About a dozen miles west of the GRR and Moon Lake via US-49 is Helena, Arkansas, “the most deadly place on the river” to Union regiments in the Civil War, stopped in their tracks by the festering malarial swamps that once surrounded the town. It began building a different reputation back in the 1940s when local radio station KFFA 1360 AM began broadcasting the “King Biscuit Flour Hour,” a live blues show; originally hosted by harmonica legend Sonny Boy Williamson, the show is still on the air every day at 12:15 pm. In early October, the King Biscuit Blues Festival (870/338-8798 for info) attracts fans by the tens of thousands to hear one of the best lineups of live gospel and blues in the nation. The rest of the year, the Delta Cultural Center daily; free; 870/338-4350), at 141 Cherry Street (in the renovated train depot downtown), with its fine historical displays on the lives of Delta inhabitants, is an equally compelling reason to visit this small river town.
