Highway 1
Route information
Maintained by ArDOT
Length	159.88 mi[1] (257.30 km)
Existed	1926–present
Major junctions
South end	US 278 in McGehee
Major intersections	US 65 / US 165 in McGehee US 165 at Back Gate US 49 in Marvell US 79 in Marianna US 70 in Forrest City I-40 in Forrest City US 64 in Wynne I-555 / US 49 in Jonesboro
North end	Route BB, Missouri state line
Location
Country	United States
State	Arkansas
Counties	Desha, Arkansas, Monroe, Phillips, Lee, St. Francis, Cross, Poinsett, Craighead, Greene, Clay
Highway system
Arkansas Highway System Interstate US State Business Spurs Suffixed Scenic Heritage
← AR 980 → AR 2

Highway 1 (AR 1, Ark. 1, and Hwy. 1) is a north–south state highway in east Arkansas. The route of 159.88 miles (257.30 km) runs from US Route 278 (US 278) in McGehee north to Supplemental Route BB at the Missouri state line.^[2] One of the original 1926 state highways, Highway 1 has remained very close to its original routing.^[3] The highway contains an overlap of approximately 50 miles (80 km) with U.S. Route 49.

Route description

McGehee to Back Gate

Arkansas Highway 1 begins at U.S. Route 278 in downtown McGehee and runs northwest (along the Union Pacific Railroad tracks) for three blocks before turning northeast at an intersection with AR 159.^[4] The highway continues across US 65/US 165 and exits town in a northeastern direction, passing McGehee High School. AR 1 meets Arkansas Highway 4, which runs south to Arkansas City before curving north to Rohwer, which was a Japanese American internment camp during World War II.^[5] AR 1 passes the Kemp Cotton Gin Historic District, Rowher Relocation Center, and Rohwer Relocation Center Memorial Cemetery. Continuing north, AR 1 ceases following the railroad at Watson and runs west to Back Gate, where a concurrency with US 165 begins.

DeWitt to Wynne

Entering Arkansas County, the routes pass through Gillett and rural Arkansas County.^[6] In south De Witt AR 1 splits east from US 165 and AR 1 Business.^[7] AR 1 bypasses southeast De Witt, and after reconnecting with AR 1B continues northeast. AR 1 runs east through St. Charles before entering Monroe County. AR 1 Spur enters St. Charles, and terminates near the site of the Battle of Saint Charles on the White River.^[8]

Arkansas Highway 1 enters southern Monroe County briefly. At Cross Roads, AR 1 is the southern terminus of AR 17.^[9] On the Monroe/Phillips County line, AR 1 has a junction with Arkansas Highway 39 and Arkansas Highway 316. The route continues northeast to Marvell, where AR 1 concurs with U.S. Route 49 east to Walnut Corner.^[10] At the corner, AR 1 turns north past the Richardson-Turner House and enters Lee County. The route has a junction with AR 121 at Cypress Corner and continues north to Marianna.^[11]

In Marianna, Highway 1 breaks west from AR 1 Business, which runs downtown through Marianna. After AR 1B rejoins the main route, there is a 0.2 miles (0.32 km) concurrency north with U.S. Route 79.^[12] Further north, AR 1 passes Lee County Senior High and becomes four lane briefly until Forrest City.^[1] Upon entering St. Francis County, AR 1 enters Forrest City. The business route runs downtown, while the main route skirts the southwest edge of town. There is a parclo interchange with U.S. Route 70 and an interchange with Interstate 40.^[13] The business route meets AR 1 in north Forrest City, and AR 1 enters Caldwell and Colt before entering Cross County.^[14] South of Caldwell, AR 1 is near the historic Little Telico Creek Bridge, listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Wynne to Missouri

AR 1 enters Wynne in Cross County. The highway has a junction with US 64, AR 284, AR 980, and US 64 Business, and also passes near Wynne High School.^[15] The highway continues north to Vanndale and Cherry Valley before entering Poinsett County.^[15] The route passes through marshes in southern Poinsett County before entering Harrisburg. Throughout the county, AR 1 is paralleled by AR 163 approximately 2.5 miles (4.0 km) to the east and US 49 approximately 10 miles (16 km) to the west, with the Union Pacific Railroad also near.^[16] AR 1 passes the Bacon Hotel in south Poinsett County near Whitehall, and also passes the historic Modern News Building in downtown Harrisburg.

Entering Craighead County, AR 1 enters Jonesboro from the south. After intersecting AR 163, the route intersects Interstate 555 (concurrent at that freeway portion with US 49).^[17][18] Highway 1 becomes concurrent north with US 49 (and later US 62) until Piggott

The route leaves US 62 (Crowley's Ridge Parkway) in Piggott and runs east to Missouri supplemental route BB near Holcomb, Missouri, where the route terminates.^[2]

History

Markers for former designations

The route now known as AR 1 first appears as a state highway in 1924, when the Arkansas General Assembly first created a state highway system. Arkansas State Road B-1 ran from the Louisiana state line near Wilmot north into Missouri, and was mostly unpaved.^[19] Upon creation of the U.S. Route system in 1925, the north and south portions of the highway were replaced by U.S. Route 67 and U.S. Route 165, respectively, shaping a more familiar AR 1 routing.^[20] Arkansas followed the trend to number in 1926, and B-1 became Arkansas Highway 1. The route remains very true to that original course today. The route was split apart in 1941 into AR 1 East and AR 1 West segments from Paragould north.^[21] AR 1 East continued north through Marmaduke and Rector. AR 1 West traveled into Corning. By 1955, AR 1W became Arkansas Highway 135, and AR 1E became AR 1.^[22] US 49 overlapped Highway 1 from Jonesboro to Piggott in 1978.^[23]

Major intersections

Mile markers reset at concurrencies.

County	Location	mi[1]	km	Destinations	Notes
Desha	McGehee	0.0	0.0	US 278 to US 65 – Arkansas City, Monticello	Southern terminus
		0.3	0.48	AR 159 north	AR 159 southern terminus
		0.8	1.3	AR 1Y to US 65 / US 165
	​	10.0	16.1	AR 4 west
	Kelso	14.7	23.7	AR 138 west – Winchester	AR 138 eastern terminus
	Pea Ridge	27.5	44.3	AR 277 south	AR 277 northern terminus
	Back Gate	30.8	49.6	US 165 – Arkansas Post National Memorial
Gap in route
Arkansas	De Witt	0.0	0.0	US 165 / Great River Road south – Dumas, Stuttgart
		0.2	0.32	AR 130 west / AR 1B north (South Monroe Street) – De Witt Business District	AR 1B southern terminus
		2.0	3.2	AR 1B south (East 2nd Street) – De Witt	AR 1B northern terminus
	​	6.0	9.7	AR 153 south to AR 17	Southern end of AR 153 overlap
	​	10.2	16.4	AR 153 north – Crocketts Bluff	Northern end of AR 153 overlap
	St. Charles	14.2	22.9	AR 17 south – Ethel
		15.6	25.1	AR 1S north – St. Charles	AR 1S southern terminus
Monroe	Cross Roads	21.5	34.6	AR 17 north – Holly Grove
	​	26.2	42.2	AR 39 north / AR 316 north / Great River Road north – Turner, Watkins Corner
Phillips	​	31.6	50.9	AR 318 south – Cypert	AR 318 northern terminus
	Marvell	34.3	55.2	US 49 north – Brinkley	Southern end of US 49 overlap
	See US 49 (mile 21.52–12.48)
	Walnut Corner	0.0	0.0	US 49 south / AR 85 south to AR 44 – Helena-West Helena, Delta Cultural Center	Northern end of US 49 overlap
	Lexa Junction	3.1	5.0	AR 242 east / CR 258 west – Lexa	AR 242 western terminus
Lee	Cypress Corner	7.1	11.4	AR 121 – Rondo, LaGrange
	​	11.2	18.0	AR 243 south – Rondo	AR 243 northern terminus
	Marianna	14.0	22.5	AR 1B north (Alabama South) – Marianna Business District, Mississippi River State Park
		15.5	24.9	US 79 south / AR 1B south / Great River Road south (West Chestnut) – Pine Bluff, Marianna Business District, Mississippi River State Park	Southern end of US 79 overlap
		0.0	0.0	US 79 north / Great River Road north – Hughes	Northern end of US 79 overlap
	​	1.8	2.9	AR 243 south	AR 243 northern terminus
	Felton	2.6	4.2	AR 121 north – Holub	AR 121 southern terminus
	Haynes			AR 131 north – Lee County WMA
St. Francis	​	12.7	20.4	AR 1B north – Wynne, Forrest City	AR 1B southern terminus
	Forrest City	16.5	26.6	US 70 – Forrest City, Palestine	interchange
	​	18.6	29.9	I-40 east – Brinkley, Little Rock, Memphis	I-40 exit 239
	Forrest City	21.2	34.1	AR 1B south – Forrest City	AR 1B northern terminus
	Caldwell	22.5	36.2	AR 261 south	AR 261 eastern terminus
	Colt	26.5	42.6	AR 306 (Old Military Road)
Cross	Wilkins	28.8	46.3	AR 350 west to AR 284
	Wynne	33.1	53.3	AR 284 west (Union Avenue) – Business District, Cross County Museum	Southern end of AR 284 overlap
		33.3	53.6	US 64B east / AR 284 east (Hamilton Avenue) – Village Creek State Park	Northern end of AR 284 overlap
		33.7	54.2	AR 980 east (Bridges Avenue)	To Wynne Municipal Airport
		35.2	56.6	US 64 east – Memphis, West Memphis	Southern end of US 64 overlap
		0.0	0.0	US 64 west / US 64S south – Bald Knob	Northern end of US 64 overlap
	​	4.3	6.9	AR 364 / AR 1B east – Tilton, Vanndale	AR 1B western terminus
	​	5.1	8.2	AR 1B west – Vanndale	AR 1B eastern terminus
	Cherry Valley	11.0	17.7	AR 42 / AR 1B north – Hickory Ridge, Cherry Valley, Arkansas State Veterans Cemetery
		12.0	19.3	AR 1B south – Cherry Valley Business District	AR 1B northern terminus
Poinsett	​	16.4	26.4	AR 214 west – Fisher	AR 214 eastern terminus
	Harrisburg	21.5	34.6	AR 322 west	AR 322 eastern terminus
		22.7	36.5	AR 14 (Jackson Street) – Newport, Marked Tree, Trumann
	​	28.7	46.2	AR 158 east	AR 158 western terminus
Craighead	Jonesboro	37.7	60.7	AR 1B north / AR 163 south (Harrisburg Road) to AR 69	AR 1B southern terminus, AR 163 northern terminus
		38.0	61.2	AR 163S south (Apt Drive)
		40.1	64.5	I-555 / US 49 south – Hoxie, Memphis	interchange; Southern end of US 49 overlap
See US 49 (mile 128.40–182.33)
Clay	Piggott			US 62 west – Corning, Piggott Business District	Northern end of US 49 overlap; southern end of US 62 overlap
	​			AR 139 south – Holly Island
	​	0.0	0.0	US 62 east – St. Francis, Sikeston, MO	Northern end of US 62 overlap
	​	5.0	8.0	Route BB to Route B – Holcomb	Northern terminus; Missouri state line (St. Francis River bridge)
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus

Business routes

Arkansas Highway 1 has six business routes and one spur route.^[1] As cities have grown, bypasses have become necessary, and the former downtown alignments of AR 1 have become the business routes discussed here. The St. Charles spur route terminates at the site of the Civil War Battle of Saint Charles upon the White River. The Forrest City business route intersects major routes U.S. Route 70 and Interstate 40.^[13] De Witt, Marianna, Vanndale, and Cherry Valley all have business routes of less than 3.0 miles (4.8 km).^[1] The Jonesboro business route is the longest, and intersects Interstate 555.

A former Paragould connector route, Highway 1Y, was created in 1968 and now carries a US Highway 49Y designation.