Harvey Couch 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.
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Harvey Couch was born in Calhoun, a tiny community in Columbia County in southern Arkansas.
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When Harvey Couch was seventeen, his father's health deteriorated, and the family moved to nearby Magnolia, the county seat of Columbia County.
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Harvey Couch's first paying job was to start the boiler every morning at Lum Barnett's cotton gin, for which he received 50 cents daily.
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On 4 October 1904, Harvey Couch married Jessie Johnson of Athens in Claiborne Parish east of Minden, a small city in Webster Parish in which he had business interests.
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Remmel's wife, Catherine Harvey Couch Remmel, is honored by the naming of Lake Catherine near Hot Springs.
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In 1911, at age 34, Harvey Couch sold the company to Southwestern Bell Telephone Company, giving him a profit of more than $1 million.
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Harvey Couch created a syndicate of ownership and operators, among those, younger brother Peter Couch, assumed the role of vice-president and general manager.
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Harvey Couch finally had his railway empire that he dreamt of as a child.
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Harvey Couch was selected as one of seven directors on the RFC's board.
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Harvey Couch's mission was to finance public works projects and decrease the number of unemployed Americans, which in 1932 was 13 million.
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Harvey Couch founded WOK, the first broadcast radio station in Arkansas.
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In 1921, Harvey Couch visited Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and radio station KDKA, a pioneer of modern broadcasting.
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Harvey Couch saw great potential benefits for his company and Arkansas.
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Harvey Couch demonstrated the radio in November 1921 to the Pine Bluff Rotary Club.
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Harvey Couch extolled WOK for "bringing all parts of the country in close touch".
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Harvey Couch later donated the radio equipment to the former Henderson-Brown College in Arkadelphia.
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Harvey Couch received an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Laws from Baylor University and was a 33rd degree Mason.
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In February 1940, Harvey Couch developed a severe case of influenza, but insisted on attending the Democratic National Convention that summer in Chicago even though he had not recovered.
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The severity of Harvey Couch's condition was concealed from the public, and he continued as director of Arkansas' Infantile Paralysis Campaign against polio even as his condition worsened.
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Harvey Couch died at Couchwood from complications of cardiovascular disease.
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