The Strange Magnetism of Jonesboro, Arkansas

No one chooses where they are born, and when you are a kid, you don't really have a say in where you live and grow up. This is true of my life, so that unchosen place happens to be Jonesboro, Arkansas. When I was trying to come up with something unique about Jonesboro, all I could really come up with was a bunch of tragedies. I tried to look online at its history and notable events and all I could find was tragedy and pain.

Map of Jonesboro and the nearby communities

One reason I live here is because my grandmothers live here and my family wanted to stay nearby for them. With that, I interviewed my paternal grandmother, Joyce Presley, who is a longtime resident of Jonesboro to see why she came here and stayed here.

Photo of my Grandma, taken by me

"After I got married, we moved to Jonesboro because of work. My husband was a CPA here. The first time we moved here was in '69. Jonesboro is like a magnet. If you live here once, you're likely to come back again. But because of work, we moved from and to Jonesboro two or three times." When asked what made Jonesboro magnetic she replied, "We used to have everything that we wanted and needed here but the quality of life in Jonesboro is not what it used to be. There's not the same attraction. I really don't know why. I know that the recent tornado took out some of the stores that are not coming back."

The recent tornado that she was referring to occurred on March 28, 2020 and it damaged or destroyed numerous homes and businesses. Notable places that the tornado affected were the Turtle Creek Mall, the Camfil factory complex and the Jonesboro Airport. I was not personally affected by the tornado and neither was my grandmother, but I did see the tornado and I know people who were affected by it.

Tornado destruction at the Jonesboro Airport
Photo by Quentin Winstine with the Jonesboro Sun Newspaper

When asked about other events, she recalled, "The Westside shooting. That was a real tragedy when the school was so disrupted. I was working and I remember hearing that on the radio that morning and just that was a terrible time."

The Westside school shooting was a shooting that happened in Jonesboro on March 24, 1998 and ended with five people dead and 10 people injured. This tragedy was the deadliest pre-Columbine non-college school shooting. 

It is interesting that the only time that Jonesboro gets national attention is when something bad happens here, but I guess that is pretty common across the US. Jonesboro seems to be magnetically attracted to pain and tragedy. While Jonesboro will always be my hometown, I hesitate to truly call it home.

Sources Used

Ellis, Ralph, et al. “Tornado Rips Through Arkansas City, Injuring 22 People.” CNN, 29 Mar. 2020, edition.cnn.com/2020/03/29/weather/tornadoes-severe-storms/index.html. 

Jonesboro, AR | Official Website. www.jonesboro.org. 

Maps | Jonesboro, AR. www.jonesboro.org/507/Maps.

Presley, Joyce. Personal Interview. 25 Feb. 2023.

Presley, Rebekah. "Photo of my Grandma" Photograph created 25 Feb. 2023

Wikipedia contributors. “1998 Westside Middle School Shooting.” Wikipedia, 23 Feb. 2023, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1998_Westside_Middle_School_shooting. ---. 

“Jonesboro, Arkansas.” Wikipedia, 17 Feb. 2023, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonesboro,Arkansas. 

Winstine, Quentin. “Tornado Damage in Jonesboro.” https://jonesborosun.com, 28 Mar. 2020, www.jonesborosun.com/multimedia/gallery-tornado-damage-in-jonesboro/collection_36ddde2a-7162-11ea-8579-0b669cf1af26.html#12.