WHEREAS:    Blytheville grew from a lumber mill town into one of the centers of Arkansas’ cotton industry in the 1880s. Serving as the state’s gateway in Northeast Arkansas, it also welcomed travelers and tourists to the Natural State;

WHEREAS:    Blytheville’s role as a center of forestry grew significantly after Chicago’s Great Fire of 1871. Many of the city’s buildings were rebuilt using lumber harvested in Arkansas;

WHEREAS:    Blytheville is home to the Ritz Civic Center – a restored opera house on Main Street – and the Delta Gateway Museum – one of the region’s main cultural attractions;

WHEREAS:    Blytheville is the largest city in Mississippi County, now the nation’s top steel-producing county. The city is home to several steel manufacturing facilities;

WHEREAS:    Governor Sanders’ “Capital for a Day” program highlights great cities around Arkansas like Blytheville and brings senior state government officials into town to meet with their local counterparts and to ensure that adequate services are provided to all Arkansans; and

WHEREAS:    Blytheville will serve as the fifth “Capital for a Day” under Governor Sanders and will momentarily serve as Arkansas’ seat of government.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, SARAH HUCKABEE SANDERS, Governor of the State of Arkansas, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the laws of the State of Arkansas, do hereby name Blytheville, Arkansas, our Capital for a Day on November 30th, 2023, and invite our senior state government officials to join me in a visit to the city.

IN TESTIMONY WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Great Seal of the State of Arkansas to be affixed this 27th day of November, in the year of our Lord 2023.