Earle is a city in Crittenden County, Arkansas, United States.

U.S. Route 64 passes through the northern part of the city, bypassing the downtown area.

[5] Norvell was originally settled in July 1872 by local doctor James Throgmorton.

[7] In 1888, a branch of the St. Louis, Iron Mountain, & Southern Railway was built south of Earle.

The move caused some controversy in the two communities, and in 1904 an altercation took place between the former and then current men who owned the land the post office sat on.

John Watt, who formally controlled the post office, shot the current owner, W.M.

[5] From its formal incorporation in 1905 to the 1940s, Earle was one of the largest towns in Crittenden County.

Referred to by locals as the "Pearl of the St. Francis," for many years the town was a center of industry and an important transportation hub for the Arkansas Delta.

Born into slavery in 1864, Washington established a thriving business as a landlord, and through this enterprise provided a means of income for hundreds of Black Arkansans.

[11] In 1918, an African-American man named Elton Mitchell was eviscerated with a knife and hanged from a tree after he refused to work for a white landowner for free.

The tornado was later confirmed on the same day as an EF3 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale with winds near 150 to 160 mph.