Town file
Marmaduke, Arkansas
Marmaduke, Arkansas (Greene County, Arkansas) is the town in one episode of Small Town Murder, the comedy true-crime podcast: episode 173, "Three Is A Ring, Four Is A Crowd" (28 May 2020). Small Town Murder visits Marmaduke, Arkansas, a town of about 1,331 people in Greene County in the north east of the state.
- Town
- Marmaduke
- County
- Greene County
- State
- Arkansas
- Country
- USA
- Episodes
- 173
- Approximate location
- 36.190, -90.385
Episode 173 / 28 May 2020 / 142 min / full
Three Is A Ring, Four Is A Crowd
"James: 'We are in Marmaduke, Arkansas', in northeastern Arkansas, Green County, zip 72436, area code 870" about 0:05:05
The case: Murder of Carl Lipe (April 27, 1979); Murder of Gladys Crow (October 3, 1989). Read the case file.
The figures, as told in 2020
- Population
- 1,331
- Median household income
- $34,000
- Median home value
- $77,800
- Two-bedroom rent
- a little under $700 a month
- Cost of living
- 70
- Religious
- 56%
- Property crime
- ▲ just above average
- Violent crime
- ▲ about 20% high
History, in brief
- Marmaduke is named after Confederate Major General John Sappington Marmaduke, who later also became governor of Missouri. about 0:07:25
- Marmaduke was said to have established a camp for his soldiers near the site of the present town, or passed near it; the town was named after him anyway. about 0:08:01
- General Marmaduke never married and his two nieces served as hostesses at the governor's mansion. about 0:09:28
- He died of pneumonia in 1887 in Jefferson City, where he was buried, and had nothing else to do with the town. about 0:11:17
- The Texas and St. Louis Railroad came through in 1882, and the town was incorporated in 1909. about 0:11:38
- By 1914 the town had two drug stores, three banks, three restaurants, a Methodist and a Southern Baptist church, two barber shops, a hotel or boarding house, two dime stores, a saw mill, a lumber mill and a stave mill. about 0:11:46
- Today the town has the Anchor Plastics company, and an American rail car company is also there. about 0:12:52
- A severe tornado on April 2nd, 2006 destroyed at least half the town; nobody was killed but 50 people were injured. about 0:13:11
- In 2009 a major ice storm across northern Arkansas left the town without electricity for about a month; in the last 11 years it has almost fully recovered from the tornado and the ice storm. about 0:13:58
- Town motto from the website: 'City of Marmaduke, a nice place to live'; James also found an unofficial one: 'If you leave food on the counter it's ours'. about 0:06:22
The reviews read out
3 stars
"Lacks most conveniences including fresh groceries, good food and fun things to do; the reviewer grew up in the city and missed quick fun runs, but it is quiet and peaceful."about 0:14:45
4 stars
"A tiny town but the people are very friendly and will talk to anyone; you know everyone, and neighbours will lend you things."about 0:15:20
Nearest Small Town Murder towns
- Jonesboro, Arkansas30 miles
- Pocahontas, Arkansas33 miles
- Tallapoosa, Missouri38 miles
- Horn Lake, Mississippi88 miles
- Horseshoe Lake, Arkansas88 miles
- Pleasant Grove, Arkansas89 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.