Editing Judsonia, Arkansas (section)

==History==
Originally known as Prospect Bluff, the town was founded in 1840 by Erastus Gregory. In 1871, a [[Baptist]] school, Judson University, was established in the area. A few months later, the name Prospect Bluff was changed to Judsonia, after the Baptist missionary [[Adoniram Judson]], to help promote the school, which drew many northerners to the area.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|last=Dick E.|first=Browning|url=http://www.encyclopediaofarkansas.net/encyclopedia/entry-detail.aspx?entryID=5450|title=Judson University|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Arkansas|date=May 19, 2009}}<br>- {{cite book | url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_9V1IAAAAMAAJ/page/n169/mode/2up?q=judsonia | title=The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States | publisher=Govt. Print. Off. | last=Gannett|first=Henry | year=1905 | pages=171}}</ref>

Though the school closed in 1883, the town streets still bear the names of several well-known 19th-century Baptists: Judson and Hasseltine (after [[Adoniram Judson]] and his wife, [[Ann Hasseltine Judson]]), Wayland (after [[Francis Wayland]], president of [[Brown University]] in [[Rhode Island]]), Wade (after the missionary Jonathan Wade) and Boardman (after the missionary [[George Boardman (missionary)|George Boardman]], whose widow, [[Sarah Hall Boardman]] became Judson's second wife).

On the evening of March 21, 1952, [[Arkansas-Tennessee tornado outbreak of 1952|tornadoes]] swept Arkansas leaving 111 dead. Fifty of those fatalities were in Judsonia and the near vicinity. It was reported that the only building in the town not damaged was the [[Methodist]] church, which is in the city's downtown area along Van Buren Street.

''That's Judsonia'' by William Ewing Orr (1957, [[White County, Arkansas|White County]] Printing Company) is a history of the community. Judsonia has a yearly festival called Prospect Bluff Days in honor of the towns origins.