By Cody Berry

There’s a long list of questions I get frequently during my tours at the Gann Museum. I try to answer them as best I can and relate that to whatever is next on the tour. Probably the most frequently asked question is something like “So, What’s Bauxite?” 

Well, Bauxite is a type of rock that helped make this part of the Natural State famous. It is the ore from which we get aluminum. There are many types of Bauxite to choose from, some are soft and easily crushed, while others are not. It also comes in many colors ranging from bright pink to dark brown and shades of grey. Bauxite is formed through the weathering of other rocks, and it can even grade into clay.¹ The Gann herself is largely made of it. 

The Bauxite industry started in Arkansas around 1896 not long after State Geologist John C. Branner announced the identification of Bauxite ore here.² By then local interests were already at work in Saline County. J. Ernest Smith and Robert S. Perry of the Southern Bauxite and Mining Company bought land near here that was later bought by the General Bauxite Company in 1895. They shipped the first 40 tons of ore from Saline County in 1896.³  

The town of Perrysmith was renamed “Bauxite” in 1903. In 1905, the Pittsburgh Reduction Company bought the General Bauxite Company. In 1907, the Pittsburgh Reduction Company changed its name to the Aluminum Company of America or Alcoa for short. Alcoa also established subsidiaries the American Bauxite Company and the Republic Mining and Manufacturing Company in Saline County.⁴ Stay tuned for more stories! 

Citations:

1. Britannica, T. Editors of Encyclopaedia. “bauxite.” Encyclopedia Britannica, July 1, 2024. https://www.britannica.com/science/bauxite. 
2. J. Michael Howard, “Bauxite Mining,” CALS Encyclopedia of Arkansas,  https://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/bauxite-mining-2145/, Date Accessed 7/30/2024.
3. Laura Harrington, “Bauxite (Saline County),” CALS Encyclopedia of Arkansas, https://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/bauxite-saline-county-382/#:~:text=The%20story%20of%20Bauxite%20is,of%20central%20Arkansas%20in%201887., Date Accessed 7/30/2024. 
4. Gordon Scott Bachus, A Printed and Pictorial History of Bauxite, Heritage Publishing Company, 1968, p. 15.