Category Archives: “Looking Back”

Quitman College: “Looking Back”

This past weekend, our road trip included a stop at Quitman Fest. It was while we were driving through this small town on Highway 25, which straddles both Faulkner and Cleburne counties, that we turned onto College Street, a street that runs north and south from the downtown area.

Yes, there was once a college in Quitman. The Quitman Male and Female College, usually called Quitman College, was chartered in 1871, the first Methodist educational institution established Continue reading

A Brief History of Vilonia: “Looking Back”

In 1861, a small group of pioneers began to settle in the area that is now called Vilonia. According to tradition, this original settlement was called Vilsonia which mean “land of two valleys.”

The name was altered when the first group of Masons established a lodge there in 1873. When they sent their request into the national headquarters in Washington, D.C., the national organization misspelled the name; instead the name was recorded as “Vilonia.” Continue reading