Hardy, Arkansas

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Hardy is a city in Sharp County, Arkansas, United States. The population was 578 at the 2000 census.

[edit] Geography

Hardy is located at 36°19′14″N, 91°28′50″W (36.320553, -91.480645)^GR1.

The Spring River, which begins in Mammoth Spring, Arkansas, flows through Hardy. The Spring River flows into the Black River, which flows into the White River, and the White River eventually flows into the Mississippi River.

U.S. Highway 63 is the main highway which runs through the town. In its course through Arkansas, Highway 63 runs from the Missouri State Line at Mammoth Spring to connect with Interstate 55 near Gilmore, Arkansas.

When roads were poor and travel much more difficult than today, Hardy was one of two county seats of Sharp County. The other was Evening Shade. In 1963, Ash Flat was named the county seat, and Hardy and Evening Shade lost that designation.

Hardy is served by the Burlington Northern-Santa Fe Railroad. Formerly, the railroad through Hardy was part of the Frisco (St. Louis-San Francisco Railroad) which had about 5,000 miles of trackage, and served Arkansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Kansas, Texas, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, and Florida. In 1980, the much larger Burlington Northern bought out the Frisco and integrated it into its own system, and the Frisco ceased to exist.

It has several lakefront communities and subdivisions, including Woodland Hills.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 6.7 km² (2.6 mi²). 6.1 km² (2.4 mi²) of it is land and 0.6 km² (0.2 mi²) of it (8.85%) is water.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^GR2 of 2000, there were 578 people, 298 households, and 159 families residing in the city. The population density was 94.6/km² (244.7/mi²). There were 489 housing units at an average density of 80.0/km² (207.0/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 95.33% White, 1.04% Native American, 0.52% Asian, and 3.11% from two or more races. 0.52% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There are 298 households which 17.4% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 40.9% were married couples living together, 9.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 46.6% were non-families. 43.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 23.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 1.94 and the average family size was 2.67.

In the city the population was spread out with 16.8% under the age of 18, 6.9% from 18 to 24, 20.4% from 25 to 44, 27.9% from 45 to 64, and 28.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 49 years. For every 100 females there were 79.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 73.6 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $17,375, and the median income for a family was $25,500. Males had a median income of $20,208 versus $17,857 for females. The per capita income for the city was $12,204. About 12.2% of families and 23.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 23.6% of those under age 18 and 28.6% of those age 65 or over.