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How Calhoun County became known as "Hogskin County"
Legend has it that during the Great Depression, there were a lot of marked hogs running loose around Champagnolle Creek and the river bottoms of lower Calhoun County. During the depression money was hard to come by and food was scarce, so people from other counties surrounding Calhoun County would come to Calhoun County hog hunting. They would kill the hog and skin it in the woods. The hunters left the marked hog skin hanging on a fence or over a tree limb in the woods. They took the dressed hog back to their family for food. There were so many hog skins left in the woods that Calhoun County became known as "Hogskin County".
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The name "Hogskin County" has stuck through the years. In 1992 the people of Calhoun County created a festival in honor of the legendary name. Each year during the second weekend in April, the people of Calhoun County celebrate their heritage with the "Hogskin Holidays Festival and Pork Cook-Off".
Calhoun County Courthouse
Calhoun County takes great pride in its rich heritage and the remarkable individuals who call it home. Among them are Lacy Fleming, crowned Miss Arkansas in 2004; Harry Thomason, producer of Designing Women and Evening Shade; Charles B. Pierce, known for The Legend of Boggy Creek; Wood Newton, an accomplished songwriter; and Goose Tatum, a member of the original Harlem Globetrotters.
The county is also home to the Lost 40, a unique forty-acre tract of hardwood and pine forest believed to be a remnant of the South’s original forestland. This natural treasure is located in southeastern Calhoun County near Moro Creek, offering a glimpse into the region’s untouched past.