Conway is the county seat of Faulkner County, Arkansas, United States.[1] The population was 58,908 at the 2010 census, making Conway the seventh most populous city in Arkansas. It is a principal city of the Little Rock–North Little Rock–Conway Metropolitan Statistical Area which had 699,757 people in 2010 and with 877,091 people in the Combined area. Conway is home to three post-secondary educational institutions, earning it the nickname "The City of Colleges".

The city of Conway was founded by Asa P. Robinson, who came to Conway shortly after the Civil War. Robinson was the chief engineer for the Little Rock-Fort Smith Railroad (now the Union Pacific). Part of his compensation was the deed to a tract of land, one square mile, located near the old settlement of Cadron. When the railroad came through, Robinson deeded a small tract of his land back to the railroad for a depot site. He laid off a town site around the depot and named it Conway Station, in honor of a famous Arkansas family. Conway Station contained two small stores, two saloons, a depot, some temporary housing and a post office.[2]

Conway was long the home of the late Arkansas Supreme Court Associate Justice James D. Johnson[3] (d. 2010), who ran unsuccessful races for governor in 1956 against then fellow Democrat Orval Eugene Faubus[4] and in 1966 against the Republican Winthrop Rockefeller.[5] The conservative Johnson later switched affiliation to the Republican Party but long after the death of his nemesis Rockefeller. Johnson also lost an important race in 1968 for the United States Senate against the incumbent James William Fulbright.[6] His wife, the late Virginia Johnson (d. 2007), ran for governor in 1968, while he was running for U.S. Senator.[7] [edit]