Tucker | |
---|---|
Unincorporated community | |
Location within the state of Arkansas | |
Coordinates: 34°26′40″N 91°57′16″W / 34.44444°N 91.95444°WCoordinates: 34°26′40″N 91°57′16″W / 34.44444°N 91.95444°W | |
Country | United States |
State | Arkansas |
County | Jefferson |
Elevation | 226 ft (69 m) |
Time zone | Central (CST) (UTC-6) |
• Summer (DST) | CDT (UTC-5) |
GNIS feature ID | 55674 |
Tucker is an Unincorporated community in Jefferson County, Arkansas. It has an elevation of 226 ft (69 m) and is located 30 miles (48 km) southeast of Little Rock.
In 1871 John Woodfin Tucker established the Tucker Plantation, named after his wife, Sarah E. Tucker. The plantation, which mostly produced cotton, expanded to occupy 2,800 acres (1,100 ha). Paid farmworkers and resident sharecroppers worked the land. The Tucker family managed the post office and the store.
Circa 1958, Tucker had 74 residents.
The Tucker Volunteer Fire Department provides fire services. The fire station is along Arkansas Highway 15.
The Arkansas Department of Correction (ADC) operates the ADC Complex in Tucker; the complex is off Arkansas Highway 15, 9 miles (14 km) south of England and 25 miles (40 km) north of Pine Bluff. The two prison units in the complex are the Tucker Unit and the Maximum Security Unit. The ADC training academy, the Willis S. Sargent Training Academy, is in the complex, adjacent to the Maximum Security and Tucker units.
In 1916 the state purchased 4,400 acres (1,800 ha) of land to establish the Tucker Unit. In 1933 the death chamber moved from the Arkansas State Penitentiary to the Tucker Unit, because the penitentiary closed. The final execution at Tucker, before the death penalty in Arkansas was declared to be unconstitutional, took place in 1964. In 1974 male death row inmates, previously at the Tucker Unit, were moved to the Cummins Unit, which is not in Tucker. In 1978 a new death chamber opened in Cummins, so Tucker Unit was no longer the point of execution. In 1986, male death row inmates were moved to the Maximum Security Unit in Tucker. In 2000, the ADC training academy moved to its current location from the former Barnes School building. On Friday August 22, 2003, all 39 Arkansas death row inmates were moved from the Maximum Security Unit to the Supermax at the Varner Unit, which is not in Tucker.