I was born and raised in Pine Bluff until 1976 .It was a beautiful vibrant place when I left .But over the years whenever I go back to visit, I just want to cry.
Still in pine bluff, born and raised 1992. It's not an amazing place. But hey.... we got a casino 😂 all the things we could of done and they build a stinking casino.
@@jeffhale522 it has its bad areas and good areas, it's a pretty big town, downtown is absolute garbage dump. They recently remodeled some of it as you seen in this video, but if you go out to the country side of it, it gets nicer. But for sure not the destination location, even with the stupid casino they just made. I have no earthly clue why they wanted to put a casino in a crime rided area!
One thing that I have noticed about all of Lord Spoda's videos is,..no matter how deserted or desolate any town is,......and no matter that there isn't a person or car to be seen in any direction,..he ALWAYS uses his turn signal. His driver's ed teacher taught him right.
@@JoeandNicsRoadTrip Yeah, seriously though. I was laughing above because tony's comment struck me funny. But I do the same thing. Seat belt (I always do anyway) turn signal, if the speed limit is XY I'm doing XY-1. And always come to what we used to call a "boulevard stop,' I just heard today that the biggest speed trap is in Emporia - I think it's in VA near I-95 on the NC border. I guess that's the 'stereotypical southern speed trap' that we Yankees were always warned about while traveling in the South. But now I've got my VA tags and VA license. 😀
I was born in Pine Bluff. My grandmother who is 98 still lives in her same home. She has a little patch of paradise and poverty and crime have grown in around her. Gun shots from every direction at night when we stay there. She still picks up everyone elses trash on her street. My grandfather was Jim Willis. .He and Mr. Reed designed many of the buildings in that town. I was once a beautiful place. I cry everytime I visit. It's heartbreaking.
@annabelleb.8096 I get that, but the elderly are usually the victims of crime. I watch a lot of true crime. She should move in with family, my God, who are we if we don't take care of our elderly.
@@annabelleb.8096 Exactly. The house is always full of family. We go to her and there is someone living with her. She loves her home. She has lived there for over 70 years and raised all her kids, her grandbabies and it's where she wants to be. We have all tried to get her to move and she absolutely does not want to. That was up until last November. Finally she was moved to a new house in Little Rock in November and she quickly began forgetting where she was and who everyone around her was. The move was tough on her. My grandmother passed away last Friday at 98. She lived a long full happy life.
@@BrickFieldsBluesTherapy I'm so sorry! She lived a full life. People forget elderly people have a will of their own and the ones capable of making their own decisions, should. Too often others make decisions for them and it doesn't work out well. You wouldn't have wanted to pull your grandmother out of her home kicking and screaming. I heard that before about moves being hard on the elderly. My mom was in her late 80’s and seemed confused when she was in the hospital but returned to normal after she came home. It would be nice if you inherited your grandmother's genes. 😊
I have watched many of your videos and I wish to say I enjoy that no matter the shape of a town or neighborhood, you manage to point out something unique and even beautiful. Thank you. I was born and raised in Virginia and believe there is always some sort of charm wherever we go. I enjoy channels that have a positive vibe and I find it in yours. Thanks for researching facts about the areas and lifestyles of your visits too. I appreciate your efforts to be entertaining and informative.
I was born and raised in Pine Bluff and left in the early nineties after college. I visit often and I own a home there. There are tons of stories (good and bad) that I could tell about many of the downtown buildings. The original courthouse burned down in the mid 70s and was rebuilt. The column façade around the front door is the only part of the original building that remains. The old Pines Hotel closed in 1968 and the inside was beautiful. It was infamous due to Nazi POWs being allowed to stay there in the 1940s whenever POW camps in the state became overcrowded. Black citizens including vets could only enter through back doors of this building to work but could not stay there. The bottom floor on the corner housed Gordon's Jewelers. The God's Hospital building housed the old Henry Marx clothing store. It sold tons of men's and women's clothes. Burt's closed many years ago and was a premier clothing store for men. The Masonic Temple building was once the largest African American owned building in the state. I could go on and on.
African American, hmm are you German American, or Irish American? Stop with the labeling of people unless you too would like to be as a can of soup, labeled. Euro American.
Funny I couldn't image spending $173,000 for a home and considering that cheap. No wonder the country is falling apart and millions of people can't afford a home. I won't tell you how much I spent on my home but it was considerably less. I am glad I am older and not a young person just starting out.
@@kellygeorge8678 I disagree, while I don't like paying taxes every year. My taxes would have only gone up less than a hundred dollars over the last 30 years if the real estate market stayed the same as it was 30 years ago. But because the real estate market has gone sky high and taxes are based on market value, my taxes have raised mostly because the market value was raised. And while I may not enjoy paying them, I do enjoy a paved road to drive on, I do enjoy the crews that come out to plow my road in the winter, I also enjoy that same crew removing downed trees out of the road, I also enjoy that they ditch my road so there is very little chance of flash flooding when it rains. I live in a rural area and some of what I experience may be very different from someone who lives in a city. But in a city their taxes are raised for many different reasons, because in their taxes they are paying for things like water, weekly garbage removal, sidewalks and many other things. Now if something goes wrong with my water, I would either have to figure out how to fix it myself or pay a private company to fix it, I have to check it myself every year to make sure my well has not become contaminated by animals, I have to either pay a private company to pick my garbage up or take the garbage to the dump and pay the dump fee ( right now to have 1 can of garbage and 1 tote for recyclables to be picked up by a private company cost $38.00 a week that turns out to be almost $1,900 a year, and I would have to pay more if I have more than 1 can, or if I had furniture I needed to dispose of. So my point is that many things that taxes pay for would be things you would still have to pay for it, you are a homeowner, you would just be paying a private company to do it instead of the government, but either way you will pay.
I have a doctor in Pine Bluff and was there yesterday. I'm not crazy about being at either one, LOL but after watching this video, we decided to drive around a little. You are right on point stating what it looks like. It is sad that any town would go down such as this. We live about an hour and half from there in a rural area as well. The whole DELTA, as it's called, has died. So sad. Love your videos!
You asked, can the city be saved? My concern is can the country be saved. I've watched a lot of your videos and there's a lot of Gary's in our country. Makes a person wonder, what's really going on?
@@BBaldwinthat’s absurd. All that’s going on is people moving to the cities from the rural area (which occurs basically everywhere), online shopping driving out bricks and mortar stores and DISTANCE. So many of these places are in the wrong place, they’re too far from each other. People can’t commute, they can’t visit, the logistics impact on businesses. These places fail for one reason only - there’s no economic reason for them to even exist.
I think it's funny that they have new sidewalks and plantings and brick crosswalks in front of largely abandoned buildings. I've seen this in a couple of your videos on declining cities. It's as if the local governments have no idea how to stop the economic decline and figure "let's spruce up the streetscape and that will fix things." It's kind of like putting a fresh coat of paint on the barn after all your livestock ran away.
Or putting lipstick on a pig. Don't worry, I'm not making fun. I did it myself when I found myself in a property I could not make work. After a while with a lack of ideas, I did some cheap, cosmetic work and when people would compliment me I'd just shrug and admit, "it's just lipstick on a pig." Not that I really thought my house was a pig, just frustrating that that's all I could do.
What they should be doing is lobbying for some econommic development dollars from the state or the feds. Then you use some of it to fix up a small part of main street, then offer the rest for free to any company that wants to build there. Tear down all the old and dilapitated stuff. Then give it away!
I've grown up and lived in Northwest Arkansas, more mountainous (and affluent on average) part of the state, but my family always used to pass through Pine Bluff and southeast Arkansas via US65 on our way to visit family in SE Louisiana. It always amazed me how different the two halves of the state are. We would drive through dying, crumbling towns in the middle of the delta and I'd wonder how this was even the same state as where I live. Of course each of those towns had brand new police cars staked out to catch people "speeding" through.
Never been to Ark. Been to Ohio, Florida, Illinois, California, Utah, South and North Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee, West Virginia, Virginia, Washington DC, Wyoming, Colorado, Nevada, New York, Hawaii, Georgia, Maryland, Indiana, that's all I can recall. But never been to Arkansas. Doesn't look like I'm missing anything. Where are all the people?
It's interesting to see infrastructural decay in many towns globally. In South Africa many of the municipalities (town councils) sold their garbage collection trucks so they could buy the mayors, and other pointless officials, luxury vehicles. So piles of garbage, sewerage flowing in the streets and potholes everywhere. Such a shame, many of the towns were stunning and beautiful 30 years ago.
You sounded terribly nervous being out on foot, and I must say I felt very worried for you. The menace of those deserted streets was palpable even on a video.
I am a 76 year old boomer that grew up in Shreveport, went to LSU in Baton Rouge and traveled through Arkansas on both the KCS train in the 60's and by both car and motor cycle between Shreveport and Kansas City. I also drove Route 66 back in the 60s and drove from Wisconsin to Mississippi to visit my grandparents grave 16 years ago. I have drive pretty much all over the U.S.A. mostly in the 60s and 70's. After finishing college in 72, I went to work for the oil companies overseas until I retired at 67, since I was in construction like pipelines, refineries, tank farms, I would working in a country between 3 and 4 years to finish the work and only get back to the U.S.A. for a 6 week vacation a year. That gave me a distinct view of America that most American did not see since the changes happened were slow. So I was noticing the decline of America right after the Vietnam when I returned in 69. First America's jobs started leaving and more foreign products were showing up on the roads and on the shelves at the shopping malls. Large building stopped being built and highways started getting potholes and bridges being closed. As my friends went to Woodstock or Canada, I did a one year back pack tour of Thailand, Laos and Cambodia spending most of that year in Thailand. Thailand was a very beautiful country but not developed, once outside of one of the 3 major cities there was no electricity, road at best were only two lanes and most Thai people were farmers or worked for the government for $1,00 a day. Traffic in Bangkok was jammed but with bicycles, motorcycles and buses packed with people hanging out of the doors. But it was still a beautiful country with thousands of miles of beaches and mountains. Finishing college and working in Saudi Arabia, Libya to Sumatra I finally got a job in Thailand in 1995 and was shocked, Thailand was a modern country almost over night. Hundreds of international companies were moving in and building factories, highways were now 4,6 and 8 lanes. New 2 story home subdivisions were and are still being built all over the country. The motorcycle are now new Toyotas, BMWs, Mercedes, buses are now elevated sky trains and subways. Shopping malls the size of abandon small cities in America. Today all of Asia are booming Indonesia, Singapore , Cambodia, India and naturally China is advancing. I retired 9 years ago and live in Thailand with my wife and son, I get American television and when I see American government leaders get up on TV and say that "America is the riches most powerful country in the world", I have to laugh. But then what can he say and get you to vote for him and keep stay in office. "Sorry folks I screwed up the country but that should not stop you from voting for me again".
My Grandma was from Little Rock and came to California on her own when she was 18. My grandfather is from Pine Bluff and ended up in California after he got out of the military. Somehow they met. It's almost like they knew their towns would end up like this. They went on road trips with my Mom and Uncle, but never went back to Arkansas. Being from California, I would absolutely love to move to a sleepy small town after my retirement and also drive around the US. Sir, you are living my dream 😭
Arkansas was extremely poor back then so there was a mass exodus after wwii. Imagine Arkansas boys listening to what careers other vets were getting into when they got back home. Their horizons were just too broadened by that war.
I graduated high school in the late 70s and lived not far from PB. It was a grand town back then. My HS choir competed against Pine Bluff's but they pretty much set the standard at the time. There were lots of good families living in those gorgeous homes back then and kids from "out of town" used to drive to PB to go to the mall or catch a movie. I remember driving around looking at the beautiful neighborhoods. White flight happened at the beginning of the 80s-- not just in PB but other areas of South Arkansas, too. I don't know how this affected things or what the other factors were that allegedly caused the decay. I can't tell you how soul crushing it is to see it now.
I have family that live in Pine Bluff, and I lived in the area for a few years during the late 2000s and early 2010s. I visited again a few months ago and it's pitiful seeing what has happened to the place. I went to the mall in 2011 and now it's burnt down, shame that all Pine Bluff has now is a money-sucking casino. I hope the place can be revived someday as it has rich history, but as of now the Crime Bluff jokes are well deserved.
Was born and raised in Pine Bluff. Still have family and friends that live there. Ever time I visit it breaks my heart to see how this city has went down hill. So many good and bad memories. The neighborhood I grew up in looks like a war zone. So many burnt and abandoned house's. Sad to to see.
There are likely tons of people all living in the newer suburbs right outside of that abandoned urban center. Give people a choice between in town and out of town...
Pine Bluff at one time was a really active city, especially back in early-mid 90s. Now, population is declining like crazy; no jobs, and recently closed down the mall a few years back.
Thanks for the video - sometimes I think "I would be 'carrying' if walking in this town" when watching your videos! Retired now in Louisiana, my job involved many meetings in Pine Bluff between 1990 and 2014. I had heard even back then that PB was in decline, but this video was still shocking. I wanted to stop watching, but it was like a gruesome highway wreck that you can't help slowing down to stare at! When I see the new sidewalks in front of empty buildings my first thought is: "Yep, they got all that federal money, planted a few plants, poured some concrete, but how much did they put in their pockets!" How many politicians sold out to bring that city to its knees!
Fun fact: That shell of a building that you're standing in at the beginning of the video, collapsed and fell in the middle of the street and the debris stayed in the street for almost 2 years. They just barricaded that part of the road and left it.
I believe that was a three story building and a music store had actually moved out just days before it collapsed and at one time it was a JCPenny I remember as a child going there with my mom.
I remember as a teenager in the ‘70’s Pine Bluff was where most people from Southeast Arkansas went to shop for anything they needed. There were so many different types of stores to go to. Lots of good memories were made in Pine Bluff. It’s sad what once was is gone.
The old courthouse & some of the downtown looks nice! I love old buildings & think about how neat it would be, to be able to go inside and photograph architectural details, woodwork, old fixtures, thinks like that. Thanks for taking these side trips, I’m a 24/7 caregiver & TH-cam is my way of traveling these days!
Thank you for sharing your tour of Pine Bluff. I can tell it was once a beautiful city. When I see cities like Pine Bluff (and there are many others) I wonder to myself if things would have turned out differently if so many of our jobs had not been shipped overseas. I'm not trying to blame anybody or anything. It's just sad the way some of our cities/towns are falling apart.
Yes, things would be different. Things would have been different if ENRON had been motivated by leadership that wasn't largely sociopathic in nature. Our particular flavor of capitalism rewards sociopath leadership.
I join you in you sentiments. I am 71 and have lived in the south, and Midwest and traveled from coast to coast over the years and have witnessed the decline of many small towns when business shuts down or leaves for cheaper areas. It seems like the one area that is immune to decline is one that is responsible for it and that would be Washington DC.
@@donjohnson3701 Politicians can only do one thing. React. What happens in towns like this is a result of business culture and climate. Businesses that are the backbone of a community will not think about shutting down and taking up roots elsewhere if they get a better tax deal or where costs are lower. It's the basic law of how free enterprise works. "Profits over people" has ALWAYS been at the heart of free enterprise stock market capitalism. It's either that or else the local mill owner sells his mill because he (a) wants to retire and his kids don't want it or (b) wants to sell it for the cash and after the business is gone, then he, himself can move somewhere else that's nicer and build a new larger, nicer house with all the latest conveniences. Everyone else in town has a choice to go where there is opportunity or get left behind. The surrounding economy - all the small shops, diners, etc. - are just downstream casualties of the mill closing. Is it "right" or "OK" or "fair"? The answer to that is way above my pay grade. But that's human nature and reality. The only given is that all any politicians do is react, and their reaction is usually to blame their opponent or the other Party, (whether it's local, state or national politics), not deal with the core reason of any problem and work together to find workable solutions. But it doesn't change the fact that business is business and business will do whatever insures its survival (until it sells out as I said), and communities like this, that are all over the map in every state, are left to wither and die. And that will not change because there are 100's if not 1,000's of small cities just like this one going through the exact same thing and have been for the past 50 years. Meanwhile, if you do simple real estate searches you can easily find out that giant tracts of land including most of the land in dilapidated, decrepit "downtowns" everywhere is being abandoned or snatched up at bargain basement prices by wealthy foreign investors (I.E. China and Saudi Princes) who can easily afford to drop a few thousand dollars a year on property taxes and just hold on to it and do nothing with it for the long term and MAYBE redevelop it but WILL STILL OWN THE LAND - long after all of us are dead.
@@bblegacyyep snatched up on the cheap, seems to be a trend, this and fentynal deaths of people on the rise, too bad more don't hold elected officials accountable but starts with us too
Thanks for the videos and I don’t think they’re ever too long. This is really interesting to watch. It’s so sad some of these little cities especially this one.
I was born and raised in Pine Bluff. I left about 25 years ago, but still have family in town. The condition of the town is disgraceful. When I was in high school, our band would march down Main Street during the parades and people would be standing four and five deep from the Sunbeam Bread sign to the courthouse. There were tons of small businesses and decent jobs and the mall was always packed. Even then, the town had its share of problems, but nothing like today. Most of the small businesses are gone, a lot of industries have relocated, and the schools are abysmal. The superintendent of the Pine Bluff School District is trying to make changes, but she's getting pushback from those in the community that don't want to make the hard choices. I don't think the town will ever come back. Most of the people with drive and ambition have already left.
Pine Bluff and the worst of America is nothing compared to Haiti. If you want to see real destroyed ruins, sign up for volunteer work and you can have access to those areas. These Lord Spode videos are tame compared to conditions to what I saw in the Caribbean and South America
I drove through this town and the small towns around it in 1992. Rural Arkansas was a mess back then. I drove through boarded up towns in the middle of nowhere but there were people milling around in the streets literally doing nothing. Population of these towns were 200, 100 people. No stores open. It looked like something from a Mad Max movie
Dying? Unfair! This was Sunday afternoon! During the week there are AT LEAST 5 or 6 more people throughout the thriving central business district, just wandering around in front of the boarded-up businesses, jabbering softly to themselves.
I don't live far from Pine Bluff... and when you said, "I'm just going to take a quick look, in the car" I was like... good call. Also, outdoor seating in southern(ish) Arkansas wouldn't be usable for most of the year. While Pine Bluff is simply a shadow of what it was in it's prime, there is a part of town that is bustling again... since they built a casino 😒 The building at 37:33 is where I have to go for some professional development as a teacher, I always hate going over there.
Years ago my daughter was given a job as an asst manager there just a few years out of high school. She would live on premises (we are between LR and Bryant) I was terrified, not happy but she was over 18. She lasted maybe a little over a year and gave notice to get out of there. Great job experience and enough life experience she knew when it was time to get out of Dodge.
Thank you for your informative videos. Have you considered stopping to interview residents if the opportunity arises? Getting their comments would be well worth it.
You walked right past my Uncle Sonny Spharler jewelry store next to the Masonic temple around the (11:40 mark) He passed away in 2013. I remember going to see my Grandmother Helen Woods Spharler in the summer and us kids couldn’t wait to get to the jewelry store and get in the candy she always had in the fridge. We would walk to Woolworths and eat and get a shake at the fountain. Those were the best memories and of course getting excited when the train came through. My father Charles Spharler passed away November 25,2012 this would break his heart to see it this way now. It’s so sad seeing this town so desolate now. Thanks for sharing. Brought me so many memories.
Wow. I've heard many accounts of how bad Pine Bluff is, but I never realized just how neglected the city had become until watching this. Very sad. And seeing the A+ sidewalks and other rejuvenation projects along with the very nice downtown makes me believe that Pine Bluff has extreme potential to be a great city. This is very unfortunate and I hope to see this city get some long overdue love. Thanks for documenting these forgotten southern towns m'lord.
You act surprised that all these small shops have closed. How can they compete with Wal Mart, Sams, Cosco, E-Bay, Amazon, and governments that tax and regulate business out.
Having been a lifelong resident of the Pine Bluff area I can truly testify that the town is a major dump! It has been on the decline since I graduated high school a little over 42 years ago and the decline has picked up steam in the last few years. No new industries have moved into the area. The only new thing in town is a casino and the city fathers are foolishly banking on tax revenue from it to rebuild the town. Things are so bad here, the local shopping mall and movie theaters have closed. If you want to see a movie or do some serious shopping you have to go to Little Rock! This used to be a fairly decent town to live in. I remember going shopping with my parents on Friday evenings. Not anymore. If you have any business in Pine Bluff, do it while the sun is still up and get home before sundown. If I had the means to do so, I would have left this town long ago and moved to another part of Arkansas that offers more. Nearly all my friends have left here but as stated earlier, I don't have the means to do so. This town is the pits!
I lived there in 1976 for 6 months. I had taken a job at Butlers shoes downtown. I can't remember the street. My lasting impression was the odor from a paper plant . They called pine Bluff the armpit of Arkansas back then. Now it seems a bit of a compliment
@@ronaldhall9701 not like you know, Jacksonville, Tulsa, OK City, Fresno, or Bakersfield. All with higher murder rates than NY or LA. Not everything is a red or blue problem. The right makes everything about politics. Crime and poverty are complicated issues, and reducing them to “Democrats bad” does nothing to fix the problem.
The challenge is that once a city gets a reputation for crime, violence, and losing population it is nearly impossible to turn it around. New businesses don't want to move in. Investors don't want to invest, and those who remain are looking to leave. It is truly a sad situation.
TY for this incredible historical documentation. Your work is a priceless record of what ha happened to America, in just a few short decades. As a older person, who has spent 3/4 of a Century experience, the "rise & fall" of our country, I'm struck by the juxtaposition of these images, in comparison to our Cities overflowing with homeless encampments, and ppl who as Citizens or descendants of Citiezens helped contribute to the building of our country, paying taxes, working, and as well as the many young folks, who took on tremendous debt to attend colleges, receive degrees, & certificates to become productive educators, tradesmen & women, & professionals, as well as blue collar & white collar workers, who experienced the many tragedies of our recent times. It seems that the disparity between rich & poor, becomes even more evident, when viewing the result of corruption and greed, which continues to "create" the perfect foundation or lack of foundation to support further destruction & waste throughout the country. I'm reminded of "programs" back in the 60's & 70's, where depressed areas offered reduced housing costs (or like Italy's abandoned ruins), could relocate, buy a house & land for $1, and agree to live in & refurbish declining properties. With so many houseless & depressed, unhoused families, it would behoove govt. leaders to come up with creative solutions, allowing ppl to attempt re-starting businesses, & redeveloping land & properties such as those shown here, with help from Govt. welfare agencies, & army corps of engineers. There are so many better possibilities than just "giving up" and letting homes & businesses "rot." It's like grocery stores refusing to sell fruits & vegetables at descent prices, & ending up creating "garbage produce," that just goes in the trash.
AKA Crime Bluff. Where a lot of the high school graduates cannot successfully fill out a job application or pass a drug test. That casino is only going to drain the locals' finances more.
Come on now. The casino is giving them the money to help rebuild this area. I haven't been in it either. My brother said it's allrite. Really only good if you want to get loaded for cheap and lose money.
I rode a Missouri Pacific railroad train through Pine Bluff in the early 60's. What I recall is that across the street from the train station was a very lively bar scene. It was night when we went through there and it was certainly memorable.
Really sad to see the city like this, because not only does it look to have a decent layout, but it has really beautiful old architecture. If they fixed it up more and did something about the crime rate it could be a vibrant, nice little town good for walking, shopping, dining out, and cruising.
One thing that struck me a bit odd: The surprisingly decent condition of many of the roads, despite the structural decay of buildings and homes everywhere. By this, I mean the relative absence of severe cracks and potholes in the streets. I live in the populated northeast and some of our roads look worse than this.
As of 3 and a half months, my 5 year old and I live here. It's sad to see boarded up homes and the obvious history in some of the buildings, including in the downtown area, when I constantly see and hear about "Go Forward Pine Bluff." I wonder if any real effort is being attempted.
since the military pulled out of pine bluff, its been in decline. without any industry to replace it, there is nothing to facilitate a resurgence, given its location.
I am not sure how to even respond to this. Pictures are worth a 1,000 words. However, accurate current information on a city trying to repair building by building & a city plan with funding is essential. Doing a Sunday walk in many downtown areas there is no activity. You walked passed several open businesses that could have benefited your publicity as we are the ones here trying to make a difference. We moved here 6 years ago. I own Uptown Salon, BURTS (which hosts events), The Community Theater (which opens in November) as well as other property. We could use your support. You did not walk over & talk to anyone at Pop’s barbershop that had a crown who would have been happy to visit with you. Many other murals you could have shown. Also a new library on Main, New Art Center on Main, new aquatics center a few blocks off Main, Regional Park, the new Saracen Casino, and the new street scape from 4th to Barraque. Next to the Engraving shop are two amazing new places, Indigo Blue Coffee Shop that serves meals & has jazz nights, MS Margaret’s which serves meals & she makes amazing cakes & cupcakes, Virtuous Diva’s Boutique, law offices, title company, CPA office & Colonial Steak house open with no mention. We have UAPB & SEARK. If your goal was to showcase the worst of Pine Bluff congratulations because you did it. I see nothing but opportunities where you see blight. I hope you can come back in 5 years when have more businesses open & we can visit about out progress.
When he mentioned it was about 11:00 Sunday and no one walking around I thought of course, most small town businesses in the south are closed then and if anything opens it's usually about 12:00 when church gets out. I live in a small southern town and that's how it is in the old part of town. It looks deserted on Sunday but it's pretty busy the other days of the week.
I lived here from 1977 to 1984, and attended elementary to middle school before moving away. I've always wondered if the town is still thriving. Thanks for posting this video.
The two tone bldg with the corner door at 31:03 is the old Greyhound Station. It was clean, safe and had greasy spoon diner that was open every time I was there. Rode in and out of here many times on visits to my granny at 615 West Teas St. Carrying a suitcase, walking alone as a pre-teen to early teen, I was obviously vulnerable but never felt unsafe. This was in the mid '60's. I walked every block and know every building you showed, and remember the segregated water fountains, diners at Woolworth's on Main (which you passed), and the bus line seating. I only walked to town during busy times as Granny would worry. What memories of what we know is no longer to make memories. 37:34 was a Sears building for years.
I've been following your videos for a while and love them all..Especially when you provide he census information such as crime, and poverty numbers for each group and the incomes..I just can't believe that people really survive on low income levels..That's rough..I did see video on Hartford where me and my wife are from. Hartford isn't bad as some people make it out to be..We currently live in Bourne Ma which isn't too far from Plymouth Ma...Don't know if I mention this or not in one of your videos but I was station at FT Hood Texas back in 1977....Keep up the good work..
The tall building at the 1 minute and the 27:58 minutemark is the old Saenger Theater. In the '50's and '60's, it was a really nice movie theater. The inside was so impressive with reds and blues and golds, and the ceiling was a masterpiece. Dance recitals were held there, but back in its heyday, it was one of the most luxurious theaters for all kinds of entertainment. It had quite a reputation, and there were some famous people who performed there. They have tried several times to raise money to restore it, but it is probably getting beyond repair now. Such a shame. The smaller movie theater to the right you mentioned was called the Center Theater, I think.
Even if that hotel undergoes a magnificent renovation, I can't see anyone wanting to stay there unless something is done about the surrounding area. Pretty sad.
This is so sad, it hurt my heart to see. You can tell it was a beautiful town at one time. I hope it’s able to be renewed in some way. I wish some of the billionaires buying up all of the sacred land in Hawaii would shift their focus from greedy overdevelopment to investing in some of the depressed areas in our country and help save the towns and cities. It’s heartbreaking to see what’s happening in so many of our cities.
No they want to invest places where people want to move to. Has nothing to do with black or white. Georgia is majority black and get tons of development.
@@someguyyeah33 Nope, no way is GA majority bla..., not even close only ATL and a couple of other shite holes are majority bla... and business can't wait to get out because of all the crime, and lack of a good workforce. They usually relocate to white areas.
I love the sound of the freight train passing through. That itself seems like a dying relic, and it's so perfect to hear still rolling through an old historic town center. I wonder if someday that won't be the only life that passes through what looks like it was once a lovely, bustling place. I was born in Toledo, OH, and my dad was smart enough to get us out of there by the end of the 70s. I remember returning once, though, in about 1985 or so, and it was still fairly nice. Unfortunately, I returned to see my grandparents one last time in 2005 and was shocked at how dangerous it felt around parts of it. All the decay. Burned out houses, lost businesses. It's not as far gone as Pine Bluff, and looks like it's actually starting to improve a little, but witnessing that is what attracts me to videos such as yours. Thanks for risking your life and possessions to document these dying places. It's important. I think Pine Bluff may be way too far gone to ever bounce back, sadly.
I have always lived in an area where there is a railroad track. I live between two railroad tracks It's sad that the town is dying. It looks like it was once a beautiful place to live.
Ex boyfriend went to college in Pine Bluff. He refused to drive me through the area when I flew to Little Rock to visit. Said it was a great university as long as you never left campus. He was a wonderful man, but refused to leave Arkansas. Since I refused to move there from SoCal, the relationship ended. Sometimes I wonder if I made the right decision. Thank you for this tour.
The Sunday cookout in DT is the community's welcome gathering for the new guy in town who took the job opening in Pine Bluff; parole officer... hence the law enforcement personnel participation - compliments of the owner(s) of the NYC/SF/LA-esque 24hr bail bonds
I had to live in a city growing up. But soon as i was able I moved to a small town,best thing I ever did and if it grew to fast I moved to another small town and never had any trouble. City's are infested with crime you read about it daily, I always found work I didn't make a lot of money but ive been happy
There's a lot to say for small towns. But like Pine Bluff, many are dwindling with crime and poverty as bad as many cities. Some still thrive and if you can find one, stick with it.
@@Hilaire_Balrog I`m a prepper living in very rural Louisiana. I can fish, forage, trap, hunt, and grow food here. There`s no logical reason to EVER live in a city and I lived in Dallas long enough to know that. Not unless that`s the only option and you have zero rural skills. I was raised farming and learning survival here. I can survive when it all crumbles and still eat. Plus I had enough sense to get as much solar power as possible to be able to cook, distill water from the creek, keep a freezer on, heat water for bathing, run a small window air conditioner or heater some, or an electric blanket. Only a delusional fool would remain in the city at this point if they have the option and skill sets to escape. But my city cousins refused to eat the food my mom cooked because "it came from the dirt." Store food was ok to them though. LOL!
I call Camden AR little Detroit. When I was a kid before the paper mill closed Camden was pretty nice but like Detroit when the factory closed the town died.
I used to go with a friend of mine to that old theater 1:13 (The Saenger) when we were in high school. My buddy figured out how to jump up and pull the fire escape down. We would take dates and go up on top of the rooftop. 😊
Man I don't think I'd be walking around in that place, it looks dangerous and super creepy. Really great video though, I mean the fact that you're bringing this sort of thing to light is really a good thing.
I'm with ya on that, so sketchy and you are by yourself, anything could happen and nobody is around to help you... I wouldn't be setting foot outside my car. Great content but you are a brave man sir!!
I'd be interested in your assessment of downtown Decatur, IL. Some stuff has been kept up but a lot of the buildings are rundown and inner-city houses are rundown/in bad repair. Crim has also been on the rise
My parents moved me from Pine Bluff, AR to Paducah, KY in the 80s. It was a major culture shock. I went from a city where people were regularly shot, robbed, graped and more on a regular basis to a town that was ranked one of the top five best places to raise a family. Not sure how Paducah rates now, but it’s probably still ahead of PB. Pine Bluff was dangerous when I was a kid, late 70s, early 80s, and it’s steadily gotten worse. They are banking on the new casino they just opened there. I’m not sure if it will actually bring in the money to help or just a different breed of crime. 😢
Pine Bluff like Little Rock is getting nothing but worse. As for the Casino, organized gambling comes with organized crime like two Twinkies in a package.
I remember growing up in the 70's +80's downtown Pine Bluff was the place to be it had nice clothing stores and restaurants it had a big Comicbook stand on the side of a building me and my Mom use to go to Woolworths and get a hamburger and Chocolate Float those were some good Ole day's to see it go down is Devastating to see I have a lot of memories of Downtown Pine Bluff.
Yes they were it makes me sick to my stomach to see this once beautiful town the way it is today you would think that our Mayor would be able to get some help from the Government to try and fix it up.
I moved to Pine Bluff in 1981 when my Dad became pastor of a church in Pine Bluff. We moved to Arkansas from Louisiana. Anyway, the church he pastored was in what was called “the fair grounds”. My sisters and I attended Dollarway Schools and we all graduated from Dollarway. Our school no longer exists.. that area is part of the poorest part of town. As a kid I didn’t have a clue of any of that. I LOVED my school and I am so happy we moved to Pine Bluff. I went to nursing school in Pine Bluff. Looking at where you are walking, Main Street…. Used to be very busy every day. It breaks my heart to see how dead it looks. We had parades down Main Street when the fair came to town and at Christmas. The Pine Bluff Convention Center used to have concerts there and is where we had our high school graduation and band and choir concerts. So many happy memories for me in Pine Bluff, Ar.
Pine bluff used to have everything my grandparents were educators in pine bluff back from the 70s to late 90s I was just talking with some one I grew up with in pine bluff saying I don’t know what happen but it’s so sad to know what it was and what it is now 😢
My husband graduated from Dollarway in 1967. After we married, we lived on Phyllis Street in the Fairgrounds Addition. Those were nice little houses which had been built for soldiers returning from WWII. My husband worked as a foreman at Federal Compress on 6th and I worked for Metropolitan Life on the 8th floor of the Simmons Bank Building at 5th & Main. We left Pine Bluff in 1972 so he could return to college (Arkansas Tech) and get his degree. One of my favorite memories of Pine Bluff is Arthur's Barbecue on 13th with the smokehouse in back. Best barbecue I've ever tasted. Another was driving 5th and 6th streets to look at the beautifully maintained (at that time) antebellum homes. My heart breaks to see this wonderful city in such a state.
So many of America's small towns are drying up and dying, but Pine Bluff is killing itself from within. It's so sad because it was such a beautiful, thriving and vibrant city in years past. One of the biggest in Arkansas. Now most people won't go there and those who live there leave in droves...if they have the means to do so. I work in the medical field and know a few people who work in their hospital, and gunshot wounds are a painfully regular occurrence there. Many times the victim simply dropped out of a vehicle and abandoned at the ER entrance.
Fascinating. Now I want to see some before video and photos for comparison. Sad that stuff is like this now. I'm 50 and I miss how great things were and looked.
The numbers you quoted hit the nail square on the head! That’s exactly why the crime rate is so high. It’s hard to believe with a downtown that looks like it’s been abandoned that the population is as high as it is, over 40,000. Based on the types of buildings in the downtown area when they were new and downtown was vibrant, I bet everything looked gorgeous!
It did, It was a beautiful town, that started to turn in the 60's to what it is today. I know why, but it wouldn't be politically correct to say why. The people I know who once lived in PB, now live in the surrounding areas, and only go there for medical purposes or to shop in the areas out side of down town. And then only before the sun goes down.
That was a Sunday regardless of what he says, from someone that is from here! Pine Bluff does not look like this during the week! Maybe he should have done this during the weekday
@@lorymyers7596 regardless of the day, which I’ve never seen a downtown area look that desolate mid morning, that doesn’t change the condition of the buildings. The one area of any town or city that you can always count on being a true and accurate reflection of the city/town leadership and that of its citizens is the downtown area. It’s fairly obvious the city leaders don’t take any pride in themselves or the heart of the city and it doesn’t look like the people who live in PB care much more. And numbers don’t lie. Poverty rate really high, crime rate really high. Lord Spoda does a great job in finding the positive in every city/town he and his wife go to. Sometimes, there just isn’t anything positive to say, and I think that video showed an accurate picture of what PB looks like…
@@LJones69 He did not show the nice areas of Pine Bluff. There are high end areas with high dollar homes. There are nice working class neighborhoods, although they are smaller as time goes on. I would not move there unless I was young and had a whale of an opportunity to make a lot of money for a time.
I moved there in 1980 from Greenville MS. It was the most beautiful place i Had ever seen.Left there in 1986 to the military. Came back in 2009 after retirement and could not believe what I found.Moved to Texas. Crime Bluff or Pine Box as we call it,will never be the same again.
This really does look post-apocalyptic. My gosh…it truly seems to be too far gone to even know how they’d begin to rebuild - especially since people won’t want gamble on a move into Pine Bluff because of the crime. So very sad…
I'm really hoping that somebody can think of something, but there are only so many schemes to go around. Some dying towns thought of (speaking of gambling) casinos, some tax-free mall outlets, tourism, etc. Maybe the telecommuters and Internet people can save us, as they can live anywhere they want and maybe they don't want to live in the 3rd outer belt of a boring city.
I've lived there, and like any place, big city or small city, most crime occurs with and among fellow criminals. Stay away from the criminals, don't associate with them and I or you don't have problems.
Hi, interesting the videos, i am from Nicaragua and it helps me a lot to know about the USA given that I do not have the resources to visit USA whether to work or visit
used to swim in ark. river, we called it the beach 1970. the gala room, cedell davis playing on a streetcorner, the smell of bbq on state street . Fantastic urban gospel quartets, gatewood bros. the spiritual harmonizers of pine bluff, the Rice singers ,absolute gold back in the day !
That collapsed building at 22:33 would make a good Santa Fe-style courtyard. Seating, plants growing, artwork painted on the walls. It could be really beautiful with a little work.
I recognized the old Saenger Theater at 26:22. (red brick) Been there many times decades ago. My mom must have gone there a couple hundred times growing up. She spoke of it often. She always just loved movies. She's gone now. The half moon shaped windows on the doors are original from way back then.
Love watching your videos and this one is quiet unbelievable. Looks like this city has just died and is beyond saving. Considering the number of people homeless in cities like Portland why can't these buildings be turned into housing and programs be instituted to get them off drugs and rehabilitated. Might work or might not but this city needs something to stop it from dying altogether.
Pine Bluff was the Headquarters for the St Louis Southwestern Railroad " The Cotton Belt R.R." The building still stands and is the home of the Arkansas Railroad Museum. The interesting thing about it is they have a Steam Locomotive in the Museum that they built in that building back in the late 40"s It was restored in the 80's and did excursions up until the 90's. From what I understand the Union Pacific railroad owns the track age around the old shops and won't allow access to the museum to run the engine anymore. It's sad to see the town in this bad of shape.
My granddad was a brakeman for the Cotton Belt. Sometimes, if I was stopped at a train crossing at the right time I could wave at him as the caboose passed by.
The street lights are inadequate in both Pine Bluff and White Hall Arkansas, and they still uses either 250 watt and/or 400 watt Mercury Vapor Lamps which no longer available. They should install more then 10,000 LED street lights in both of these cities, like they did it in Little Rock and North Little Rock Arkansas.
Just saw this video. I lived in Pine Bluff for a few years in the 2010's. Joe actually saw the downtown in relatively good shape. When I was there a building collapsed onto Main street (I believe it was the shell that you saw at the 4:00 minute mark) and the city just left it there for a couple of years. It didn't really affect traffic or any businesses. The local bank used to send me emails titled "Greetings from Crime Bluff". A friend and I were constantly trying new restaurants because our favorite places kept closing down. Driving around town it was easy to see that the community used to be much more prosperous. Very sad to see it now.
Reminds me of St. Joseph Missouri, however St. Jo isn't nearly as depressed. It's on the borderline for sure, while it has an university, a Prison and Mental Hospital plus multiple industrial locations, it's downtown is nearly empty and the crime rate rose dramatically after the recession to be one of the most dangerous towns in Missouri. You can buy a Victorian Mansion there for less than $200k, but it's proximity to the center of town results in transients walking through yards or outright squatting.
I lived in Pine Bluff in 1953-55, 6th and 7th grade for me. it was a beautiful model American city. Rode my bike to school every day no problem. It's an absolute disgrace what's happened to the city. The criminal thugs-druggies came in and took over. Too bad law enforcement couldn't get on top of it for the good citizens of Pine Bluff.
I have to say I am from San Jose, California, watching these videos of Arkansas in Louisiana and Illinois. It just breaks my heart when I see these towns with these beautiful old buildings just empty and it really really breaks my heart.
My grandparents lived on Bell St in Pine Bluff. In the 70s which looking back was a peak, the neighborhood was fine. Went down every decade, and today 75% of the houses on Bell St are torn down or in dilapidated conditions. Maybe the new casino will drive some economy into the city. God Bless, Pine Bluff.
It reminds me a lot of downtown East St. Louis. Tall buildings that you can tell were very grand decades ago, but have been long vacant and are falling apart.
I was in east St. Louis for one day back in the late seventies. It still is the worst place I've ever been to in all my years. It was way worse than Pine Bluff is now.
I've noticed that so many original downtowns in small areas are falling apart. As towns expand we've take to adding the big franchise businesses to the edges of the town. That's probably because of highway traffic. I've actually wanted to do something similar with small downtowns all over Arkansas, to record them before they all collapse. Unfortunately gas went up about the time I got Gung ho on the idea. I'll say stuttgart has done alot to refurbish its old downtown main street. Wish more would follow suit. The buildings of the 30s-50s are so fascinating to me. I really appreciate you doing this sort of thing.
They warned us 30 years ago when the giant big box stores were landing in every small town and underselling the small business owners. So here we are. Pretty soon everybody will be living in about 20 or 30 'beltway cities' You know the kind, where there are about 3 or 4 circles of freeway around the city, each with the same big boxes, strip malls, gas stations and nail salons. These are the areas that Lord Spoda does not go through because they are not interesting and I agree. No wonder the mental health of the country (among other reasons) is deteriorating.
The big, lived-in, old fashioned houses are amazing; they give me a glimpse into the past and remind me of old-time America, circa 1900. Some of the other houses are nice, too; it's just sad that they're falling apart. I vacillate between wanting to see them stay there just for the old-time, ghost-town-like atmosphere, and wanting to see them torn down so more areas can be turned into, say, parkland or something. Can't abandoned buildings be condemned and torn down by the city after so many months or years of trying to contact property owners and receiving no response??
My former home in Ga. was built in the late '59s. We lived there until '96 to moved to another city and not long ago, it was torn down and replaced by a McMansion. My neighbourhood, no doubt, will be replaced-like the old tv shows depicting the '50s and '60s middle class-by the new generation who'll see their homes replaced as well in the future.
Those abandoned buildings probably were turned over to the city long ago after the owners couldn't find buyers or tenants to avoid paying property taxes and tearing them down.
Your videos could actually be a huge help to communities, not just because people need to be aware of how much poverty and blight there is in our country, but from a more hopeful and optimistic perspective, there might be others looking for more affordable places to live (who aren’t afraid, and take an active interest in resurrecting some of these places). Also, location scouting for film. I’ve been obsessed with Cairo, IL since I drove through there while on tour. I still think that place can come back.
Im from PB and still do most of my business in PB. The trees in town are one of my favorite aspects. I still drive around in the fall and remember my childhood riding bikes all over the place.
I was born and raised in Pine Bluff until 1976 .It was a beautiful vibrant place when I left .But over the years whenever I go back to visit, I just want to cry.
Still in pine bluff, born and raised 1992. It's not an amazing place. But hey.... we got a casino 😂 all the things we could of done and they build a stinking casino.
@@mr.familycontent9296 never been to pine bluff and never ever want to go
@@jeffhale522 it has its bad areas and good areas, it's a pretty big town, downtown is absolute garbage dump. They recently remodeled some of it as you seen in this video, but if you go out to the country side of it, it gets nicer. But for sure not the destination location, even with the stupid casino they just made. I have no earthly clue why they wanted to put a casino in a crime rided area!
It's got the prison going for it as well... I'm from fort Smith. Went to Newport back in the day. Thankfully I didn't end up there.
They put a casino there because wanted to rob poor people of their last few dollars.
One thing that I have noticed about all of Lord Spoda's videos is,..no matter how deserted or desolate any town is,......and no matter that there isn't a person or car to be seen in any direction,..he ALWAYS uses his turn signal. His driver's ed teacher taught him right.
Surprises me that he does, he is from Texas. :)
Thank you, Tony. The thing is this - I really, really don't want to get pulled over in these little towns. :)
🤣🤣😂😂
@@JoeandNicsRoadTrip Yeah, seriously though. I was laughing above because tony's comment struck me funny. But I do the same thing. Seat belt (I always do anyway) turn signal, if the speed limit is XY I'm doing XY-1. And always come to what we used to call a "boulevard stop,' I just heard today that the biggest speed trap is in Emporia - I think it's in VA near I-95 on the NC border. I guess that's the 'stereotypical southern speed trap' that we Yankees were always warned about while traveling in the South. But now I've got my VA tags and VA license. 😀
@@JoeandNicsRoadTrip I wonder what the remaining life span of a town like that would be?
I was born in Pine Bluff. My grandmother who is 98 still lives in her same home. She has a little patch of paradise and poverty and crime have grown in around her. Gun shots from every direction at night when we stay there. She still picks up everyone elses trash on her street. My grandfather was Jim Willis. .He and Mr. Reed designed many of the buildings in that town. I was once a beautiful place. I cry everytime I visit. It's heartbreaking.
Why don't you get your grandmother out of there? Aren't you afraid something may happen to her?
@@MyVespa1 Good idea, but she might not want to leave. Elderly people, especially healthy ones, can be pretty stubborn.
@annabelleb.8096
I get that, but the elderly are usually the victims of crime. I watch a lot of true crime. She should move in with family, my God, who are we if we don't take care of our elderly.
@@annabelleb.8096 Exactly. The house is always full of family. We go to her and there is someone living with her. She loves her home. She has lived there for over 70 years and raised all her kids, her grandbabies and it's where she wants to be. We have all tried to get her to move and she absolutely does not want to. That was up until last November. Finally she was moved to a new house in Little Rock in November and she quickly began forgetting where she was and who everyone around her was. The move was tough on her. My grandmother passed away last Friday at 98. She lived a long full happy life.
@@BrickFieldsBluesTherapy I'm so sorry! She lived a full life. People forget elderly people have a will of their own and the ones capable of making their own decisions, should. Too often others make decisions for them and it doesn't work out well. You wouldn't have wanted to pull your grandmother out of her home kicking and screaming. I heard that before about moves being hard on the elderly. My mom was in her late 80’s and seemed confused when she was in the hospital but returned to normal after she came home. It would be nice if you inherited your grandmother's genes. 😊
This is heartbreaking. Imagine in its heyday, a bustling vibrant town. People shopping downtown, neighborhood pride. Just sickening and tragic.
I have watched many of your videos and I wish to say I enjoy that no matter the shape of a town or neighborhood, you manage to point out something unique and even beautiful. Thank you. I was born and raised in Virginia and believe there is always some sort of charm wherever we go.
I enjoy channels that have a positive vibe and I find it in yours. Thanks for researching facts about the areas and lifestyles of your visits too. I appreciate your efforts to be entertaining and informative.
This is a chance to see what other places look like.
It’s pretty sad seeing those empty businesses. Once upon a time, each of those was someone’s dream.
Taxes destroyed these businesses.
I was born and raised in Pine Bluff and left in the early nineties after college. I visit often and I own a home there. There are tons of stories (good and bad) that I could tell about many of the downtown buildings. The original courthouse burned down in the mid 70s and was rebuilt. The column façade around the front door is the only part of the original building that remains. The old Pines Hotel closed in 1968 and the inside was beautiful. It was infamous due to Nazi POWs being allowed to stay there in the 1940s whenever POW camps in the state became overcrowded. Black citizens including vets could only enter through back doors of this building to work but could not stay there. The bottom floor on the corner housed Gordon's Jewelers. The God's Hospital building housed the old Henry Marx clothing store. It sold tons of men's and women's clothes. Burt's closed many years ago and was a premier clothing store for men. The Masonic Temple building was once the largest African American owned building in the state. I could go on and on.
African American, hmm are you German American, or Irish American? Stop with the labeling of people unless you too would like to be as a can of soup, labeled. Euro American.
@@toniesedrick691 ...I'm Irish-American. Who cares, other than you ?
I wish you would go on, this is fascinating to me! Is Martha Mitchell's statue still up? Is it maintained?
@@toniesedrick691 what term do you think is right?
Gotta be a ton of doctors and lawyers coming out of that town
Funny I couldn't image spending $173,000 for a home and considering that cheap. No wonder the country is falling apart and millions of people can't afford a home. I won't tell you how much I spent on my home but it was considerably less. I am glad I am older and not a young person just starting out.
We just paid off our credit card and it was as much as our first house we bought 44 years ago. Prices are crazy.
That price has be referenced to those bigger homes in Pine Bluff. But I agree $173,000 is far to much for most people in my opinion.
Homes are cheap in the areas that are falling apart. Eventually the poor areas will rebound as the costs to live in the booming areas gets too high.
@@kellygeorge8678 I disagree, while I don't like paying taxes every year. My taxes would have only gone up less than a hundred dollars over the last 30 years if the real estate market stayed the same as it was 30 years ago. But because the real estate market has gone sky high and taxes are based on market value, my taxes have raised mostly because the market value was raised. And while I may not enjoy paying them, I do enjoy a paved road to drive on, I do enjoy the crews that come out to plow my road in the winter, I also enjoy that same crew removing downed trees out of the road, I also enjoy that they ditch my road so there is very little chance of flash flooding when it rains. I live in a rural area and some of what I experience may be very different from someone who lives in a city. But in a city their taxes are raised for many different reasons, because in their taxes they are paying for things like water, weekly garbage removal, sidewalks and many other things. Now if something goes wrong with my water, I would either have to figure out how to fix it myself or pay a private company to fix it, I have to check it myself every year to make sure my well has not become contaminated by animals, I have to either pay a private company to pick my garbage up or take the garbage to the dump and pay the dump fee ( right now to have 1 can of garbage and 1 tote for recyclables to be picked up by a private company cost $38.00 a week that turns out to be almost $1,900 a year, and I would have to pay more if I have more than 1 can, or if I had furniture I needed to dispose of. So my point is that many things that taxes pay for would be things you would still have to pay for it, you are a homeowner, you would just be paying a private company to do it instead of the government, but either way you will pay.
My Dad got a loan through the VA in 1972, and built a nice little 3 bedroom house with a carport. Cost $12,800
I have a doctor in Pine Bluff and was there yesterday. I'm not crazy about being at either one, LOL but after watching this video, we decided to drive around a little. You are right on point stating what it looks like. It is sad that any town would go down such as this. We live about an hour and half from there in a rural area as well. The whole DELTA, as it's called, has died. So sad. Love your videos!
Thank you, Alice. It's definitely something to see.
You asked, can the city be saved? My concern is can the country be saved. I've watched a lot of your videos and there's a lot of Gary's in our country.
Makes a person wonder, what's really going on?
What’s going on is being done on purpose.
@@BBaldwin Done by the dual citizenship politicians that suck all wealth to send it to Israhell and you are not even mad about it!
@@BBaldwin agreed
@@BBaldwinthat’s absurd. All that’s going on is people moving to the cities from the rural area (which occurs basically everywhere), online shopping driving out bricks and mortar stores and DISTANCE. So many of these places are in the wrong place, they’re too far from each other. People can’t commute, they can’t visit, the logistics impact on businesses.
These places fail for one reason only - there’s no economic reason for them to even exist.
Thank you for showing the real America. Be safe out there!
Thank you for the kind words, Cliff! :)
the USA is not just one facet. This is one facet of the USA, but an important one
I think it's funny that they have new sidewalks and plantings and brick crosswalks in front of largely abandoned buildings. I've seen this in a couple of your videos on declining cities. It's as if the local governments have no idea how to stop the economic decline and figure "let's spruce up the streetscape and that will fix things." It's kind of like putting a fresh coat of paint on the barn after all your livestock ran away.
I found that interesting as well. It was odd to see.
Or putting lipstick on a pig. Don't worry, I'm not making fun. I did it myself when I found myself in a property I could not make work. After a while with a lack of ideas, I did some cheap, cosmetic work and when people would compliment me I'd just shrug and admit, "it's just lipstick on a pig." Not that I really thought my house was a pig, just frustrating that that's all I could do.
Putting lipstick on a pig comes to mind 💄 🐷
Aliens came and took most of the people. I was waiting to see if you would run across any bodies.
What they should be doing is lobbying for some econommic development dollars from the state or the feds. Then you use some of it to fix up a small part of main street, then offer the rest for free to any company that wants to build there. Tear down all the old and dilapitated stuff. Then give it away!
I've grown up and lived in Northwest Arkansas, more mountainous (and affluent on average) part of the state, but my family always used to pass through Pine Bluff and southeast Arkansas via US65 on our way to visit family in SE Louisiana. It always amazed me how different the two halves of the state are. We would drive through dying, crumbling towns in the middle of the delta and I'd wonder how this was even the same state as where I live. Of course each of those towns had brand new police cars staked out to catch people "speeding" through.
You must hate Gould and Wabasseka then.
That's how they earn their budget.
Never been to Ark. Been to Ohio, Florida, Illinois, California, Utah, South and North Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee, West Virginia, Virginia, Washington DC, Wyoming, Colorado, Nevada, New York, Hawaii, Georgia, Maryland, Indiana, that's all I can recall. But never been to Arkansas. Doesn't look like I'm missing anything. Where are all the people?
It's interesting to see infrastructural decay in many towns globally. In South Africa many of the municipalities (town councils) sold their garbage collection trucks so they could buy the mayors, and other pointless officials, luxury vehicles. So piles of garbage, sewerage flowing in the streets and potholes everywhere. Such a shame, many of the towns were stunning and beautiful 30 years ago.
@@wendymartin6479 hmm what does Arkansas have to do with South Africa?
You sounded terribly nervous being out on foot, and I must say I felt very worried for you. The menace of those deserted streets was palpable even on a video.
The only reason I got out of the car was because there were cops all over the area.
I am a 76 year old boomer that grew up in Shreveport, went to LSU in Baton Rouge and traveled through Arkansas on both the KCS train in the 60's and by both car and motor cycle between Shreveport and Kansas City. I also drove Route 66 back in the 60s and drove from Wisconsin to Mississippi to visit my grandparents grave 16 years ago. I have drive pretty much all over the U.S.A. mostly in the 60s and 70's.
After finishing college in 72, I went to work for the oil companies overseas until I retired at 67, since I was in construction like pipelines, refineries, tank farms, I would working in a country between 3 and 4 years to finish the work and only get back to the U.S.A. for a 6 week vacation a year.
That gave me a distinct view of America that most American did not see since the changes happened were slow. So I was noticing the decline of America right after the Vietnam when I returned in 69. First America's jobs started leaving and more foreign products were showing up on the roads and on the shelves at the shopping malls. Large building stopped being built and highways started getting potholes and bridges being closed.
As my friends went to Woodstock or Canada, I did a one year back pack tour of Thailand, Laos and Cambodia spending most of that year in Thailand. Thailand was a very beautiful country but not developed, once outside of one of the 3 major cities there was no electricity, road at best were only two lanes and most Thai people were farmers or worked for the government for $1,00 a day. Traffic in Bangkok was jammed but with bicycles, motorcycles and buses packed with people hanging out of the doors. But it was still a beautiful country with thousands of miles of beaches and mountains.
Finishing college and working in Saudi Arabia, Libya to Sumatra I finally got a job in Thailand in 1995 and was shocked, Thailand was a modern country almost over night. Hundreds of international companies were moving in and building factories, highways were now 4,6 and 8 lanes. New 2 story home subdivisions were and are still being built all over the country. The motorcycle are now new Toyotas, BMWs, Mercedes, buses are now elevated sky trains and subways. Shopping malls the size of abandon small cities in America.
Today all of Asia are booming Indonesia, Singapore , Cambodia, India and naturally China is advancing. I retired 9 years ago and live in Thailand with my wife and son, I get American television and when I see American government leaders get up on TV and say that "America is the riches most powerful country in the world", I have to laugh. But then what can he say and get you to vote for him and keep stay in office. "Sorry folks I screwed up the country but that should not stop you from voting for me again".
Not even a cat in sight downtown.
My Grandma was from Little Rock and came to California on her own when she was 18. My grandfather is from Pine Bluff and ended up in California after he got out of the military. Somehow they met. It's almost like they knew their towns would end up like this. They went on road trips with my Mom and Uncle, but never went back to Arkansas.
Being from California, I would absolutely love to move to a sleepy small town after my retirement and also drive around the US. Sir, you are living my dream 😭
Arkansas was extremely poor back then so there was a mass exodus after wwii. Imagine Arkansas boys listening to what careers other vets were getting into when they got back home. Their horizons were just too broadened by that war.
Ironically the only people that I have seen are the painted ones at the theater.
That's an interesting story of your grandparents
That was really depressing. Such a crying shame!
I graduated high school in the late 70s and lived not far from PB. It was a grand town back then. My HS choir competed against Pine Bluff's but they pretty much set the standard at the time. There were lots of good families living in those gorgeous homes back then and kids from "out of town" used to drive to PB to go to the mall or catch a movie. I remember driving around looking at the beautiful neighborhoods.
White flight happened at the beginning of the 80s-- not just in PB but other areas of South Arkansas, too. I don't know how this affected things or what the other factors were that allegedly caused the decay. I can't tell you how soul crushing it is to see it now.
I have family that live in Pine Bluff, and I lived in the area for a few years during the late 2000s and early 2010s. I visited again a few months ago and it's pitiful seeing what has happened to the place. I went to the mall in 2011 and now it's burnt down, shame that all Pine Bluff has now is a money-sucking casino. I hope the place can be revived someday as it has rich history, but as of now the Crime Bluff jokes are well deserved.
Was born and raised in Pine Bluff. Still have family and friends that live there. Ever time I visit it breaks my heart to see how this city has went down hill. So many good and bad memories. The neighborhood I grew up in looks like a war zone. So many burnt and abandoned house's. Sad to to see.
I am rather shocked by the lack of people, either walking or driving.
There are likely tons of people all living in the newer suburbs right outside of that abandoned urban center. Give people a choice between in town and out of town...
Pine Bluff at one time was a really active city, especially back in early-mid 90s. Now, population is declining like crazy; no jobs, and recently closed down the mall a few years back.
Thanks for the video - sometimes I think "I would be 'carrying' if walking in this town" when watching your videos! Retired now in Louisiana, my job involved many meetings in Pine Bluff between 1990 and 2014. I had heard even back then that PB was in decline, but this video was still shocking. I wanted to stop watching, but it was like a gruesome highway wreck that you can't help slowing down to stare at! When I see the new sidewalks in front of empty buildings my first thought is: "Yep, they got all that federal money, planted a few plants, poured some concrete, but how much did they put in their pockets!" How many politicians sold out to bring that city to its knees!
You're totally right, Michael. :)
8:47 8:56
Fun fact: That shell of a building that you're standing in at the beginning of the video, collapsed and fell in the middle of the street and the debris stayed in the street for almost 2 years. They just barricaded that part of the road and left it.
Damn!
I believe that was a three story building and a music store had actually moved out just days before it collapsed and at one time it was a JCPenny I remember as a child going there with my mom.
Be careful! Even when I was young Pine Bluff was a bit scary d/t the crime. And it has a paper mill that stinks all the way to Little Rock at night!
I just looked it up and there are still many paper mills/companies in business in Pine Bluff. Must be what keeps it alive...
I remember as a teenager in the ‘70’s Pine Bluff was where most people from Southeast Arkansas went to shop for anything they needed. There were so many different types of stores to go to. Lots of good memories were made in Pine Bluff. It’s sad what once was is gone.
WALMART!!!
The old courthouse & some of the downtown looks nice! I love old buildings & think about how neat it would be, to be able to go inside and photograph architectural details, woodwork, old fixtures, thinks like that.
Thanks for taking these side trips, I’m a 24/7 caregiver & TH-cam is my way of traveling these days!
Thank you for sharing your tour of Pine Bluff. I can tell it was once a beautiful city.
When I see cities like Pine Bluff (and there are many others) I wonder to myself if things would have turned out differently if so many of our jobs had not been shipped overseas. I'm not trying to blame anybody or anything. It's just sad the way some of our cities/towns are falling apart.
Yes, things would be different. Things would have been different if ENRON had been motivated by leadership that wasn't largely sociopathic in nature. Our particular flavor of capitalism rewards sociopath leadership.
@@jefftheriault5522 Thank you. Well said.
We lose so many men to these horrible wars it affects future populations!
Look no farther than democrats.
It doesn't have to be capitalism. All countries, regardless of the political system are largely ruled by Sociopaths. It's just the nature of power.
I'm 65, and it's really sad to see what has happened to this country.
I’m not very far behind you in age and I’ve noticed this especially in the last 20 years
I join you in you sentiments. I am 71 and have lived in the south, and Midwest and traveled from coast to coast over the years and have witnessed the decline of many small towns when business shuts down or leaves for cheaper areas. It seems like the one area that is immune to decline is one that is responsible for it and that would be Washington DC.
@@donjohnson3701 Politicians can only do one thing. React. What happens in towns like this is a result of business culture and climate. Businesses that are the backbone of a community will not think about shutting down and taking up roots elsewhere if they get a better tax deal or where costs are lower. It's the basic law of how free enterprise works. "Profits over people" has ALWAYS been at the heart of free enterprise stock market capitalism. It's either that or else the local mill owner sells his mill because he (a) wants to retire and his kids don't want it or (b) wants to sell it for the cash and after the business is gone, then he, himself can move somewhere else that's nicer and build a new larger, nicer house with all the latest conveniences. Everyone else in town has a choice to go where there is opportunity or get left behind. The surrounding economy - all the small shops, diners, etc. - are just downstream casualties of the mill closing. Is it "right" or "OK" or "fair"? The answer to that is way above my pay grade. But that's human nature and reality. The only given is that all any politicians do is react, and their reaction is usually to blame their opponent or the other Party, (whether it's local, state or national politics), not deal with the core reason of any problem and work together to find workable solutions. But it doesn't change the fact that business is business and business will do whatever insures its survival (until it sells out as I said), and communities like this, that are all over the map in every state, are left to wither and die. And that will not change because there are 100's if not 1,000's of small cities just like this one going through the exact same thing and have been for the past 50 years. Meanwhile, if you do simple real estate searches you can easily find out that giant tracts of land including most of the land in dilapidated, decrepit "downtowns" everywhere is being abandoned or snatched up at bargain basement prices by wealthy foreign investors (I.E. China and Saudi Princes) who can easily afford to drop a few thousand dollars a year on property taxes and just hold on to it and do nothing with it for the long term and MAYBE redevelop it but WILL STILL OWN THE LAND - long after all of us are dead.
@@bblegacyyep snatched up on the cheap, seems to be a trend, this and fentynal deaths of people on the rise, too bad more don't hold elected officials accountable but starts with us too
Thank God i was not born in the USA SO DEPRESSING.
I love that house with all of the flowers! She put a lot of work into that, to make her own beauty in the midst of such bleakness. ❤😊
Thanks for the videos and I don’t think they’re ever too long. This is really interesting to watch. It’s so sad some of these little cities especially this one.
I was born and raised in Pine Bluff. I left about 25 years ago, but still have family in town. The condition of the town is disgraceful. When I was in high school, our band would march down Main Street during the parades and people would be standing four and five deep from the Sunbeam Bread sign to the courthouse. There were tons of small businesses and decent jobs and the mall was always packed. Even then, the town had its share of problems, but nothing like today. Most of the small businesses are gone, a lot of industries have relocated, and the schools are abysmal. The superintendent of the Pine Bluff School District is trying to make changes, but she's getting pushback from those in the community that don't want to make the hard choices. I don't think the town will ever come back. Most of the people with drive and ambition have already left.
Interesting. Thank you for sharing your experiences.
PBHS 1989
I marched down that street with the 7th grade Southeast school band. With Mr Lott! 1983
Pine Bluff and the worst of America is nothing compared to Haiti. If you want to see real destroyed ruins, sign up for volunteer work and you can have access to those areas. These Lord Spode videos are tame compared to conditions to what I saw in the Caribbean and South America
@ramencurry6672 we are sprinting that way my friend.
I drove through this town and the small towns around it in 1992. Rural Arkansas was a mess back then. I drove through boarded up towns in the middle of nowhere but there were people milling around in the streets literally doing nothing. Population of these towns were 200, 100 people. No stores open. It looked like something from a Mad Max movie
40k live in Pine Bluff.
@@jeffreyhutchins6527
You sure can tell, all the hustle and bustle of crowded shoppers.
Certainly makes your head spin!
It was hard to find a parking spot or I would’ve crashed that food vendor on the corner…
@@jeffreyhutchins6527 Sorry that figure is incorrect the current pop is 34,000 2020 census count.
Man, I LOOOOVE those first two original movies. Especially Road Warrior. But the recent one was, IMO, complete crap.
Dying? Unfair! This was Sunday afternoon! During the week there are AT LEAST 5 or 6 more people throughout the thriving central business district, just wandering around in front of the boarded-up businesses, jabbering softly to themselves.
LOL!! Thank you for the much needed belly laugh, Bill. 😀
They're all in the hospital because they didn't read that sign about the broken glass and they wanted that bottle of wine.
@@joycelebaron2582 Must be what God's Hospital is for.
I was just going to ask, what time of the day was this
@@karenhinson8002 I think he started around 11 am on sunday
I don't live far from Pine Bluff... and when you said, "I'm just going to take a quick look, in the car" I was like... good call.
Also, outdoor seating in southern(ish) Arkansas wouldn't be usable for most of the year.
While Pine Bluff is simply a shadow of what it was in it's prime, there is a part of town that is bustling again... since they built a casino 😒
The building at 37:33 is where I have to go for some professional development as a teacher, I always hate going over there.
Doesn't have to be this way folks, cowardice and stupidity does not have to win. Evil to thrives when good people do nothing .
Years ago my daughter was given a job as an asst manager there just a few years out of high school. She would live on premises (we are between LR and Bryant) I was terrified, not happy but she was over 18. She lasted maybe a little over a year and gave notice to get out of there. Great job experience and enough life experience she knew when it was time to get out of Dodge.
Great story. Thank you for sharing it.
Only animals and buffoons drive out what can save them.
Thank you for your informative videos. Have you considered stopping to interview residents if the opportunity arises? Getting their comments would be well worth it.
The wrong interview could end up badly.
When businesses and homes start putting iron bars over their windows that is a sure sign of a city in decay.
Scary sad was do beautiful 😢breaks my heart to see allll those buildings empty how dies that ever come back??!!?! 😮
You walked right past my Uncle Sonny Spharler jewelry store next to the Masonic temple around the (11:40 mark) He passed away in 2013. I remember going to see my Grandmother Helen Woods Spharler in the summer and us kids couldn’t wait to get to the jewelry store and get in the candy she always had in the fridge. We would walk to Woolworths and eat and get a shake at the fountain. Those were the best memories and of course getting excited when the train came through. My father Charles Spharler passed away November 25,2012 this would break his heart to see it this way now. It’s so sad seeing this town so desolate now. Thanks for sharing. Brought me so many memories.
Wow. I've heard many accounts of how bad Pine Bluff is, but I never realized just how neglected the city had become until watching this. Very sad. And seeing the A+ sidewalks and other rejuvenation projects along with the very nice downtown makes me believe that Pine Bluff has extreme potential to be a great city. This is very unfortunate and I hope to see this city get some long overdue love. Thanks for documenting these forgotten southern towns m'lord.
Thank you for the comment, Nathan. :)
He came on a Sunday
@@johncarter6781 . Depending on their age, many can come on a daily basis.
You act surprised that all these small shops have closed. How can they compete with Wal Mart, Sams, Cosco, E-Bay, Amazon, and governments that tax and regulate business out.
Having been a lifelong resident of the Pine Bluff area I can truly testify that the town is a major dump! It has been on the decline since I graduated high school a little over 42 years ago and the decline has picked up steam in the last few years. No new industries have moved into the area. The only new thing in town is a casino and the city fathers are foolishly banking on tax revenue from it to rebuild the town. Things are so bad here, the local shopping mall and movie theaters have closed. If you want to see a movie or do some serious shopping you have to go to Little Rock! This used to be a fairly decent town to live in. I remember going shopping with my parents on Friday evenings. Not anymore. If you have any business in Pine Bluff, do it while the sun is still up and get home before sundown.
If I had the means to do so, I would have left this town long ago and moved to another part of Arkansas that offers more. Nearly all my friends have left here but as stated earlier, I don't have the means to do so. This town is the pits!
I hope that in time you can find a place that better suits you.
Wow, I just looked on Google maps movie theaters and y’all DO have to drive like 50+ minutes one way. That’s so sad :(
I lived there in 1976 for 6 months. I had taken a job at Butlers shoes downtown. I can't remember the street. My lasting impression was the odor from a paper plant . They called pine Bluff the armpit of Arkansas back then. Now it seems a bit of a compliment
Another town run by yea you guessed it democrats
@@ronaldhall9701 not like you know, Jacksonville, Tulsa, OK City, Fresno, or Bakersfield. All with higher murder rates than NY or LA. Not everything is a red or blue problem. The right makes everything about politics. Crime and poverty are complicated issues, and reducing them to “Democrats bad” does nothing to fix the problem.
The challenge is that once a city gets a reputation for crime, violence, and losing population it is nearly impossible to turn it around. New businesses don't want to move in. Investors don't want to invest, and those who remain are looking to leave. It is truly a sad situation.
TY for this incredible historical documentation. Your work is a priceless record of what ha happened to America, in just a few short decades. As a older person, who has spent 3/4 of a Century experience, the "rise & fall" of our country, I'm struck by the juxtaposition of these images, in comparison to our Cities overflowing with homeless encampments, and ppl who as Citizens or descendants of Citiezens helped contribute to the building of our country, paying taxes, working, and as well as the many young folks, who took on tremendous debt to attend colleges, receive degrees, & certificates to become productive educators, tradesmen & women, & professionals, as well as blue collar & white collar workers, who experienced the many tragedies of our recent times. It seems that the disparity between rich & poor, becomes even more evident, when viewing the result of corruption and greed, which continues to "create" the perfect foundation or lack of foundation to support further destruction & waste throughout the country. I'm reminded of "programs" back in the 60's & 70's, where depressed areas offered reduced housing costs (or like Italy's abandoned ruins), could relocate, buy a house & land for $1, and agree to live in & refurbish declining properties. With so many houseless & depressed, unhoused families, it would behoove govt. leaders to come up with creative solutions, allowing ppl to attempt re-starting businesses, & redeveloping land & properties such as those shown here, with help from Govt. welfare agencies, & army corps of engineers. There are so many better possibilities than just "giving up" and letting homes & businesses "rot." It's like grocery stores refusing to sell fruits & vegetables at descent prices, & ending up creating "garbage produce," that just goes in the trash.
Interesting comment. Thank you for posting it.
AKA Crime Bluff.
Where a lot of the high school graduates cannot successfully fill out a job application or pass a drug test.
That casino is only going to drain the locals' finances more.
im never going to go to that casino
Theres also another common factor noone can talk about
Come on now. The casino is giving them the money to help rebuild this area.
I haven't been in it either. My brother said it's allrite. Really only good if you want to get loaded for cheap and lose money.
@@hookahman22 yup, sounds like exactly what casinos are for. I really wonder who owns this one?
@@gregwood1775 Yes sir
I can tell this is an unbiased job. I love this way, helping bad places to be restored and good places to be visited!
With any luck?
I don't feel it's an unbiased job.
@@scrapiron truth hurts huh?
I rode a Missouri Pacific railroad train through Pine Bluff in the early 60's. What I recall is that across the street from the train station was a very lively bar scene. It was night when we went through there and it was certainly memorable.
Really sad to see the city like this, because not only does it look to have a decent layout, but it has really beautiful old architecture. If they fixed it up more and did something about the crime rate it could be a vibrant, nice little town good for walking, shopping, dining out, and cruising.
One thing that struck me a bit odd: The surprisingly decent condition of many of the roads, despite the structural decay of buildings and homes everywhere. By this, I mean the relative absence of severe cracks and potholes in the streets. I live in the populated northeast and some of our roads look worse than this.
Arkansas doesn't get very cold. Much less expanding and contracting for the concrete to have to do.
@@nousername2942 - True. Meaning less plows to tear them up. And even less cars to use them anymore.
As of 3 and a half months, my 5 year old and I live here. It's sad to see boarded up homes and the obvious history in some of the buildings, including in the downtown area, when I constantly see and hear about "Go Forward Pine Bluff." I wonder if any real effort is being attempted.
You can defeinly see some history in the buildings but it's been abandoned in alot of places it appears.
since the military pulled out of pine bluff, its been in decline. without any industry to replace it, there is nothing to facilitate a resurgence, given its location.
I am not sure how to even respond to this.
Pictures are worth a 1,000 words. However, accurate current information on a city trying to repair building by building & a city plan with funding is essential.
Doing a Sunday walk in many downtown areas there is no activity.
You walked passed several open businesses that could have benefited your publicity as we are the ones here trying to make a difference. We moved here 6 years ago. I own Uptown Salon, BURTS (which hosts events), The Community Theater (which opens in November) as well as other property. We could use your support.
You did not walk over & talk to anyone at Pop’s barbershop that had a crown who would have been happy to visit with you. Many other murals you could have shown. Also a new library on Main, New Art Center on Main, new aquatics center a few blocks off Main, Regional Park, the new Saracen Casino, and the new street scape from 4th to Barraque. Next to the Engraving shop are two amazing new places, Indigo Blue Coffee Shop that serves meals & has jazz nights, MS Margaret’s which serves meals & she makes amazing cakes & cupcakes, Virtuous Diva’s Boutique, law offices, title company, CPA office & Colonial Steak house open with no mention. We have UAPB & SEARK. If your goal was to showcase the worst of Pine Bluff congratulations because you did it.
I see nothing but opportunities where you see blight. I hope you can come back in 5 years when have more businesses open & we can visit about out progress.
When he mentioned it was about 11:00 Sunday and no one walking around I thought of course, most small town businesses in the south are closed then and if anything opens it's usually about 12:00 when church gets out. I live in a small southern town and that's how it is in the old part of town. It looks deserted on Sunday but it's pretty busy the other days of the week.
Maybe you could make a video showcasing the work to improve Pine Bluff and upload it to TH-cam.
I lived here from 1977 to 1984, and attended elementary to middle school before moving away. I've always wondered if the town is still thriving. Thanks for posting this video.
The two tone bldg with the corner door at 31:03 is the old Greyhound Station. It was clean, safe and had greasy spoon diner that was open every time I was there. Rode in and out of here many times on visits to my granny at 615 West Teas St. Carrying a suitcase, walking alone as a pre-teen to early teen, I was obviously vulnerable but never felt unsafe. This was in the mid '60's. I walked every block and know every building you showed, and remember the segregated water fountains, diners at Woolworth's on Main (which you passed), and the bus line seating. I only walked to town during busy times as Granny would worry. What memories of what we know is no longer to make memories. 37:34 was a Sears building for years.
I've been following your videos for a while and love them all..Especially when you provide he census information such as crime, and poverty numbers for each group and the incomes..I just can't believe that people really survive on low income levels..That's rough..I did see video on Hartford where me and my wife are from. Hartford isn't bad as some people make it out to be..We currently live in Bourne Ma which isn't too far from Plymouth Ma...Don't know if I mention this or not in one of your videos but I was station at FT Hood Texas back in 1977....Keep up the good work..
The tall building at the 1 minute and the 27:58 minutemark is the old Saenger Theater. In the '50's and '60's, it was a really nice movie theater. The inside was so impressive with reds and blues and golds, and the ceiling was a masterpiece. Dance recitals were held there, but back in its heyday, it was one of the most luxurious theaters for all kinds of entertainment. It had quite a reputation, and there were some famous people who performed there.
They have tried several times to raise money to restore it, but it is probably getting beyond repair now. Such a shame. The smaller movie theater to the right you mentioned was called the Center Theater, I think.
I believe it. You could tell it was once a magnificent building.
My sister worked at the Saenger Theater in the 50. I watched many movies at that grand old theater.
Even if that hotel undergoes a magnificent renovation, I can't see anyone wanting to stay there unless something is done about the surrounding area. Pretty sad.
Just a sign for looks to get ppl hopeful lol
This is so sad, it hurt my heart to see. You can tell it was a beautiful town at one time. I hope it’s able to be renewed in some way. I wish some of the billionaires buying up all of the sacred land in Hawaii would shift their focus from greedy overdevelopment to investing in some of the depressed areas in our country and help save the towns and cities. It’s heartbreaking to see what’s happening in so many of our cities.
I don't think they want to invest money in the cities with high percentage of black.
No they want to invest places where people want to move to. Has nothing to do with black or white. Georgia is majority black and get tons of development.
@@someguyyeah33 Georgia is not majority Black, lol. Significant percentage, 33-34%, but not majority.
The greedy wef wants to buy up all of the farm land and make you eat bugs. Soros,klaus schwab,bill gates ect...
@@someguyyeah33 Nope, no way is GA majority bla..., not even close only ATL and a couple of other shite holes are majority bla... and business can't wait to get out because of all the crime, and lack of a good workforce. They usually relocate to white areas.
I love the sound of the freight train passing through. That itself seems like a dying relic, and it's so perfect to hear still rolling through an old historic town center. I wonder if someday that won't be the only life that passes through what looks like it was once a lovely, bustling place. I was born in Toledo, OH, and my dad was smart enough to get us out of there by the end of the 70s. I remember returning once, though, in about 1985 or so, and it was still fairly nice. Unfortunately, I returned to see my grandparents one last time in 2005 and was shocked at how dangerous it felt around parts of it. All the decay. Burned out houses, lost businesses. It's not as far gone as Pine Bluff, and looks like it's actually starting to improve a little, but witnessing that is what attracts me to videos such as yours. Thanks for risking your life and possessions to document these dying places. It's important. I think Pine Bluff may be way too far gone to ever bounce back, sadly.
I have always lived in an area where there is a railroad track. I live between two railroad tracks It's sad that the town is dying. It looks like it was once a beautiful place to live.
I hope your right, but imagine if one day the train is gone too. How bad will things get?
Ex boyfriend went to college in Pine Bluff. He refused to drive me through the area when I flew to Little Rock to visit. Said it was a great university as long as you never left campus. He was a wonderful man, but refused to leave Arkansas. Since I refused to move there from SoCal, the relationship ended. Sometimes I wonder if I made the right decision. Thank you for this tour.
The Sunday cookout in DT is the community's welcome gathering for the new guy in town who took the job opening in Pine Bluff; parole officer... hence the law enforcement personnel participation - compliments of the owner(s) of the NYC/SF/LA-esque 24hr bail bonds
That is pretty cool !
I had to live in a city growing up. But soon as i was able I moved to a small town,best thing I ever did and if it grew to fast I moved to another small town and never had any trouble. City's are infested with crime you read about it daily, I always found work I didn't make a lot of money but ive been happy
There's a lot to say for small towns. But like Pine Bluff, many are dwindling with crime and poverty as bad as many cities. Some still thrive and if you can find one, stick with it.
When all the preppers say “get out of the cities” it makes me wonder have they been to some parts of more rural America
@@Hilaire_Balrog I`m a prepper living in very rural Louisiana. I can fish, forage, trap, hunt, and grow food here. There`s no logical reason to EVER live in a city and I lived in Dallas long enough to know that. Not unless that`s the only option and you have zero rural skills. I was raised farming and learning survival here. I can survive when it all crumbles and still eat. Plus I had enough sense to get as much solar power as possible to be able to cook, distill water from the creek, keep a freezer on, heat water for bathing, run a small window air conditioner or heater some, or an electric blanket. Only a delusional fool would remain in the city at this point if they have the option and skill sets to escape. But my city cousins refused to eat the food my mom cooked because "it came from the dirt." Store food was ok to them though. LOL!
I call Camden AR little Detroit. When I was a kid before the paper mill closed Camden was pretty nice but like Detroit when the factory closed the town died.
Hello Joe and Nicole we are an elderly couple out of Western New York we enjoy your videos very much and bless both of you
Awesome! Thank you!
I used to go with a friend of mine to that old theater 1:13 (The Saenger) when we were in high school. My buddy figured out how to jump up and pull the fire escape down. We would take dates and go up on top of the rooftop. 😊
Crazy timing, I JUST started researching this town! From the outside looking in this place just seems like an extension of the Mississippi Delta.
It is
Man I don't think I'd be walking around in that place, it looks dangerous and super creepy. Really great video though, I mean the fact that you're bringing this sort of thing to light is really a good thing.
Thank you for that, Trevor.
Don't forget the area where he was walking the police were there monitoring the festival on the corner.
I'm with ya on that, so sketchy and you are by yourself, anything could happen and nobody is around to help you... I wouldn't be setting foot outside my car. Great content but you are a brave man sir!!
I'd be interested in your assessment of downtown Decatur, IL. Some stuff has been kept up but a lot of the buildings are rundown and inner-city houses are rundown/in bad repair. Crim has also been on the rise
My parents moved me from Pine Bluff, AR to Paducah, KY in the 80s. It was a major culture shock. I went from a city where people were regularly shot, robbed, graped and more on a regular basis to a town that was ranked one of the top five best places to raise a family. Not sure how Paducah rates now, but it’s probably still ahead of PB.
Pine Bluff was dangerous when I was a kid, late 70s, early 80s, and it’s steadily gotten worse. They are banking on the new casino they just opened there. I’m not sure if it will actually bring in the money to help or just a different breed of crime. 😢
Wow. Thank you for the comment.
Pine Bluff like Little Rock is getting nothing but worse.
As for the Casino, organized gambling comes with organized crime like two Twinkies in a package.
Wow this tour blew me away. Thank you astonishing!!!!
I remember growing up in the 70's +80's downtown Pine Bluff was the place to be it had nice clothing stores and restaurants it had a big Comicbook stand on the side of a building me and my Mom use to go to Woolworths and get a hamburger and Chocolate Float those were some good Ole day's to see it go down is Devastating to see I have a lot of memories of Downtown Pine Bluff.
Sounds like good memories!
Yes they were it makes me sick to my stomach to see this once beautiful town the way it is today you would think that our Mayor would be able to get some help from the Government to try and fix it up.
anitacreasey7955 Are you kin to Preston Creasey? He used to be my friend.
I moved to Pine Bluff in 1981 when my Dad became pastor of a church in Pine Bluff. We moved to Arkansas from Louisiana. Anyway, the church he pastored was in what was called “the fair grounds”. My sisters and I attended Dollarway Schools and we all graduated from Dollarway. Our school no longer exists.. that area is part of the poorest part of town. As a kid I didn’t have a clue of any of that. I LOVED my school and I am so happy we moved to Pine Bluff. I went to nursing school in Pine Bluff. Looking at where you are walking, Main Street…. Used to be very busy every day. It breaks my heart to see how dead it looks. We had parades down Main Street when the fair came to town and at Christmas. The Pine Bluff Convention Center used to have concerts there and is where we had our high school graduation and band and choir concerts. So many happy memories for me in Pine Bluff, Ar.
Pine bluff used to have everything my grandparents were educators in pine bluff back from the 70s to late 90s I was just talking with some one I grew up with in pine bluff saying I don’t know what happen but it’s so sad to know what it was and what it is now 😢
My husband graduated from Dollarway in 1967. After we married, we lived on Phyllis Street in the Fairgrounds Addition. Those were nice little houses which had been built for soldiers returning from WWII. My husband worked as a foreman at Federal Compress on 6th and I worked for Metropolitan Life on the 8th floor of the Simmons Bank Building at 5th & Main. We left Pine Bluff in 1972 so he could return to college (Arkansas Tech) and get his degree.
One of my favorite memories of Pine Bluff is Arthur's Barbecue on 13th with the smokehouse in back. Best barbecue I've ever tasted. Another was driving 5th and 6th streets to look at the beautifully maintained (at that time) antebellum homes.
My heart breaks to see this wonderful city in such a state.
So many of America's small towns are drying up and dying, but Pine Bluff is killing itself from within. It's so sad because it was such a beautiful, thriving and vibrant city in years past. One of the biggest in Arkansas. Now most people won't go there and those who live there leave in droves...if they have the means to do so. I work in the medical field and know a few people who work in their hospital, and gunshot wounds are a painfully regular occurrence there. Many times the victim simply dropped out of a vehicle and abandoned at the ER entrance.
Great comment.
"gunshots are...painfully...."
Really? I'd have never imagined. Lol
When certain "minority" demographics move in, that seals the fate of a town or city.
@@taxthesocialist2602 Arkansas is a RED state majority WHITE. Ranks in the bottom 5 of poorest. The problem is in the statement. White conservatives
@@taxthesocialist2602 does your nearest river go to Aintry?
Fascinating. Now I want to see some before video and photos for comparison. Sad that stuff is like this now. I'm 50 and I miss how great things were and looked.
Man you gotta be brave wandering around Pine Bluff alone like that. That whole place is dangerous
The numbers you quoted hit the nail square on the head! That’s exactly why the crime rate is so high. It’s hard to believe with a downtown that looks like it’s been abandoned that the population is as high as it is, over 40,000. Based on the types of buildings in the downtown area when they were new and downtown was vibrant, I bet everything looked gorgeous!
It did, It was a beautiful town, that started to turn in the 60's to what it is today. I know why, but it wouldn't be politically correct to say why. The people I know who once lived in PB, now live in the surrounding areas, and only go there for medical purposes or to shop in the areas out side of down town. And then only before the sun goes down.
Even more shocking, Lee, is that there were at least 20 more buildings there that have been torn down. It could have looked even worse.
That was a Sunday regardless of what he says, from someone that is from here! Pine Bluff does not look like this during the week! Maybe he should have done this during the weekday
@@lorymyers7596 regardless of the day, which I’ve never seen a downtown area look that desolate mid morning, that doesn’t change the condition of the buildings. The one area of any town or city that you can always count on being a true and accurate reflection of the city/town leadership and that of its citizens is the downtown area. It’s fairly obvious the city leaders don’t take any pride in themselves or the heart of the city and it doesn’t look like the people who live in PB care much more. And numbers don’t lie. Poverty rate really high, crime rate really high. Lord Spoda does a great job in finding the positive in every city/town he and his wife go to. Sometimes, there just isn’t anything positive to say, and I think that video showed an accurate picture of what PB looks like…
@@LJones69 He did not show the nice areas of Pine Bluff. There are high end areas with high dollar homes. There are nice working class neighborhoods, although they are smaller as time goes on. I would not move there unless I was young and had a whale of an opportunity to make a lot of money for a time.
I moved there in 1980 from Greenville MS. It was the most beautiful place i Had ever seen.Left there in 1986 to the military. Came back in 2009 after retirement and could not believe what I found.Moved to Texas. Crime Bluff or Pine Box as we call it,will never be the same again.
This really does look post-apocalyptic. My gosh…it truly seems to be too far gone to even know how they’d begin to rebuild - especially since people won’t want gamble on a move into Pine Bluff because of the crime. So very sad…
I'm really hoping that somebody can think of something, but there are only so many schemes to go around. Some dying towns thought of (speaking of gambling) casinos, some tax-free mall outlets, tourism, etc. Maybe the telecommuters and Internet people can save us, as they can live anywhere they want and maybe they don't want to live in the 3rd outer belt of a boring city.
I've lived there, and like any place, big city or small city, most crime occurs with and among fellow criminals. Stay away from the criminals, don't associate with them and I or you don't have problems.
Hi, interesting the videos, i am from Nicaragua and it helps me a lot to know about the USA given that I do not have the resources to visit USA whether to work or visit
used to swim in ark. river, we called it the beach 1970. the gala room, cedell davis playing on a streetcorner, the smell of bbq on state street . Fantastic urban gospel quartets, gatewood bros. the spiritual harmonizers of pine bluff, the Rice singers ,absolute gold back in the day !
Amazing. There are so many mom's with kids that need a home. That was a scary trip though town Thanks for the show
Thank you, Freddy! :)
I was offered a contract job at the corrections as a nurse. Glad I found this video.
It was "dying" back in the 90s when I lived there. It's been dead as a door nail for 25+ yrs now. 😕
That collapsed building at 22:33 would make a good Santa Fe-style courtyard. Seating, plants growing, artwork painted on the walls. It could be really beautiful with a little work.
I recognized the old Saenger Theater at 26:22. (red brick) Been there many times decades ago. My mom must have gone there a couple hundred times growing up. She spoke of it often. She always just loved movies. She's gone now. The half moon shaped windows on the doors are original from way back then.
Some 30 years ago International Paper had a major milk in Pine Bluff that employed close to 2000 folks at very good wage and benefits.
Love watching your videos and this one is quiet unbelievable. Looks like this city has just died and is beyond saving. Considering the number of people homeless in cities like Portland why can't these buildings be turned into housing and programs be instituted to get them off drugs and rehabilitated. Might work or might not but this city needs something to stop it from dying altogether.
They'd rather large swaths of the country look like a war zone than provide even the most remotely affordable housing.
Pine Bluff was the Headquarters for the St Louis Southwestern Railroad " The Cotton Belt R.R." The building still stands and is the home of the Arkansas Railroad Museum. The interesting thing about it is they have a Steam Locomotive in the Museum that they built in that building back in the late 40"s It was restored in the 80's and did excursions up until the 90's. From what I understand the Union Pacific railroad owns the track age around the old shops and won't allow access to the museum to run the engine anymore. It's sad to see the town in this bad of shape.
My granddad was a brakeman for the Cotton Belt. Sometimes, if I was stopped at a train crossing at the right time I could wave at him as the caboose passed by.
The street lights are inadequate in both Pine Bluff and White Hall Arkansas, and they still uses either 250 watt and/or 400 watt Mercury Vapor Lamps which no longer available. They should install more then 10,000 LED street lights in both of these cities, like they did it in Little Rock and North Little Rock Arkansas.
Just saw this video. I lived in Pine Bluff for a few years in the 2010's. Joe actually saw the downtown in relatively good shape. When I was there a building collapsed onto Main street (I believe it was the shell that you saw at the 4:00 minute mark) and the city just left it there for a couple of years. It didn't really affect traffic or any businesses. The local bank used to send me emails titled "Greetings from Crime Bluff". A friend and I were constantly trying new restaurants because our favorite places kept closing down. Driving around town it was easy to see that the community used to be much more prosperous. Very sad to see it now.
Reminds me of St. Joseph Missouri, however St. Jo isn't nearly as depressed. It's on the borderline for sure, while it has an university, a Prison and Mental Hospital plus multiple industrial locations, it's downtown is nearly empty and the crime rate rose dramatically after the recession to be one of the most dangerous towns in Missouri. You can buy a Victorian Mansion there for less than $200k, but it's proximity to the center of town results in transients walking through yards or outright squatting.
Chester Goode was from St. Joe if ya didn't know 👊
I lived in Pine Bluff in 1953-55, 6th and 7th grade for me. it was a beautiful model American city. Rode my bike to school every day no problem. It's an absolute disgrace what's happened to the city. The criminal thugs-druggies came in and took over. Too bad law enforcement couldn't get on top of it for the good citizens of Pine Bluff.
Gary, East St. Louis, Flint, Detroit, St. Louis. Communities are dying and it is sad.
I currently live in this horrible place....its awful.
I have to say I am from San Jose, California, watching these videos of Arkansas in Louisiana and Illinois. It just breaks my heart when I see these towns with these beautiful old buildings just empty and it really really breaks my heart.
My grandparents lived on Bell St in Pine Bluff. In the 70s which looking back was a peak, the neighborhood was fine. Went down every decade, and today 75% of the houses on Bell St are torn down or in dilapidated conditions. Maybe the new casino will drive some economy into the city. God Bless, Pine Bluff.
It reminds me a lot of downtown East St. Louis. Tall buildings that you can tell were very grand decades ago, but have been long vacant and are falling apart.
I was in east St. Louis for one day back in the late seventies. It still is the worst place I've ever been to in all my years. It was way worse than Pine Bluff is now.
@@carlhaldeman420 UNFORTUNATELY, having destroyed their own lair they have migrated across the river to visit their magic on St. Louis.
I've noticed that so many original downtowns in small areas are falling apart. As towns expand we've take to adding the big franchise businesses to the edges of the town. That's probably because of highway traffic.
I've actually wanted to do something similar with small downtowns all over Arkansas, to record them before they all collapse. Unfortunately gas went up about the time I got Gung ho on the idea. I'll say stuttgart has done alot to refurbish its old downtown main street. Wish more would follow suit. The buildings of the 30s-50s are so fascinating to me.
I really appreciate you doing this sort of thing.
Great comment.
They warned us 30 years ago when the giant big box stores were landing in every small town and underselling the small business owners. So here we are. Pretty soon everybody will be living in about 20 or 30 'beltway cities' You know the kind, where there are about 3 or 4 circles of freeway around the city, each with the same big boxes, strip malls, gas stations and nail salons. These are the areas that Lord Spoda does not go through because they are not interesting and I agree. No wonder the mental health of the country (among other reasons) is deteriorating.
Folks said Walmart would replace small town ma and pap businesses. "Oh no" Walmart said.
The big, lived-in, old fashioned houses are amazing; they give me a glimpse into the past and remind me of old-time America, circa 1900. Some of the other houses are nice, too; it's just sad that they're falling apart. I vacillate between wanting to see them stay there just for the old-time, ghost-town-like atmosphere, and wanting to see them torn down so more areas can be turned into, say, parkland or something. Can't abandoned buildings be condemned and torn down by the city after so many months or years of trying to contact property owners and receiving no response??
My former home in Ga. was built in the late '59s. We lived there until '96 to moved to another city and not long ago, it was torn down and replaced by a McMansion. My neighbourhood, no doubt, will be replaced-like the old tv shows depicting the '50s and '60s middle class-by the new generation who'll see their homes replaced as well in the future.
Those abandoned buildings probably were turned over to the city long ago after the owners couldn't find buyers or tenants to avoid paying property taxes and tearing them down.
Your videos could actually be a huge help to communities, not just because people need to be aware of how much poverty and blight there is in our country, but from a more hopeful and optimistic perspective, there might be others looking for more affordable places to live (who aren’t afraid, and take an active interest in resurrecting some of these places). Also, location scouting for film. I’ve been obsessed with Cairo, IL since I drove through there while on tour. I still think that place can come back.
Im from PB and still do most of my business in PB. The trees in town are one of my favorite aspects. I still drive around in the fall and remember my childhood riding bikes all over the place.