The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's
talk page or in a
deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.
Leeper's place names book doesn't say what this spot is, and the topos show that it is a passing siding on the old Cotton Belt line, straddling the state line. It's clearly not a settlement, just a NN rail point.
Mangoe (
talk)
03:54, 20 November 2023 (UTC)reply
I found
SPC 1890, p. 122 saying that "Alden's Bridge and Arkana are also new railroad towns.". So it's a town. Would that the "Arkana" chapter of
Temple 2008 were usable! It explains everything, with populations, postmasters, and federal writers projects; even the fact that this is the same place as
Arkana, Arkansas in Lafayette.
Uncle G (
talk)
07:06, 20 November 2023 (UTC)reply
Actually there is, and
Temple 2008, p. 356 even lists it. As I said, it's a damn shame that Robert D. Temple self-published and has undiscernable expert credentials. All that we have in the meantime are
SPC 1890, p. 122 and the Federal Writers' Project, which I have now managed to track down (Temple just mentioning the FWP without title, date, or anything to go on), and the somewhat dubious
ALTGA 1990, p. 197 saying "several stores, a saw mill, church and a post office".
Uncle G (
talk)
11:20, 21 November 2023 (UTC)reply
No, Temple (p. 356) says "The town is gone, though, except for the name on a topo map, a UP rail siding, and the Arkana oil and gas field a few miles away in Louisiana." If we are to use him as a source we can definitely put the place in the past tense.
Mangoe (
talk)
23:25, 22 November 2023 (UTC)reply
A UP rail siding and an oil and gas field are not nothing. Ironically, there's excellent support elsewhere in Temple for the claim of it being a ghost town. But as I said, I cannot discern any expert credentials for Temple. You might want to check the article; it is in the past tense.
Uncle G (
talk)
12:02, 27 November 2023 (UTC)reply
References
"Bossier Parish". Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Northwest Louisiana. Southern Publishing Company. 1890.
Temple, Robert D. (2008). "Arkana". Edge Effects: The Border-Name Places. iUniverse.
ISBN9781440101465.
"The Towns in Bossier Parish". The Genie. Vol. 24–25. Ark-La-Tex Genealogical Association. 1990.
Keep. Arkana was a small town on the border of Louisiana and Arkansas, headquarters of a railroad company, with a school, church, lumber mill, rail station, post office, 1900 census population of 12, a 1920 census of 63, and a 1940 census population of 63. The community was noted in regional newspapers from Shreveport to Bossier City to papers in Arkansas, and the Bossier City Banner had a weekly news column about Arkana, which it regarded as a prosperous, up-and-coming community. I'm seeing over 200 news articles about Arkana from about 1910 to about 1945, when Arkana seemingly fades from history. I've
expanded the article; more work is in progress, but this was a
notable town, with sources found in the Library of Congress, discussion of the community's resources in state publications in Baton Rouge, and regional coverage in the Shreveport area. I'm really overwhelmed by the number of sources: the Arkana and Eastern Railroad itself could be its own article, given time. (BTW, I wouldn't use the Temple (2008) source; not only is it self-published, it doesn't match what any of the other sources say about Arkana; it claims Arkana was a community of about 500 residents. No other source confirms or even approaches those numbers). Anyway, this article should be kept and expanded further, not deleted: there's no reason to delete an article which can be sourced,.
Firsfron of Ronchester17:00, 29 November 2023 (UTC)reply
Keep. Clearly was a town on Newspapers Extended, e.g. in the May 1912 Bossier Banner-Progress:
[1]
Keep per
WP:HEY. Nice work in finding sources and expanding
Firsfron, and for working out how to filter out all the other hits for $arkana$ which I would guess put most people off. (It put me off when I first saw this.)
Cielquiparle (
talk)
21:59, 29 November 2023 (UTC)reply
The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's
talk page or in a
deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.
The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's
talk page or in a
deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.
Leeper's place names book doesn't say what this spot is, and the topos show that it is a passing siding on the old Cotton Belt line, straddling the state line. It's clearly not a settlement, just a NN rail point.
Mangoe (
talk)
03:54, 20 November 2023 (UTC)reply
I found
SPC 1890, p. 122 saying that "Alden's Bridge and Arkana are also new railroad towns.". So it's a town. Would that the "Arkana" chapter of
Temple 2008 were usable! It explains everything, with populations, postmasters, and federal writers projects; even the fact that this is the same place as
Arkana, Arkansas in Lafayette.
Uncle G (
talk)
07:06, 20 November 2023 (UTC)reply
Actually there is, and
Temple 2008, p. 356 even lists it. As I said, it's a damn shame that Robert D. Temple self-published and has undiscernable expert credentials. All that we have in the meantime are
SPC 1890, p. 122 and the Federal Writers' Project, which I have now managed to track down (Temple just mentioning the FWP without title, date, or anything to go on), and the somewhat dubious
ALTGA 1990, p. 197 saying "several stores, a saw mill, church and a post office".
Uncle G (
talk)
11:20, 21 November 2023 (UTC)reply
No, Temple (p. 356) says "The town is gone, though, except for the name on a topo map, a UP rail siding, and the Arkana oil and gas field a few miles away in Louisiana." If we are to use him as a source we can definitely put the place in the past tense.
Mangoe (
talk)
23:25, 22 November 2023 (UTC)reply
A UP rail siding and an oil and gas field are not nothing. Ironically, there's excellent support elsewhere in Temple for the claim of it being a ghost town. But as I said, I cannot discern any expert credentials for Temple. You might want to check the article; it is in the past tense.
Uncle G (
talk)
12:02, 27 November 2023 (UTC)reply
References
"Bossier Parish". Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Northwest Louisiana. Southern Publishing Company. 1890.
Temple, Robert D. (2008). "Arkana". Edge Effects: The Border-Name Places. iUniverse.
ISBN9781440101465.
"The Towns in Bossier Parish". The Genie. Vol. 24–25. Ark-La-Tex Genealogical Association. 1990.
Keep. Arkana was a small town on the border of Louisiana and Arkansas, headquarters of a railroad company, with a school, church, lumber mill, rail station, post office, 1900 census population of 12, a 1920 census of 63, and a 1940 census population of 63. The community was noted in regional newspapers from Shreveport to Bossier City to papers in Arkansas, and the Bossier City Banner had a weekly news column about Arkana, which it regarded as a prosperous, up-and-coming community. I'm seeing over 200 news articles about Arkana from about 1910 to about 1945, when Arkana seemingly fades from history. I've
expanded the article; more work is in progress, but this was a
notable town, with sources found in the Library of Congress, discussion of the community's resources in state publications in Baton Rouge, and regional coverage in the Shreveport area. I'm really overwhelmed by the number of sources: the Arkana and Eastern Railroad itself could be its own article, given time. (BTW, I wouldn't use the Temple (2008) source; not only is it self-published, it doesn't match what any of the other sources say about Arkana; it claims Arkana was a community of about 500 residents. No other source confirms or even approaches those numbers). Anyway, this article should be kept and expanded further, not deleted: there's no reason to delete an article which can be sourced,.
Firsfron of Ronchester17:00, 29 November 2023 (UTC)reply
Keep. Clearly was a town on Newspapers Extended, e.g. in the May 1912 Bossier Banner-Progress:
[1]
Keep per
WP:HEY. Nice work in finding sources and expanding
Firsfron, and for working out how to filter out all the other hits for $arkana$ which I would guess put most people off. (It put me off when I first saw this.)
Cielquiparle (
talk)
21:59, 29 November 2023 (UTC)reply
The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's
talk page or in a
deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.