Updated on Apr 13, 2021
Romance is an unincorporated community in west-central White County, Arkansas, United States. The community is located approximately halfway between the town of Rose Bud to the north, and the unincorporated community of El Paso to the south. Alternately, the community is about northwest of Beebe, and less than east of Mount Vernon.
Considered as a postal designation (ZIP code: 72136), the population of Romance as of the 2010 census was 1,772 residents.
Lacking exact boundaries, much of the Romance area falls within the borders of Marshall Township and Kentucky Township within White County. As legend maintains, the community was named by a school teacher many years ago who thought the view from bluffs on the community's eastern side was particularly romantic.
Naming of the community has proven significant in maintaining Romance's most visible business, a small branch post office of the United States Postal Service. The local post office is one of several within the USPS system that gain attention because of "love-themed" names, but received special focus in 1990 as the first location to issue that year's stamp in the USPS Love Stamp series. Romance's post office is among those popular around the United States for postmarks of cards for Valentine's Day, as well as for wedding invitations. A side venture of sorts has developed in recent years, with a small number of weddings performed on the grounds of the post office, though the practice is not affiliated with the USPS.
As an unincorporated community, local government of Romance is part of the jurisdiction of the county judge of White County, the county's chief executive, and subject to county-wide ordinances. The current County Judge is Michael Lincoln of Searcy. The community is represented legislatively in the county's quorum court in Searcy, the county seat, during monthly and special meetings by the quorum court district's justice of the peace. Local law enforcement, similarly, is provided directly from the county level by deputies of the White County Sheriff's Department, as well as township constables for Marshall and Kentucky townships. The current Sheriff is Ricky Shourd and the current Constable is Curtis Elliot. Judicial enforcement is the responsibility of the circuit court judge and prosecuting attorney.
A small southern portion of the Romance area is federally controlled territory used as a parachute drop zone for Little Rock Air Force Base in Jacksonville the base is approximately south of the territory. The drop zone was first established in the early 1980s.
Additionally, Romance is represented legislatively on the state level in the Arkansas General Assembly as part of Senate District 18 (Senator Missy Irvin) and House District 44 (Representative Cameron Cooper) the community is part of Arkansas's 2nd Congressional District on the federal level.
Small creeks and ponds can be found around the community, including Cedar Creek on Romance's south side. Clifty Creek flows through the center of Romance. Bad Luck Creek and Bayou Des Arc also flow nearby to the east, with Des Arc being dammed and forming Barnett Lake between Romance and the nearby community of Floyd. Scenic waterfalls can be found along these streams. There are a series of steep and elevated bluffs along Highway 31, with several pull off points to enjoy the scenic view. Geographically, Romance is considered to be in the foothills of the Ozark Mountains. The southern portion of the community, which is situated atop Black Jack Mountain, is significantly higher in elevation than other parts of Romance. The overall climate is somewhat similar to that found in other north central Arkansas communities, with warm, dry summers and cold, wet winters. Severe weather can include thunderstorms, hail, and tornados during the warm months, with snow, sleet, freezing rain and frigid windchills in the winter months.
Romance is situated along two major Arkansas state highways:
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This page uses material from the Wikipedia article Romance, Arkansas , which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0.