What is the difference between “space” and “place?” According to Yi-Fu Tuan, professor emeritus of geography at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, space becomes place when “it acquires definition and meaning” (Tuan, 136). As people use a space for a specific purpose, that location becomes associated with that function; eventually, the space and the function come to mean the same thing. In other words, space transforms into place over time and through contact with humans.

The original Buckville township, along with Cedar Glades, White Plains, and other communities, became a place because it was a convenient, centrally-located space for area farmers to trade for goods, to receive mail, to build houses of worship, to send their children to school, and to bury their dead. This place was carved out of the wilderness of northwest Garland County as the residents realized a need for all of these functions. As Tuan suggests, this happened gradually over a period of many years. Eventually, the Buckville community developed into a place rich with local history and traditions.

How was the “place-ness” of Buckville preserved after the creation of Lake Ouachita? Maybe because what’s now left of Buckville—the cemetery—was already a place. The Buckville Cemetery was the only group of graves, let alone structure, that did not have to be relocated before the dam was finished. It already had established customs associated with it, such as family plots and the particularly Southern tradition of Decoration Day. (Decoration days are annual events at many cemeteries during which the plots are cleared of leaves and other debris and flowers are placed on graves.) These traditions meant that the former residents had a reason to return to this place periodically. Decoration Day at Buckville was traditionally held on the second Sunday of June. After the lake was filled, this informal gathering of the townspeople developed into a large communal picnic and reunion known as Homecoming (Richter, 137).

Why does the Buckville Homecoming remain important in the lives of those who no longer live there, as well as their children and grandchildren? Perhaps the answer lies in the Southern identity of this group of people. According to John Boles, professor of history at Rice University:

“No other region of the nation has been as concerned with and as compulsive about understanding its identity as has the South (Boles, 583)…The recognition of apartness has often led to a defensiveness that became transmogrified into an apotheosis of southern ways. …While Southern ways were…grounded in the historical reality of the region, once the mores existed, they came to have a life separate from their origins. Thus reified, these values, habits of mind, and cultural preferences have long outlived their folk roots and become an integral part of a southern consciousness that persists even in the modern urban South. … Southerners still greet newcomers by asking where they are from, revealing that they expect others’ identity, too, to be somehow intertwined with their home place (588-589). … Quilting, military reenactments, a fascination with genealogy, and a rich variety of family and church homecomings with dinner on the grounds, are but representative activities that offer contemporary southerners a connection to what is perceived to be a past that provides stability and meaning to their lives (Boles, 590).”

As Dr. Boles points out, Southern identity is strongly connected to history, particularly family history. This keen interest in the past leads many Southerners to want to preserve old buildings and cemeteries, like those at Buckville, as well as old traditions, such as Homecoming. In addition, the Buckville site is the remnant of a larger community; as such, it serves as a memorial to the place, and the people, that have passed away. This new place allows current “Bucktowners” to physically connect to their families’ histories and to have fellowship with others who have similar histories.