Town file
Magnolia, Arkansas
Magnolia, Arkansas (Columbia County, Arkansas) is the town in one episode of Small Town Murder, the comedy true-crime podcast: episode 269, "Bad Company" (31 March 2022).
- Town
- Magnolia
- County
- Columbia County
- State
- Arkansas
- Country
- USA
- Episodes
- 269
- Approximate location
- 33.277, -93.226
Episode 269 / 31 March 2022 / 163 min / full
Bad Company
"all the way to Magnolia, Arkansas ... This is in Columbia County ... Magnolia is the county seat of Columbia County" about 0:07:34
The case: Murder of J.Y. Cooper (November 1977). Read the case file.
The figures, as told in 2022
- Population
- 11,433
- Median age
- 27.2
- Median household income
- $34,461
- Median home value
- $103,400
- Two-bedroom rent
- about $676
- Cost of living
- $73,000
- Religious
- 52.5%
- Property crime
- ▲ about 50% high
- Violent crime
- ▲ maybe 15, 20% high
History, in brief
- Magnolia is the county seat of Columbia County. about 0:07:34
- Home of Southern Arkansas University. about 0:07:41
- An important industrial centre with large oil and bromine industries. about 0:08:38
- The town became an agricultural and regional cotton market before oil was found. about 0:09:55
- Oil was discovered there in 1938 and was drilled by the Berlin Company. about 0:10:05
- The Magnolia oil field was the largest producing oil field in volume during the early years of the Second World War. about 0:10:31
- In March 2013 more than 5,000 barrels of oil leaked from a Lion Oil Trading and Transportation storage tank in Magnolia, some flowing into the bayou. about 0:11:02
- The town's motto is 'discover the difference'. about 0:07:16
- The one famous person from Magnolia is Charlene Harris, who wrote the True Blood books. about 0:11:21
The reviews read out
5 stars
"Changing into a charming town, diverse and vibrant population drawn by the university, horse and mule riding, outdoor theatre, cycling and new establishments."about 0:12:14
3 stars
"It is a little bit different here and it is scary as a female to take a late-night stroll."about 0:13:19
4 stars
"Great place to live, great banks, small town feel, safe environment, friendly during the day and a great place to raise a family."about 0:13:31
1 star
"The night scene is non-existent and they only recently started selling alcohol in the stores."about 0:14:05
Nearest Small Town Murder towns
- Minden, Louisiana46 miles
- Ashdown, Arkansas59 miles
- Keithville, Louisiana74 miles
- Malvern, Arkansas79 miles
- Coushatta, Louisiana87 miles
- Mount Ida, Arkansas91 miles
Everything here is as told in the episode, on the date it went out; figures and places may have changed since. Endings are covered: open an episode and use the spoiler switch to read them.