BRYANT — What is Bryant?
The answer is simple and also complex. For instance, consider these comments from those who live or work in the city:
• “It is a school system with a lot of houses around it.”
• “It is a place where you have all you need. You can be born, live and die here without leaving.”
• “We are finding that more retirees are moving into Bryant.”
• “The town of 5,000 doubled in size in 10 years. It almost did it again in another 10 years and could do it again.”
• “The schools are still at the center of the community. Everything revolves around the schools and the churches.”
• “It is the kind of place where, if your dog gets out, your neighbors will come help you find it.”
Several residents said they did not want to be identified but were willing to comment about their hometown, and most were very positive in their comments. Others were glad to talk about why they picked Bryant and why they stay.
First, a little history, because the community was here long before Interstate 30 connected Bryant with Little Rock.
As with much of Saline County, Bryant’s history starts with the Military Road or Stagecoach Road from the Southeastern United States headed to the former Mexican territory of Texas. Local legend states that the first settlers along Hurricane Creek were on their way to Texas but were halted by the flooded creek. As they waited for the water to go down, the first travelers decided to stay and became settlers.
The settlement became known as Dogwood Springs. In 1835, the name was changed to Collegeville. There was a military engagement during the Civil War in October 1864 recorded by the Union as the Skirmish at Hurricane Creek and by the Confederates as the Battle of Hunter’s Crossing. Records state that 28 soldiers were killed in the action and were buried in a nearby cemetery by local women. The Bryant Historical Society will commemorate the event on Oct. 23 with a ceremony at the marker next to the cemetery.
The town of Bryant really began to form after the war. The St. Louis and Iron Mountain Railroad connected the community with Little Rock in 1871, and Bryant Township was created in 1878. Bryant was incorporated as a town in 1892 and designated as a city in 1946.
Bryant and the railroad that ran through the city did well during World War II, as the railroad carried aluminum made in Bauxite to the nation’s aircraft plants. Yet the populations could still be counted as a few hundred. It wasn’t until 1970 that the U.S. census recorded a population of more than 1,000 in the town.
It was in the 1980s that the population grew as people looked for homes outside Little Rock, where they worked. The Bryant school system attracted new residents then, as it does now.
“My wife and one daughter and I moved to Bryant from Hillcrest in Little Rock 18 years ago,” said Rob Roedel, who is now a member of the Bryant City Council. “We came for the schools and fell in love with the community, even though it was just a couple of grocery stores, some gas stations and a Pizza Hut.”
Roedel said Bryant schools are at the heart of the community in more ways than one.
“It is the city’s largest employer, and the main part of our economic output is the services that support the schools, the people who work in them and the families that send their children there,” Roedel said. “Bryant is for raising kids and educating them, and we are good at it. My son is a sophomore in the high school now.”
While people came to Bryant to live and raise their children, many of their jobs remained in Little Rock. According to information gathered in 2013 by the Bryant Area Chamber of Commerce, only 905 people lived and worked in Bryant last year.
In a population now over 19,000, 7,113 leave Bryant to work elsewhere every day, according to the report. Meanwhile,
5,872 came to Bryant to work each day in the city.
“There is no doubt that the schools are a key piece in the existence of the community, but it is more than that,” said Rae Ann Fields, executive director of the Bryant Area Chamber of Commerce. “The people who moved here were looking for a wholesome and safer place than found in the larger cities. We are seeing more retirees come here for the same reason.”
Fields called the community of Bryant a place with a strong family atmosphere that is reflected in the schools and in the youth programs found in area churches.
“Bryant is a big little town,” said Chris Madison, who lives in East End but comes to work in Bryant, where he is city attorney.
“We grow families here,” he said. “It is a progressive and trend-setting community that likes being out in front of others.”
Madison said the average income in Bryant is more than $15,000 per year higher than the statewide average. The median household income in Arkansas was $40,511 in 2013, according to the American Community Survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau.
“Bryant also has a higher concentration of college degrees per household than the state average,” Madison said. “This is a community interested in education.”
Along with growth, the demographics of the community are changing, according to the chamber of commerce.
“We are beginning to see real diversity in Bryant,” Fields said. “All people are looking for jobs, good schools and a safer community, and they find it here and stay.”
According to the chamber’s 2013 report, violent crime is 87 percent lower in Bryant than the state average. Yet shoplifting is almost 49 percent above the state average.
With growth, Bryant could be losing some of the small-town feel that attracted residents in the first place. Fields said events like the Bryant Fall Fest, scheduled for Saturday at Bishop Park, are a key to keeping the atmosphere of small-town neighborhoods strong in Bryant.
“Fall Fest is an event that brings the town together and celebrates that family-fun atmosphere we enjoy here,” she said.
In the face of progress in Bryant, Patsy Kuhn and other members of the Bryant Historical Society said they want to help preserve and remember the spirit of a small town for the enjoyment of all the residents of Bryant. The society’s efforts are helped by some of those residents who have found their way back to their hometown.
“You know, a lot of people who grew up here when the town was small moved away to see the world, like I did,” she said in an earlier interview. “Also like me, many came back because they found out the best place to be was where they had started.”
Along with buildings, the Bryant community wants to keep the good things that brought the community together in the first place.
“Bryant is filled with hardworking people who are working together to make their community better,” Madison said.
Fields said the community is sustained by its people as they relate to each other.
“In Bryant, we still practice caring about each other.”
Staff writer Wayne Bryan can be reached at (501) 244-4460 or wbryan@arkansasonline.com.