Gurdon, Arkansas
city in Clark County, Arkansas, United States
Gurdon is a city in Clark County, Arkansas, United States. The population was 1,840 at the 2020 census.
History
The town was founded in the late 19th century as a railroad town for the timber industry on the St. Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern Railway (now the Union Pacific Railroad). Originally settled in 1873, the city was incorporated in 1880. The town's name derives from railroad executive Henry Gurdon Marquand's middle name.
Gurdon is the birthplace of the Concatenated Order of Hoo-Hoo, in 1892.
Geography
Gurdon is located in southern Clark County. U.S. Route 67 passes through the city, leading northeast 15 miles (24 km) to Arkadelphia, the county seat, and southwest 16 miles (26 km) to Prescott.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 2.5 square miles (6.6 km2), of which 2.5 square miles (6.4 km2) is land and 0.077 square miles (0.2 km2), or 2.88%, is water.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Gurdon, Arkansas” is city in Clark County, Arkansas, United States. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Gurdon, Arkansas and city, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “city in Clark County, Arkansas, United States” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Maps, plans, fabric surveys and administrative records can establish how the site’s name, extent and function changed over time. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 19, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q79662. VIAF identifies the subject as 127876334. The Library of Congress control number is n83030159. Authority coordinates are 33.917, -93.151. 4 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2020, 1873, 1880 and 1892.
Modern boundaries and familiar names can conceal earlier jurisdictions or structures that do not align with the present site. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Gurdon, Arkansas”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Gurdon, Arkansas primary sources, Gurdon, Arkansas archive and Gurdon research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Gurdon, Arkansas”?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Gurdon, Arkansas” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.