Bee Branch is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Van Buren County, Arkansas, United States. It was first listed as a CDP in the 2020 census with a population of 293.
More than 70% of the local population consist of married couples. The majority of the population were born out-of-state and exclusively speak the English language. The nearest towns are Clinton and Fairfield Bay.
History
The community has had a post office since Willie D. Neal was named postmaster in 1860. When the post office moved in 1879 near the present-day intersection of U.S. 65 and Highway 92, it applied for the name Crossroads, but was rejected as it had already been duplicated in several parts of the state. The name Bee Branch was chosen for a large beehive in a tree near the post office.
Bee Branch was indirectly affected by an outbreak of tornadoes in November 2005.
Climate
The warmest summers that Bee Branch has witnessed occurred in 1998, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016.
Education
Public education in the townsite is provided by South Side School District, which operates South Side High School.
Infrastructure
The community is located near secondary roads and no Interstate highways in the immediate area. U.S. Route 65 is the most major highway to go through Bee Branch.
Demographics
2020 census
Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos can be of any race.
Notable people
Bee Branch is also the home town of Larry Nixon. He is a professional fisherman and a video game celebrity in Japan with a wife, two sons and one daughter. While the local video game players either bought and/or rented this game as TNN Bass Tournament of Champions in the Bee Branch area, Japanese gamers saw the game released as Larry Nixon's Super Bass Fishing. The capital of Japan (Tokyo) is located away from Bee Branch and only avid sports fans realized Nixon's link to the Bee Branch area.
Virginia Morris Johnson, the first woman (1968) to seek the office of governor of Arkansas, was reared in Bee Branch from the age of fourteen years. She graduated from South Side High School in 1946.
Arkansas State Representative Kim Hammer, a Baptist clergyman from Saline County, was reared in Bee Branch and graduated from South Side High School.
Jim McKnight, professional baseball player, whose son also played in the Major Leagues, was born in Bee Branch.
Amber Straughn, NASA astronomer and James Webb Space Telescope Deputy Project Scientist, was raised in Bee Branch and graduated from South Side High School in 1998.
