Editing Mayflower, Arkansas (section)

==History==
Mayflower is a small town located along Interstate 40 southeast of [[Conway, Arkansas|Conway]] (Faulkner County) and northwest of [[Little Rock, Arkansas|Little Rock]] (Pulaski County). Located on the southwestern edge of Lake Conway, Mayflower is particularly known for its fishing. Like many of the smaller towns of Faulkner County, such as [[Vilonia, Arkansas|Vilonia]] and [[Greenbrier, Arkansas|Greenbrier]], Mayflower offers a rural lifestyle within a short drive of Conway and Little Rock, where many of its residents commute to work.<ref name="Encyclopedia of Arkansas">{{Cite web |title=Encyclopedia of Arkansas |url=https://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/mayflower-faulkner-county-881/ |access-date=April 10, 2022 |website=Encyclopedia of Arkansas |language=en-US}}</ref>  It was incorporated as a town in [[Arkansas]] on March 6, 1928.

The area’s earliest European settlers were [[Loyalist (American Revolution)|Loyalists]], known then as [[Tory (American)|Tories]], who moved westward in order  to flee the [[American Revolutionary War|Revolutionary War]]. Families such as the Flannagins and Massengills arrived around 1778 and settled near the mouth of Palarm Creek.<ref name="Encyclopedia of Arkansas"/> However, local tribes of Native Americans had inhabited this region for centuries, principally the [[Quapaw]]. Yet, other indigenous groups were in this area now known as part of the [[Great Plains Cultural Area]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Waldman |first=Carl |title=Atlas of the North American Indian |publisher=Facts on File, Inc. |year=1985 |location=New York, NY, USA |pages=39–40 |language=English}}</ref>

Like most of [[Arkansas]], the land was heavily wooded and was therefore logged extensively until the turn of the twentieth century. Cotton plantations existed during the [[American Civil War]] owing to the river bottom’s fertile soil. This would later give way to sharecroppers and modern farming. This presents the largest source of the local economy today, although some small businesses exist in the town.<ref name="Encyclopedia of Arkansas"/>

The [[2013 Mayflower oil spill]] occurred on March 29, 2013, when an [[ExxonMobil]] pipeline carrying [[heavy crude oil]] ruptured near Mayflower, spilling thousands of barrels of oil.<ref>[https://www.reuters.com/article/us-exxon-pipeline-spill-idUSBRE92U00220130331 Exxon cleans up Arkansas oil spill; Keystone plan assailed] [[Reuters]]</ref> This caused the evacuation of 22 homes as well as extensive damage to other local properties and the local ecosystem.<ref name="Encyclopedia of Arkansas"/>

===2014 tornado===
{{Main|2014 Mayflower–Vilonia tornado}}
Mayflower was hit by a violent EF4 tornado before 8:00&nbsp;p.m. on April 27, 2014.<ref>{{cite web|title=NWS Damage Survey for 04/27/2014 tornado event|url=http://mesonet.agron.iastate.edu/wx/afos/p.php?pil=PNSLZK&e=201404302318|publisher=National Weather Service Offic in Little Rock, Arkansas|accessdate=April 30, 2014}}</ref>