Visitors Guide to Piggott, Arkansas
"Where you are not Just A Face in the Crowd."
Hemingway-Pfeiffer Museum and Educational Center
Piggott was founded by William N. Barron in 1891 and was originally known as Huston. The town was renamed after Barron’s brother-in-law Dr. James Piggott who was instrumental in getting a post office established in the community. Piggott is one of two county seats in Clay County (Corning is the other). Piggott is located approximately 180 miles northeast of Little Rock and 110 miles north of West Memphis in the northeast corner of the county and Arkansas and is he northern terminus of the Arkansas segment of Crowley's Ridge Parkway.
Piggott is perhaps best known for its association with American writer and Nobel laureate Ernest Hemingway, whose second wife Pauline Pfeiffer was the daughter of prominent local landowner and businessman Paul Pfeiffer. After meeting and marrying in Paris in the late 1920s, Ernest and Pauline made frequent and lengthy visits to her parent's home in Piggott and the Pfeiffers converted a barn behind the home into a studio for Hemingway’s use during his stays. Hemingway wrote portions of A Farewell to Arms, and other works during his stays in Piggott. The Pfeiffer House and Carriage House are now preserved as the Hemingway-Pfeiffer Museum and Educational Center, run by Arkansas State University. Piggott is also home to the Matilda and Karl Pfeiffer Museum which showcases a world-class mineral and geode collection. The house grounds serve as a preserve of native Arkansas plants.
Piggott was also one of the filming sites for Andy Griffith's acting debut, A Face In The Crowd. The film, which also starred Patricia Neal, featured several Piggott citizens as movie "extras." Several locations in Piggott are featured in the movie, including the Piggott Mohawk football field, the old Clay County jail, and a swimming pool at the Hemingway-Pfeiffer residence. Piggott was chosen when Toby Bruce, a friend of Ernest Hemingway, recommended the site to writer Budd Schulberg.
In the fall, nearby Pumpkin Hollow attracts visitors from miles around with their corn mazes, haunted barn and forest, hay slides and gourds and pumpkins grown on the premises.
Piggott Chamber of Commerce - The official website of the Piggott Chamber of Commerce.
