Ridge causing a steep grade for the trains. Robinson decided that it would be better for the track to go through Cadron Gap instead. In 1870, a train schedule showed a stop in Conway (Conway Station) where the tracks came out of a curve to the west to go through Cadron Gap. One square mile of land was deeded to Robinson around Conway Station. A portion of this was given back to the railroad for a depot (Conway Station) and the remaining land was laid out as a site for the town of Conway which was incorporated in 1875 by the petition of thirty citizens. Conway Station had been chosen as the county seat two years before in 1873.
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