Wayfarrow

Bethel

Ghost town · Howard County, Arkansas

Umpire quadrangle, USGS topographic map (1959, 1:62,500)
Umpire quadrangle, USGS topographic map (1959, 1:62,500) · U.S. Geological Survey, Historical Topographic Map Collection · Public domain

Bethel is a ghost town in Howard County, Arkansas. It is one of 34 former communities in Howard County on the federal names register. That ranks the county 2nd among the 74 Arkansas counties with a vanished settlement on record.

The U.S. Geological Survey lists Bethel as a historical populated place on the Umpire topographic quadrangle: the name is no longer in official use for a community, whether the settlement was abandoned, absorbed into a neighbouring town or renamed. The recorded location is 34.2676° N, 94.0299° W.

Key facts

USGS quadrangleUmpire
Elevation794 ft
Nearest living townNewhope, AR
Distance to it9.3 miles
GNIS feature ID62531
Coordinates34.26761, -94.02992

Open the location on a map

Then and now

Drag the slider: the old USGS map on the left, the same ground from the air today on the right. Both cover the same 1.9-mile square centred on the recorded location.

Bethel today, aerial view
Umpire quadrangle, USGS topographic map (1959, 1:62,500)

Left: Umpire quadrangle, USGS topographic map (1959, 1:62,500), U.S. Geological Survey, Historical Topographic Map Collection. Right: The same ground today: NAIP aerial imagery, USDA Farm Service Agency, National Agriculture Imagery Program (via USGS). Both public domain.

What's there now

Bethel is no longer a community in its own right. The nearest living town is Newhope, AR (population 296), about 9.3 miles away in a straight line, and the site sits at roughly 794 feet above sea level. The aerial view above shows what covers the ground today. Much of the land around former townsites is private; check access before you visit.

Nearby places

Questions

Where is Bethel?

Bethel is in Howard County, Arkansas, at 34.2676, -94.0299.

How many ghost towns are in Howard County?

Howard County, Arkansas has 34 ghost towns on record at Wayfarrow.

Sources and licences

Facts marked "approximately" carry an uncertain date in the source. Text on this page is generated from the sources above; no encyclopedia prose is copied. Last updated 2026-11-05.