Anybody ever hear of Crisscross Meadow? Or something close to that

This one's been bugging me all week. I came across the name Crisscross Meadow (might be Criss Cross, might be Crisscross Meadows, I honestly don't know) in some old papers of my late husband's family and I can't place it anywhere in Conway. Not a street I know, not a subdivision. Could be a farm or a pasture or just what somebody called a field way back.

I've been out in Beaverfork a long time and I thought I knew most of the old names, but then I asked my sister-in-law and she said it was off toward Salem Road somewhere. A neighbor said no, out past the fairgrounds. So now I've got two answers and neither one is a for sure.

We all say "before Dave Ward" like that explains everything, but half of what's out there now used to be hay fields and pasture and the old-timers still argue about where one thing stopped and the next started. I'd love to hear what folks remember. What subdivisions went in where a field used to be, which streets got renamed, that kind of thing.

If anybody remembers Crisscross Meadow, or knows who might, please say so. I'll bring it up at church Sunday too but you all are usually faster than the prayer chain.

Doesn't ring a bell for me, and I've been here a good while. Salem Road and out past the fairgrounds are pretty different parts of town though, so I'd guess one of those answers is just somebody guessing.

If it's an old farm or pasture name it may never have been on a street sign or a plat. Might be worth checking with the Faulkner County Museum downtown, or the library, since they usually have old maps and some of the family histories. The county assessor's office could also pull old deed descriptions if you've got a family name to go off of. Those papers of your husband's might mention a section or township number somewhere, and that'd narrow it down fast.

I'll ask around at the farmers market Saturday too. Some of the older vendors have been farming around here forever and tend to know what every field used to be called.

Take care

Doesn't ring a bell for me either, and I'm over in Mayflower. Clay's right about the museum though. Back when I was growing up out here, folks named fields after whoever owned them or whatever grew there, and those names never made it onto a map.

The old fellas who sit up in the stands at the Wampus Cat games might know too. They remember everything, whether you ask or not.

Take care

ha the guys in the stands would know, they'll also tell you how the line should've blocked but ask anyway. Season's starting so Friday is a good time to catch them

Ha, I know exactly the ones you mean. My late husband sat near that bunch for years and never once heard a kind word about the offensive line. But if anybody's going to remember a pasture, it's them, so I may just take my folder along Friday and bother a few.

Clay, thank you for the museum idea. I hadn't thought of the deed descriptions. There's a section number written on one of the pages, in pencil, so I'll copy that down and take it with me. Might try the library first since it's closer to me than downtown.

Still curious whether anyone out Salem Road way has heard it. My sister-in-law was real sure, but she's also sure about a lot of things.

Never heard Crisscross Meadow myself, and I've been out by Lake Conway since before the lake had that many houses on it. But your sister-in-law and your neighbor could both be half right. A lot of those old farms were big, and when they got split up and sold off the name usually went with the original owner, not the land.

If you do go Friday, catch the old fellas before kickoff, not after. Once the first drive stalls they're no use to anybody. Take the section number with you too, because a few of them will know the family name faster than the field name.

Let us know what turns up.

Not to pile on your sister-in-law, but "toward Salem Road" and "past the fairgrounds" is what you get when two people both want to be the one who knew. Neither one is a location.

My two cents: Crisscross Meadow sounds like a name a developer came up with, not a farmer. Farmers named a field after the family or the creek. Developers name things after whatever they just bulldozed. So it could be a subdivision that got platted back in the 80s or 90s and never got built, or got renamed when the next outfit bought the ground. That happens constantly around here. If it was ever a paper subdivision, the circuit clerk at the courthouse should have the plat records (pretty sure the clerk doubles as the recorder in Arkansas). That's probably a better bet than the assessor, and your pencil section number gives them something to search on.

As for Friday, bring the folder, but the guys in the stands will give you six different answers and swear to every one. These are the same people who've been telling the Wampus Cat coaches how to run the offense for thirty years. The crowd over at Estes for the UCA games isn't any better, so don't waste a trip over there.

Let us know what the clerk turns up. I'd like to know if it ever got built or if it's just a sign somebody put up and forgot about.

Okay but I'm gonna defend the stands a little. Six answers is annoying, but in my experience at least one of them is right, you just can't tell which one till somebody else confirms it. And Shane, the Estes crowd isn't THAT bad, they're just loud about different things lol

The developer-name theory makes sense to me though. Half the subdivisions out toward Salem Road have Meadow or Creek or Farm or Ridge in the name, and nobody can point to the actual meadow. I'd bet Crisscross Meadow was a sign on a gravel road that never turned into anything, or it got renamed when somebody else bought the ground. If the clerk has a plat it'd settle it.

Barb, if you do go Friday, grab the guys right when the gates open like Rick said. Once the band comes out and the game starts they're locked in. And please post what the clerk says, I'm weirdly invested in this now.