Harvey Crowley Couch, Sr. was an Arkansas entrepreneur who rose from modest beginnings to control a regional utility and railroad empire. He is regarded as the father of Arkansas Power and Light Company and other electric utilities now part of Entergy; he helped mold the Louisiana and Arkansas Railway and the Kansas City Southern Railway into a major transportation system. His work with local and federal government leaders during World War I and the Great Depression gained him national recognition and earned him positions in state and federal agencies. He also established Arkansas’ first commercial broadcast radio station.
Harvey Crowley Couch was born on August 21, 1877 in Calhoun Township, Columbia County, Arkansas. He was the eldest son of Thomas Grantham Couch and Manie Evans (Heard) Couch.[1][2][3] In 1880, the family moved to Blossom Prairie, Lamar County, Texas.[4] Around 1894, they returned to Arkansas and he lived in Magnolia, Columbia County. He attended the local school and considered dropping out, but was encouraged by Pat Neff, his teacher, to continue his education. Pat, who eventually became the Governor of Texas, encouraged him with adages like "A winner never quits" and "Men like you have built empires".[1]
In 1900, he lived in a boarding house on Popular Street in Memphis, Shelby County, Tennessee where he worked as a postal clerk.[5] He married Jessie Maude Johnson on October 4, 1904 in Athens, Claiborne Parish, Louisiana.[6] After his marriage, he lived in Police Jury Ward 1, Winn Parish, Louisiana. He worked as a manager at the telephone company.[7]
In 1920, he lived in Pine Bluff, Jefferson County, Arkansas. He was President of the Pine Bluff Company.[8] In 1930, he continued to live in Pine Bluff on Harding Street.[9] He was president of a public utility, which eventually led to the creation of Arkansas Power and Light (AP&L). He was the first to build a modern gas fired power plant in the lower Mississippi Valley. He also built the REmmel and Carpenter dams in Garland County.[1]
During the Depression, President Hoover appointed Couch to the seven-member board for the newly created emergency Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC), which operated from 1931 to 1956.[1] In 1933, President Roosevelt appointed him to the Public Works Administration (PWA).[1]
He had formed the Louisiana Railroad and Navigational Company, and in 1937 acquired stock in the Kansas City Southern Railroad (KCS). He combined the company with the Louisiana and Arkansas Railway. The combination gave him control of a stretch of railway from New Orleans to Kansas City.[1]
His final two projects were devising a new type of electrical distribution system to insulate the wire and make it easier to get electricity to farms. Instead of patenting the system, he turned it over to the Rural Electrification Administration (REA). His second project developed industries to process water, cotton, rice and timber in the state. Which helped grow the states economy.[1]
In 1940, he lived in Pine Bluff [10], and the following year he died on June 30, 1941 in Magnet Township, Hot Spring County, Arkansas.[3] He is buried in the Magnolia City Cemetery in Magnolia, Columbia County, Arkansas.[11]
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Categories: Arkansas, Notables | Calhoun Township, Columbia County, Arkansas | Columbia County, Arkansas | Lamar County, Texas | Postal Clerks | 1900 US Census, Shelby County, Tennessee | Memphis, Tennessee | Shelby County, Tennessee | Managers | 1910 US Census, Winn Parish, Louisiana | Winn Parish, Louisiana | 1920 US Census, Jefferson County, Arkansas | 1930 US Census, Jefferson County, Arkansas | 1940 US Census, Jefferson County, Arkansas | Business Leaders | Businessmen | Pine Bluff, Arkansas | Jefferson County, Arkansas | Magnet Township, Hot Spring County, Arkansas | Hot Spring County, Arkansas | Magnolia City Cemetery, Magnolia, Arkansas | United States, Business Leaders | Notables