by Bruce Vaughan (Author)
Emma Avenue has always been the heart of Springdale, Arkansas.
Once that heart beat strongly in the breast of a thriving town. Like so many small
communities in the 1920s and 1930s, Springdale bustled with activity-most of it along
a few blocks of Emma Avenue. Small trucks bringing strawberries to market; big trucks
hauling freight for the fledging Jones Truck Line; families shopping and socializing at
the movie houses and drug stores on Saturday night. Even the seedy side of Springdale
seemed to congregate along a short stretch of Emma Avenue, sometimes punctuating
the usual peaceful atmosphere of the community with moments of violence.
Long-time businessman Bruce Vaughan recounts his memories
of growing up in Springdale using an effective blend of personal anecdotes
and interviews with other "old timers" to recall those sometimes difficult years when electricity,
cars, and radios were beginning to change the very fabric of rural American life.