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is a city in Sharp and Fulton counties in the U.S. state of Arkansas. The population was 578 at the 2000 census.
The Spring River, which begins in Mammoth Spring, Arkansas, flows through Hardy. The Spring River flows into the Black River, which flows into the White River, and the White River eventually flows into the Mississippi River.
U.S. Highway 63 is the main highway which runs through the town. In its course through Arkansas, Highway 63 runs from the Missouri State Line at Mammoth Spring to connect with Interstate 55 near Gilmore, Arkansas.
When roads were poor and travel much more difficult than today, Hardy was one of two county seats of Sharp County. The other was Evening Shade. In 1963, Ash Flat was named the county seat, and Hardy and Evening Shade lost that designation.
Hardy is served by the Burlington Northern-Santa Fe Railroad. Formerly, the railroad through Hardy was part of the Frisco (St. Louis-San Francisco Railroad) which had about 5,000 miles of trackage, and served Arkansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Kansas, Texas, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, and Florida. In 1980, the much larger Burlington Northern bought out the Frisco and integrated it into its own system, and the Frisco ceased to exist.
It has several lakefront communities and subdivisions, including Woodland Hills.
In the early 1950s, the Horrell and Clay families both had grocery stores there. Conway Horn
ran a genreal mercantile store. Charles Cone ran the Western Auto Store. Two places to eat were Bonnie's Cafe and Mrs. Rogers' sundries store. Arthur Snow was a pharmacist and owned a drugstore. The agent for the Frisco Railroad was Virgil L. Walker, Jr. Dink Booth was the barber. The Thomsons ran the movie theater, and Ben Dalton published a newspaper. Ottie Cate ran a poultry and ice house, and Bill Shaver had the Standard Oil service station. Tom Walker was in charge of the local bank, and Woodrow Wilson ran a Mobil service station. "Peavine" Clouse was the city marshal. "Guinea" Gray was a local painter, and Clifford Brummet had the contract to carry the mail between the post office and the arriving trains. He also had a farm near Hardy. Arthur Garner sold real estate. Doctor Miller was a local medical doctor. Leonard Johns worked at the Post Office.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 2.6 square miles (6.7 km²), of which, 2.4 square miles (6.1 km²) of it is land and 0.2 square miles (0.6 km²) of it (8.85%) is water.