Pastoria, Arkansas

Coordinates: 34°21′29″N 92°02′25″W / 34.35806°N 92.04028°W / 34.35806; -92.04028
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Pastoria, also known as Pastoria Township, in an unincorporated community in Jefferson County, Arkansas. It lost population to Sherrill, Arkansas after a rail line bypassed it in the 19th century.[1]

R. Sherrill, listed as a member of the Arkansas House of Representatives in 1882 was listed as residing in Pastoria.[2]

The Antioch Missionary Baptist Church Cemetery in the area is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The church was established by an African American community.[3]

Education[edit]

Pastoria is in the Pine Bluff School District.[4] The schools serving Pastoria are Park/Greenville School for preschool, James Matthews Elementary School, Robert F. Morehead Middle School, and Dollarway High School.

Pastoria was previously in the Sherrill School District.[5] The Altheimer-Sherrill district was created in 1979 when the Altheimer and Sherrill districts merged.[6] In 1993,[7] that merged into in the Altheimer Unified School District (operator of Altheimer-Sherrill High School).[8] That in turn merged into the Dollarway School District on July 10, 2006.[9] Altheimer-Sherrill High closed in 2007, with students moved to Dollarway High.[10] Altheimer Martin Elementary School closed in 2013.[11]

In December 2020 the Arkansas State Board of Education ruled that the Dollarway School District should merge into the Pine Bluff School District as of July 1, 2021; the post-merger school district began operating all existing schools from both districts.[12] Accordingly, the attendance boundary maps of the respective schools remained the same for the 2021–2022 school year, and all DSD territory became a part of the PBSD territory.[13] The exception was with the pre-kindergarten levels, as all PBSD areas are now assigned to Forrest Park/Greenville School, including the territory from the former Dollarway district.[14] In 2023 the district announced that Dollarway High would merge into Pine Bluff High School, and that Morehead Middle School would become the only middle school for all of the Pine Bluff School District.[15]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Encyclopedia of Arkansas". Encyclopedia of Arkansas.
  2. ^ State, Arkansas Office of the Secretary of (February 16, 1882). "Report" – via Google Books.
  3. ^ "Arkansas Properties on the National Register of Historic Places: Antioch Missionary Baptist Church Cemetery, Sherrill, Jefferson County". February 20, 2013.
  4. ^ "2020 CENSUS - SCHOOL DISTRICT REFERENCE MAP: Jefferson County, AR" (PDF). U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved 2021-06-29. - The map shows Dollarway School District as not yet merged into Pine Bluff School District; the merger occurred on July 1, 2021.
  5. ^ "Arkansas Department of Education school district maps, 1952-1954 Jefferson County, 1952-1954". Arkansas Digital Archives. Arkansas State Archives. (Download)
  6. ^ Goatcher, Truett (January 1999). "School District Consolidation Will Save Millions of Dollars: Fact of Myth?" (PDF). Arkansas Association of Educational Administrators. p. 14 (PDF p. 17/27).
  7. ^ "Altheimer Unified School District No. 22 Jefferson County, Arkansas General Purpose Financial Statements and Other Reports June 30, 2001." Legislative Joint Auditing Committee, Arkansas Legislature. Retrieved on August 2, 2017. page 3 (PDF p. 5/22).
  8. ^ "School closures hit a community". The Pine Bluff Commercial. 2013-04-11. Retrieved 2017-08-04. The former Altheimer district included students from Altheimer, Wabbaseka, Sherrill, Tucker, Pastoria, Wright and the Plum Bayou communities. - Alternate location at the Arkansas Department of Education (PDF page 3/13)
  9. ^ "ConsolidationAnnex_from_1983.xls Archived 2015-09-12 at the Wayback Machine." Arkansas Department of Education. Retrieved on July 31, 2017.
  10. ^ Colvin, Eplunus (2020-10-02). "Closing schools took life out of Altheimer, residents recall". Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Retrieved 2021-02-24.
  11. ^ Hardy, Benjamin (2016-07-28). "School's out forever". Arkansas Times. Retrieved 2017-07-31.
  12. ^ Howell, Cynthia (2020-12-11). "State votes to combine Dollarway, Pine Bluff schools". Arkansas Democrat & Gazette. Retrieved 2021-02-23.
  13. ^ "Annexation/Transition FAQ". Pine Bluff School District. Retrieved 2021-02-23.
  14. ^ Murrel, I. C. (2021-06-28). "Dollarway alumni honor district". Arkansas Democrat Gazette. Retrieved 2021-07-04.
  15. ^ Murrell, I. C. (2023-03-01). "Pine Bluff School District will consolidate junior, senior highs this fall". Arkansas Democrat Gazette. Retrieved 2023-03-03.

34°21′29″N 92°02′25″W / 34.35806°N 92.04028°W / 34.35806; -92.04028