Visitors Guide to Earle, Arkansas
Crittenden County Museum
Earle is located in northwestern Crittenden County on US-64 near the border of. The history of Earle is really that of two towns - Earle and Norvell - which grew alongside each other until Norvell was formally annexed by Earle in 1978 and were separated only by a boundary line running down present day Ruth Street in Earle. Earle prospered more than Norvell due to the fact that the railroad bypassed the latter. Earle was named for Josiah Francis Earle, who had land holdings in the area. Earle had served in the Mexican War and with the Arkansas militia and Confederate regular cavalry during the Civil War. Following the war, Earle was active in the Ku Klux Klan, and on one occasion in Memphis, Tennessee, he was rescued by Klansmen before he could be executed by hanging. After his death in 1884 he left his considerable holdings to his wife and children. When the railroad was built through the community was built in 1888, Earle’s widow built a small depot to encourage trains to stop there and named it for her late husband. The most recent train depot was built in 1922 and was abandoned when passenger and freight stops were discontinued in the 1960s. The depot now houses the Crittenden County Museum.
