Historic Communities of the Fort Chaffee Area

September 20, 1941 seven hundred twelve (712) land-owners were displaced from 72,000  acres in the area now known as Fort Chaffee by the Department of Defense as they prepared to double the size of the U.S. Army in preparation for WWII. Families, farms, businesses, churches and schools disappeared, seemingly overnight.

Joseph Chasteen, Museum Coordinator and Historian at Fort Chaffee Redevelopment Authority, will examine early life in Center Valley and other displaced communities prior to the Chaffee era at the April 15 meeting of the South Sebastian County Historical Society.

Members of the Historical Society and the community are invited to bring family photos and memorabilia from these communities to display and discuss during the meeting. Special guests at the meeting will be Greenwood students who contributed articles to the Society’s annual publication, The Key.

The meeting will convene at 7 PM in the Community Room, Farmer’s Bank, 71 West Center Street, in Greenwood. All are welcome. For more information, call 479-252-6357.

Attached photo: Lewis D. Cason family at their home in the Union Grove Community, now part of Ft. Chaffee.