Haynes

Several families made their homes in Haynes before the Civil War, and by 1880, it was the second largest town in Lee County, with a population of 350. Much of its growth was attributed to the Iron Mountain Railroad Line, which came through the settlement in the early 1880s, connecting Forrest City and Marianna.

A depot was built bearing the name of the station master, Joseph Haynes, but when a post office was erected in 1881, citizens first called it Bailey. The name was changed to Haynes in 1883.   When the town incorporated in 1889, the name again was debated in the community, but Haynes prevailed.

Though the town once had three cotton gins in 1888 and shipped 5,000 bales of cotton, the Depression hampered the cotton and railroad industries, and many people left and never returned. There were brief surges in population over the ensuing years, including a high of about 360 people in 1980, but by 2010 the town was down to 150 citizens.

Haynes is about 60 miles southwest of West Memphis and is on the Great River Road National Scenic Byway.