WHEREAS:  Hope was settled in 1852 and named after the daughter of James Loughborough, the Cairo and Fulton Railroad Land Commissioner. It grew quickly alongside the railroad;

WHEREAS:  The town became famous for its watermelons in the 1920s when local John S. Gibson started a watermelon-growing contest to promote the area. The Hope Chamber of Commerce continues to sponsor the annual Watermelon Festival every year;

WHEREAS:  Hope is the birthplace of former Arkansas Governor and U.S. President Bill Clinton and former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, both of whom went on to national prominence. The city is now home to the President William Jefferson Clinton Birthplace Home National Historic Site, a house on South Hervey Street where the former president lived until the age of four;

WHEREAS:  Visitors to Hope can also explore the Hope Visitor Center and Museum, located on the old Missouri-Pacific Railroad and featuring local history and railroad artifacts. It still serves as a functioning AMTRAK stop;

WHEREAS:  Governor Sanders’ “Capital for a Day” program highlights great cities around Arkansas like Hope and brings senior state government officials into town to meet with their local counterparts and to ensure that adequate services are provided to all Arkansans; and

WHEREAS:  Hope will serve as the seventh “Capital for a Day” under Governor Sanders and will momentarily serve as Arkansas’ seat of government.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, SARAH HUCKABEE SANDERS, Governor of the State of Arkansas, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the laws of the State of Arkansas, do hereby name Hope, Arkansas, our Capital for a Day on January 11th, 2024, and invite our senior state government officials to join me in a visit to the city.

IN TESTIMONY WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Great Seal of the State of Arkansas to be affixed this 8th day of January, in the year of our Lord 2024.